Kim Young-woong (21) of the Samsung Lions has grown into a complete slugger, ushering in the “Hero Era” and summoning legendary third baseman Kim Sung-rae.
Kim hit his 27th and 28th home runs of the season with back-to-back multi-homer games against Daegu Kiwoom on May 25. Leading off the fourth inning with a 3-1 lead, Kim hit a 142-kilometer fastball from Kiwoom starter Ha Young-min over the wall in right-center field. A 120-meter solo shot.
With the score 4-3 in the top of the eighth inning, he pulled a high forkball from Kim Dong-wook over the right-field fence for a two-run home run to seal the 6-3 victory. His 28th home run of the season.
It is the most in the history of the Samsung Lions’ native infielders (excluding first basemen). Defensive infielders are rarely big guns. Samsung has a tradition of big bats, but no native infielder has ever hit 30 home runs.
Kim Sung-rae, the 1993 MVP, hit 28 home runs. Park Seok-min’s 27 homers in 2014 are second. Kim Han-soo hit 18 homers in 1999. The previous record for a foreign infielder was 48 home runs by Navarro in 2015.
With his multi-homer game against Kiwoom, Kim surpassed Park Seok-min and tied Kim Sung-rae for the most home runs by a Samsung native infielder.
What remains to be seen is whether he can become the first Korean infielder to hit 30 home runs.
Unfortunately, it’s not an easy mission. After 143 games, Samsung has just one game left. The final game of the season against the LG Twins at Lions Park in Daegu on April 28th.
It’s a tough mission, but there’s a glimmer of hope.
Kim Young-woong had a multi-homer game against LG’s ace Kelly on April 25 in Daegu earlier in the season.
With their position in the standings decided, 카지노사이트 LG has no reason to avoid going toe-to-toe with Kim. He is a player who has a wild, full swing that can be overpowering. Given that Lions Park is a home run factory, a multi-homer game is not out of the question.
Samsung manager Park Jin-man, a former infielder himself, praised Kim during the season, saying, “20 home runs in his first full-time season as an infielder is a great record,” and that he could hit 30 home runs in the future. Will that prophecy come true this season?
It will be one of the highlights of the Samsung Lions’ final game of the 2024 season.