Kim Do-young hits youngest 40-100-100
KIA Tigers’ Kim Do-young went 3-for-4 with a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored as the Tigers routed the Hanwha Eagles 9-2 at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on the 13th. With the performance, the 22-year-old became the youngest player in KBO history to reach the ’40 home runs-100 RBIs-100 runs’ milestone, at 22 years, 11 months and 11 days old. That breaks the previous record set by Lee Seung-yeol in 1999 by nine days, and marks the first such feat by a KIA Tigers player. Kim drew even more attention for pulling off the performance just four days after undergoing surgery for a fractured nose bone.
Source: Money Today
Han Dong-hee’s power stuns manager
Lotte Giants slugger Han Dong-hee pulled a 150 km/h fastball over the right-field wall for a home run against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok on the 12th. Even manager Kim Tae-hyung, not known for easy praise, was impressed, saying, ‘It looked like a ball that wasn’t going out, but it left the park anyway because he’s so strong.’ Having returned this season after military service, Han has already set a career high with a .294 average, 19 home runs and 65 RBIs, and is one homer away from his first-ever 20-home-run season. Manager Kim said, ‘I think he’ll hit 20 home runs,’ adding that ‘even if he swings big, it’s worth aiming for.’
Source: Ilgan Sports
Samsung’s Park Jin-man urges calm
The Samsung Lions dropped back-to-back home games to the LG Twins over the weekend, widening the gap with first-place KT Wiz to two games. Samsung was routed 5-13 at home on the 13th after a narrow one-run loss the day before, suffering a painful sweep. But manager Park Jin-man called for composure rather than urgency. ‘Trying to do more just because the race is tight can lead to overexertion,’ he said. ‘We still have about 20 games left, which isn’t few at all. It’s more important to finish the season with the mindset we’ve kept since the start than to risk injury by overreaching.’ Samsung and KT still have three more head-to-head matchups remaining.
Source: Money Today