The second grand slam in history in 41 years,
the first ever home run king and MVP at the same time
Resignation party after 16 years, sold-out box office
players rewarded with colorful performances
After a short break, the second half started on the 21st
Professional baseball suffered from consecutive bad news in the first half of this season got sick Even before the nightmare of the ‘World Baseball Classic (WBC) disaster’ before the opening and the excommunication of former KIA general manager Jang Jeong-seok’s demand for back money was gone, Lee Chun-woong (LG)’s illegal gambling and Seo Jun-won (Lotte)’s suspicion of sex crimes against minors surfaced. After going through the WBC drinking controversy among Kim Kwang-hyeon (SSG), Jeong Cheol-won (Doosan), and Lee Yong-chan (NC), it was revealed that SSG Future Steam Lee Won-jun assaulted his junior with a bat at the end.
A series of incidents that could adversely affect the popularity of the KBO League occurred one after another, but the footsteps of fans toward the baseball field did not stop. The steady performance of veterans such as Choi Hyung-woo (KIA) and Choi Jeong (SSG) and the lively energy of young players armed with spirit such as Moon Dong-ju (Hanwha) and Kim Min-seok (Lotte) exquisitely harmonized to create ‘box-office factors’ one by one. Professional baseball is recovering its pre-Corona 19 popularity by attracting 4,412,020 spectators during 397 games in the first half.
The ‘Feast of the Stars’ held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 15th was a place to repay fans’ unchanging affection. The 22,990 seats at Sajik Stadium were sold out two hours before the game, showing the fans’ enthusiasm for the All-Star game. The win or loss of Dream All-Stars (SSG, KT, Samsung, Lotte, Doosan) and Nanum All-Stars (Kiwoom, LG, KIA, NC, Hanwha) did not matter much. The players also paid attention to preparing various performances to make the fans laugh.
Dream Team’s first shot in the first inning. Leading batsman Koo Ja-wook (Samsung) appeared at bat dressed as a girl similar to Minji, a member of the idol group New Jeans, who is often referred to as a lookalike, and made the baseball field a sea of laughter. In response, Socrates Brito (KIA) of Sharing, appeared in the first at-bat at the end of the first inning, singing along to the melody of his cheering song with a trumpet, and then showed off his strength by striking a three-runner against Dream starter Park Se-woong (Lotte).
Dream Noh Jin-hyeok (Lotte) came out wearing a prosecutor’s uniform, befitting his nickname ‘No Prosecutor’, and after hitting a hit, he took out a piece of paper with ‘Arrest Issuance’ written on it and led the fans to cheer. Kim Min-seok, a high school graduate rookie of the ‘Resignation Idol’ dream, excited the fans by following the choreography of Jennie’s song ‘SOLO’ by the idol group Black Pink.오래된 토토사이트
The glory of ‘Mr. All-Star’ went to Chae Eun-seong (Hanwha) for sharing. He hit a grand slam against Koo Seung-min (Lotte) with two outs loaded at the bottom of the 4th inning, leading the team to an 8-4 victory. It has been 41 years since Kim Yong-hee (Lotte) in the All-Star Game in 1982, the first year of professional baseball, that a grand home run came in an All-Star Game. Having reached the top in the home run race the day before, he became the first player to win both the home run king and the best player (MVP) in the All-Star Game, except in 2020, when the “Untact All-Star Race” was held due to Corona 19. Chae Eun-seong, a former training player, said, “I never imagined that I would be selected as ‘Mr. All-Star’. He feels grateful to be in this position now,” he said.
Professional baseball will enter the second half schedule from the 21st with a short break.