It was a fantastic season seven years ago. He boasted a powerful lineup, with a team batting average of 0.302, and displayed strong one-two punch with which he garnered 20 wins. Then, he looks back on the top, recalling the days in 2024. He compared his performance this year with that of 2017 when Kia’s veteran infielder Kim Sun-bin (35) won the overall title.
For now, he is turning the clock back to seven years ago. He won the batting title with a batting average of 0.370 in 2017, but he is still active this season with his sophisticated contact skills. When leadoff Park Chan-ho fell into a slump, he volunteered to play as the first batter, but just in time, Park Chan-ho asked coach Lee Bum-ho to drop his batting order. As the two players agreed, Kim Sun-bin’s first trip to the leadoff in 1110 days was made. Kim Sun-bin played as the first batter against Lotte in Gwangju on April 14, 2021, prior to the match against LG in Jamsil on the 28th.
He entered the lineup as the first batter in three years, and made three hits in five at-bats for three runs scored. He had a hit to the right from his first at-bat in the top of the first inning. He had a double in the top of the eighth inning and a double in the top of the seventh inning. He is remaking his appearance when he became the batting champion seven years ago.
After the game, Kim said, “I wanted to hit as many balls as possible. I wanted to hit as many balls as possible because hitting a pitcher during training is very different from hitting a pitcher’s ball in practice,” adding, “I heard Chan-ho asked me to drop him to the bottom of the lineup just in time. Chan-ho said to me, “You should have gone up a bit faster.”
“As our team is doing well this year, I just thought to myself that I would win,” he said. “Honestly, it was a very difficult game. Since LG has many left-handed hitters, we need to pay attention to the scope of our defense. Moreover, we run in an ignorant manner. We fought back the same way, but it must have been difficult for each other. (Oh) Ji-hwan also said the game was very difficult.”
With this victory, Kia became the only team that has not lost three consecutive games in this season. It has secured a 70% win rate with 21 wins and nine losses overall in this season. It is enjoying the hottest early days of this season since 2017, when it won the combined title with a margin of victory and loss of 12. In 2017, it also had 21 wins and nine losses in 30 games.
Kim Sun-bin, who clearly remembers the time, said, “I think 2017 is overwhelmingly better. This year is also good, but 2017 is stronger than this year.”
There was a reason. “Looking at my strength, I think I can hardly match it. Back then, I had two pitchers with 20 wins on the starting lineup. Then, I had as many as seven batters with a batting average of .300. The team’s batting average was over .300 as well. I don’t think it can be compared with my strength then,” Kim said.
As Kim Sun-bin said, Hector Noesi and Yang Hyeon-jong both achieved 20 wins. Despite the season when they were riding and pitching, they had two 20-win pitchers, and their batting lineup was also strong. They topped the list from the beginning of the season, and maintained their top position by shaking off Doosan’s pursuit at the end. They won the Korean Series against Doosan with four wins and one loss overall.
At that time, KIA was a team of veterans. There were more middle and old-class players than rookie players. This year, veterans and rookies will harmonize with each other. There are many young pitchers such as Kim Do-young in his third year, Yoon Young-cheol and Kwak Do-gyu in his second year. That is why the future is brighter. If the team wins the top prize this year, its momentum will continue steadily.
Kim Sun-bin, who became a veteran player, said, “The atmosphere of the team is as good as it was then. Sung-bum (B) came back today, and even without the captain, the atmosphere was the best. With the captain here, I think this atmosphere will be even better.”
BY: 토토사이트링크