Although they were called underdogs throughout the season, they achieved results that exceeded expectations.
Even in fall baseball, there was an upset against a strong team, or an upset was imminent. In the postseason game, an amazing pinch-hitting strategy occurred, and the player’s performance resulted in a surprising hero. It’s similar in many ways. This is true for Kiwoom Heroes, the runner-up team in the Korean Series last year, and NC Dinos, who finished the regular season in 4th place this season and captured both the first and second semi-playoff games.
NC Dinos captured both the first and second games of the 2023 KBO semi-playoffs at the opponent’s home stadium against SSG Landers, the protagonist of last year’s combined championship. SSG had a greater advantage over NC, but the young players were armed with spirit and won.
NC outfielder Park Geon-woo, who was selected as the Daily Most Valuable Player (MVP) immediately after winning 7-3 over SSG in the second game of the semi-playoffs on the 23rd, said, “I heard a lot of people saying that we were weak before the season. I was greatly inspired by that. We have nothing to lose, so the burden is less than that of our opponents. “I’m going into the game with the mindset of ‘let’s have fun,’” he said.
It’s the same situation as Kiwoom last year. Before the start of last season, not many people expected Kiwoom to advance to fall baseball. Nevertheless, Kiwoom finished the first half of the 2022 season in second place and finished the regular season in third place. However, the prevailing thought was that it was just ‘luck’.
Kiwoom’s team proudly defeated KT Wiz in the semi-playoffs and advanced to the Korean Series by defeating LG Twins, who were aiming for the championship in the playoffs. Last season, the main character was actually Kiwoom. Looking back at that time, Kiwoom outfielder Lee Jeong-hoo said, “No one would have known that our team would make it this far. “Everyone thinks we are weak,” he said, gritting his teeth even more.
The performance of the player who appeared as a pinch hitter and the strategy of the devil are also similar. Last season, Kiwoom used Lim Ji-yeol and Jeon Byeong-woo as pinch hitters in the postseason in the second half of the game, and both hit home runs and became the main characters of the game. It was a surprising emergence as a hero.
Seo Ho-cheol and Kim Hyeong-jun, who started as starters in the first wild card game held in Changwon on the 19th, made their fall baseball debut, and hit a lot of home runs and became the leading contributors to the victory. These are all home runs from unexpected players.먹튀검증
NC Kim Seong-wook, who came on as a pinch hitter in the top of the 8th inning in the first game of the semi-playoffs, hit the first pitch of SSG starter Elias and hit a two-run home run, recording the game-winning hit.
In addition, it is also similar in that veterans are united around young players, creating a good harmony between old and new. Last season, Kiwoom was led by Lee Jeong-hoo, Kim Hye-seong, Song Seong-moon, Choi Won-tae, and Kim Jae-woong, along with veterans Lee Yong-gyu and Lee Ji-young. This season, NC is led by Kim Joo-won, Kim Hyeong-jun, Shin Min-hyuk, and Kim Young-gyu, and Son Ah-seop, Park Geon-woo, and Park Min-woo add their strength.