Hanwha's Kim Kyung-moon and Lotte's Kim Tae-hyung meet for the first time in 6 years at the '5th place crossroads'
Hanwha's Kim Kyung-moon and Lotte's Kim Tae-hyung meet for the first time in 6 years at the '5th place crossroads'
Blog Article
The Hanwha Eagles and Lotte Giants, who are leading the pro baseball market with their upward trend in the first half of
the season, will play three games over the weekend from the 28th to the 30th at Sajik Stadium in Busan.
The match between Hanwha and Lotte is drawing the attention of many baseball fans due to the rankings and the reunion
of managers Kim Kyung-moon and Kim Tae-hyung.
Currently, Hanwha is in 7th place with 35 wins, 41 losses, and 2 draws, a winning percentage of 0.461, while Lotte is in 8th
place with 34 wins, 40 losses, and 3 draws, a winning percentage of 0.459.
There is no difference between the two teams, and the winning percentage is only 0.002.
The gap with 5th place SSG Landers is only 3 games, so if one team wins the series, they can immediately join the fight for
the top 5.
The atmosphere is not bad for both Hanwha and Lotte.
Since manager Kim Kyung-moon took over on the 4th of this month, Hanwha has recorded 11 wins, 9 losses, and 1 draw in
21 games, ranking 3rd in the league with a winning percentage of 0.550 during that period.
During this period, Lotte was in first place with 12 wins, 8 losses, and 1 draw, for a winning percentage of 0.600.
If Hanwha overcomes its early season slump and regains its ace form with Ryu Hyun-jin and new faces on the mound,
Jaime Barria and Ryan Weiss, can protect the first to third starters, there is an atmosphere that they can compete for the
rankings in earnest in the second half of the season.
If we look at the starting order alone, all three of these players can play in Hanwha's three-game series against Lotte.
On the 28th, Varia was first announced as the starting player, and the starting players for the 29th and 30th have not been
announced yet.
Here, Noh Si-hwan's recent two games, where he hit two home runs and drove in eight RBIs, also helped him regain his
home run title from last year.
Lotte, on the other hand, is the team that has shown the most frightening batting performance this month.
Lotte's June team batting average (0.312), team OPS (0.863), and RBI (158 points) all ranked first in the league.
Even though there are constant injuries, the batting lineup never seems to cool down, with players quickly stepping up to
fill those spots.
In the game against the KIA Tigers in Busan on the 25th, they were down 1-14 in the top of the 4th inning, but showed
amazing tenacity by turning the score around to 15-14 in the bottom of the 7th inning, ending in a 15-15 draw.
Lotte, on the rise, won both the games against 안전 KIA on the 26th and 27th.
This season, Lotte has been reborn as the 'Tiger Hunter' by winning 7, losing 3, and drawing 1 against league leader KIA.
Lotte, which has now narrowed its win-loss margin to minus 6, plans to make a serious move when Charlie Barnes, who
has been out due to injury, returns in the second half.
The relationship between Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Kyung-moon and Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung enriches
the stories of this three-game series.
Nowadays, it is not easy to call a relationship between a coach and a player a 'teacher-student relationship' just because
they met on the field, but Coach Kim Tae-hyung does not hesitate to treat Coach Kim Kyung-moon like a teacher.
The two played together as senior and junior at OB Bears from 1990 to 1991, and continued their relationship as manager
and battery coach at Doosan.
Even after becoming a famous manager representing the KBO League, Manager Kim Tae-hyung does not hide his respect
for Manager Kim Kyung-moon, saying, "I learned so much from him to get to this point."
The last KBO League 'commander showdown' between Manager Kim Kyung-moon and Manager Kim Tae-hyung was a
three-game series held at Masan Stadium from April 27 to 29, 2018.
At the time, coach Kim Kyung-moon, who was leading the NC Dinos, lost the series with 1 win and 2 losses in a 3-game
series against coach Kim Tae-hyung, who had built a dynasty at Doosan.
About a month later, coach Kim Kyung-moon resigned from his position as NC coach.
Although both managers are wearing different uniforms than they did six years ago, they still respect each other and have
the same burning desire to win.
The biggest variable in the three-game series between Hanwha and Lotte is the rain.
According to the weather forecast, it will rain in the Busan area on the 29th and 30th