KIA Tigers infielder Kim Do-young has only one game left to challenge for 40 homers and 40 steals. For now, the opposing team has promised not to run away but to face off.  메이저사이트

KIA will play the 16th game between the team and the NC Dinos of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 30th. With the first place in the regular league on the 15th and winning the direct ticket to the Korean Series early, only the final pennant race is left.

KIA manager Lee Bum-ho recently excluded Na Sung-bum, Choi Hyung-woo, Kim Sun-bin and Socrates Brito from the main fielders' entry. The team gave them rest before starting training to prepare for the Korean Series.

However, in the case of Kim Do-young, he is running tirelessly to reach the 40-homer mark. Kim Do-young got his 38th home run and 40th stolen base of the season against the Samsung Lions on the 23rd. If KIA adds two more home runs in the remaining five games of the regular season, he will be the first Korean batter in the KBO league to join the 40-homer 40-homer club.

Kim Do-young, however, failed to operate a home run for four consecutive games until the match against Samsung on the 24th, Lotte on the 25th, Hanwha on the 27th, and Lotte on the 28th. Although the hitting sense is not bad, it is a situation in which a long hit rarely comes out.

Coach Lee Bum-ho said before the Lotte match on the 28th, "I know how nervous I am when I go to the batter's box with a record I really want to achieve during my active career," adding, "Kim Do-young doesn't express his feelings, but he probably goes to the batter's box worrying about hitting a home run every game."

Kim Do-young has already secured 30 homers and 30 steals early on. Among Korean hitters, he was a member of the 30-homer and 30-homer club, which was produced for the first time in 24 years since Park Jae-hong, the Hyundai Unicorns (disbanded in 2008) in 2000.

Not satisfied with the feat, Kim ran towards 40 homers and 40 steals. Although the heights are not far away, I am feeling the barrier of how difficult it is to achieve a milestone that no one else could achieve except for Eric Thames, the NC Dinos in 2015.

Kim has at least four at-bats and as many as five at-bats in the match against NC Dinosaurs on Sunday. He has high expectations on the fact that his performance in games against NC this year was strong, with a batting average of 0.434 (23 hits in 53 times at bat) and four homers and 14 RBIs in 15 games.

NC also vowed that there would be no case to avoid the game, conscious of Kim Do-young's milestone. Acting NC manager Gong Pil-sung says that a head-to-head match should be made for the development of the KBO League.

Acting President Gong Pil-sung said on the 27th, "Our pitchers should definitely face Kim Do-young in the match against KIA on the 30th. Avoiding the game or giving a walk is not something that should be done for Korean baseball," adding, "Don't you see the fans like Kim Do-young as he sees a player like Kim Do-young try to challenge the milestone? Pitchers should try to be confident by constantly facing good batters."

"If you're a pitcher, you should throw him away and leave the result to the heaven. Success or failure is determined by what kind of thoughts you have to take on the batter. I'm always emphasizing that you should stick to him confidently," he added.

NC, led by acting coach Gong Pil-sung, did not shy away from the game with Victor Reyes, a foreign hitter at Lotte, on the day, as if he had actually made remarks by the head coach. Reyes produced 199 hits in this season against NC, tying for first place as the most hits by a foreign hitter in a single season. The next day, he got his 200th hit against the KIA Tigers.