“I think he would have circled the base (first base) for sure.”
Doosan Bears infielder Kang Seung-ho (29) was ready to fail as he was on the verge of setting the first record in KBO League history. This was because he was more desperate and more important for the team to win than his individual records. Doosan played the first game of a three-game series with the fate of the season at stake against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju on the 15th. Before the game, Doosan was in 6th place and KIA was in 4th place. The distance between the two teams was only one game. If we mess up the three-game series this weekend, it could be directly linked to being eliminated from the fall baseball season.
The record that Seungho Kang was challenging was a ‘reverse cycle’. Usually, hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game, regardless of the order, is called a hit for the cycle. At this time, a hit for the cycle completed by hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in that order is called a ‘natural cycle’, and conversely, a hit for the cycle is completed by hitting a home run, triple, double, and single in that order. This is called a reverse cycle. The KBO League does not recognize the reverse cycle as an official record. No player had achieved this before Kang Seung-ho.
Kang Seung-ho hit a home run in the top of the third inning with the game tied 1-1. After two outs, KIA starting pitcher Yoon Young-cheol hit a left-field home run. When the second pitch change-up came in high with the ball count 0-1, he caught it without missing a beat. It was a valuable shot that became the stepping stone for Doosan to take a 2-1 lead.
After warming up with a home run, Kang Seung-ho’s bat got hotter. It was an opportunity to attack in the top of the 5th inning when starting pitcher Brandon Waddell hit a grand slam by KIA Lee Woo-sung in the bottom of the 4th inning, putting the score at 2-5. With Yang Eui-ji’s hit and stolen base and Kim Jae-hwan’s walk on 1st and 3rd bases with one out, Kang Seung-ho hit a timely triple with 2 RBIs to right-center to make it 4-5. In addition, Heo Gyeong-min’s timely hit to tie the score balanced the score at 5-5. It would be no exaggeration to say that Kang Seung-ho’s triple was the decisive blow that led to a come-from-behind victory that day.
In the top of the 7th inning, we got one step closer to the record. With one out, Kang Seung-ho hit a double to the left of left field, leaving just one single left for the hit for the cycle. And the last at-bat came in the top of the 9th inning, when the score was 6-6.카지노사이트 After one out, Jose Rojas walked and walked out. If Doosan wanted to win, they could not be satisfied with a single hit. Kang Seung-ho was thinking in his mind that he had to hit a long ball.
However, heaven did not allow Kang Seung-ho to hit a long ball. Kang Seung-ho’s batted ball deflected in front of KIA’s closing pitcher Jeong Hae-young and became an infield hit that rolled toward the first baseman. It was the moment when the final puzzle, the short hit, was completed, and the moment when the reverse cycle was completed for the first time since the launch of the KBO League in 1982. With the bases loaded, Doosan won 8-6 thanks to back-to-back walks by Kim In-tae and Park Jun-young. Doosan could not get out of 6th place even after 5 consecutive wins, but it raised its hopes of entering the top 5 by eliminating the gap between it and KIA, which dropped to 5th place.
After achieving his first hit for the cycle with a reverse cycle, Kang Seung-ho said, “I was aware of (the record), but I wasn’t too conscious of it because the team wasn’t in a comfortable situation. Rojas was on first base, so I went in thinking of a long hit.” This meant drawing a picture of putting more pressure on KIA by allowing the runner to reach third base even if he or she was unable to do so.
He confirmed that if it were a long shot course, he would have played to the end. Kang Seung-ho said, “If there was a large score gap and I had time, I would have been conscious of it, but that was not the case. If I had hit a long ball, I would have played unconditionally. It was a game against KIA, who were competing for important rankings, and the score gap was not that big, so I would have reached the bases no matter what. “I think so,” he confessed honestly.
Even though he was determined to fail, it was an honor to leave his first mark in the KBO league. Kang Seung-ho smiled as he replied, “I feel good about setting at least one of my first records while playing baseball. I hope to set many good records in the future.”
The reverse cycle is a rare record that only 10 players have achieved even in the American Major League, which boasts a 100-year history. First recorded by Henry Larkin in 1885, Bide McPhee in 1887, Sam Mertes in 1904, G. Walker in 1937, Archie Vaughn in 1939, Jackie Robinson in 1948, Jim Fregosi in 1968, Luke Scott in 2006, and Carlos Gomes in 2008. , achieved in turn by Rajai Davis in 2016. Luke Scott is a player who played as a foreign hitter for the SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) in the KBO League in 2014.
A natural cycle is not a common record either. There were 15 cases of achievement in the Major League, and only once in the KBO League. Lotte Giants Kim Eung-guk hit a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in order in the game against the Sajik Hanwha Eagles on April 14, 1996.
Kang Seung-ho is the 6th hitter in Doosan history to achieve a hit for the cycle. Thanks to Kang Seung-ho, Doosan was named as the club that produced the most hit-and-run hitters in the KBO League. Second place was the Samsung Lions, which produced a total of 5 players.
During the OB days, Lim Hyeong-seok (August 23, 1992, against Jamsil Lotte) became the Bears’ first hit for the cycle, Lee Jong-wook (April 11, 2009, against LG, Jimsil) and Oh Jae-won (May 23, 2014, against Jamsil Hanwha) Park Geon-woo. (June 16, 2016, against KIA in Gwangju) Jeong Jin-ho (June 7, 2017, against Samsung in Jamsil) achieved successively.
Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “Today (the 15th) is Kang Seung-ho’s day. Not only is the record of cycling hits amazing, but all of those hits came at moments when the team really needed them. It has great meaning for both the team and the individual. An individual’s first “I sincerely congratulate you on your 30th record.”
However, Kang Seung-ho was not satisfied. He said, “I hit a home run and a triple because the points were given to me in defense, but I still felt a little uncomfortable. I felt restless and uncomfortable,” and pledged to add stability in defense in the next game.
We will compete fiercely in the remaining two games against KIA and try to secure as many wins as possible. Kang Seung-ho said, “I had the feeling that we wouldn’t lose even if we were reversed until the end of the game. I thought it was a game that everyone in the team could win.”
He continued, “I actually placed 9th last year, and it’s definitely a tough game, but the battle for rankings itself is good and fun. Compared to other games, playing against a team that’s fighting for rankings doubles the tension, but I’m having fun with it.” added.
Kang Seung-ho is not the type to keep commemorative items well. He said he doesn’t even know where the commemorative ball for his first hit in his KBO league debut is. Still, he plans to keep the KBO’s first reverse cycle commemorative ball that he received that day.
Kang Seung-ho smiled and replied, “I don’t think I have kept any memorabilia since elementary school. I will give this memento to my wife.”