[OSEN=대전, 이상학 기자] Professional baseball’s Hanwha Eagles set a new record for the first time in the KBO League to sell out 13 consecutive home games. It continued to be the first box office hit in the league’s 43-year history, but it didn’t take long for the celebration to turn into a memorial service.
All 12,000 seats for Hanwha’s home game against the Doosan Bears held at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon on the 26th were sold out as of 6:48 p.m. Beginning with the final game of the season against Lotte on October 16 last year, the crowd was filled to capacity for 13 consecutive games, including the 12 home games this year.
Selling out 13 consecutive home games is a KBO League first record. Samsung filled the Daegu Citizen Baseball Stadium for 12 consecutive games, from the Ssangbangul match on May 9, 1995, to the first game of a doubleheader against Haitai on June 1, and this year, Hanwha changed the KBO box office record for the first time in 29 years.
On such a meaningful day, Hanwha lost 5-10 and fell into a 6-game losing streak. Special rookie Hwang Jun-seo started as the starter, but suffered a loss for the first time since his debut, with 6 hits (2 home runs), 5 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 6 runs in 3⅔ innings. His control was unusually shaky, and he gave up 5 walks, and there were also defensive errors. He exposed his weakness in the slide step and allowed two steals to Yang Eui-ji and Yang Seok-hwan.
Hwang Jun-seo is now a 19-year-old rookie, and he can’t just keep throwing well. More than that, it was disappointing that the 3rd to 5th main hitters, Noh Si-hwan, Chae Eun-seong, and Ahn Chi-hong, were unable to save 1st and 2nd bases with no outs in the first inning. Noh Si-hwan struck out while looking on three pitches, and Chae Eun-seong was hit by the tip of the bat when he stopped swinging and was forced to retire with a pointless grounder to first base. Even Ahn Chi-hong lost the opportunity to take the lead as the shortstop was out on a fly ball. Following Won Sang-hyun (6 innings, no runs) against Suwon KT on the 25th, Doosan’s Kim Yu-seong (5 innings, 2 runs) on this day gave rookie pitchers their first debut wins in two consecutive games.
The defense was also shaken. With the bases loaded and no outs in the third inning, Doosan Kang Seung-ho’s sacrifice fly to right field caused right fielder Jonathan Peraza to loose the follow-up play and watch the runner on first base advance to second base. In the 5th inning, with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd base, pitcher Seunghyuk Han threw a ball to check 2nd base, but he missed, giving up one base each for free. Afterwards, Park Joon-young hit a timely hit with two RBIs, and the game completely shifted to Doosan.
Despite the recent sharp slump, Hanwha fans who filled the 12,000 seats also left the stadium one by one as the game lost ground early in the second half of the game. It was a game that was difficult to watch until the end with a clear mind, and made you sigh.
Hanwha was the most talked-about team in the KBO League this season. Before the season, major leaguer Ryu Hyun-jin returned after 12 years, raising expectations, and the team got off to its best start since its founding by taking sole first place with 8 wins and 2 losses in the opening 10 games, including 7 consecutive wins. As the season started ambitiously by declaring ‘the end of rebuilding’ at the club level during the pre-opening ceremony, it seemed like both performance and popularity would be captured.
However, Hanwha’s spring was too short. Since their match against Gocheok Kiwoom on the 5th, they have suffered an unbelievable decline with 3 wins and 15 losses (a winning percentage of .167) in the last 18 games, falling to 8th place. The win-loss margin was once +6, but it has now fallen to -6 and is being chased by 10th place Lotte (8 wins, 18 losses, 1 draw) by 2 games.
The performance was unbelievable because the momentum at the beginning of the opening was so explosive. In the meantime, there were injuries to key players such as shortstop Ha Joo-seok (hamstring), pitcher Kim Min-woo (elbow), and catcher Choi Jae-hoon (side), but I had no idea that the team would collapse to this extent. Although there are ups and downs, the bullpen is showing signs of trouble compared to the starting lineup, which is holding up well, and the batting line has fallen to 10th place in team batting average (.248). With both stolen bases (7) and success rate (38.9%), there is no way to score points other than hitting the lowest, but even this is being blocked.
The players’ facial expressions and movements clearly show that they are being chased. Ryu Hyun-jin, who maintained his composure with a calm expression without being shaken even in the major league, the world’s best stage, was shaken by an ABS decision during the game against Suwon KT on the 24th and did not have a poker face. The fact that he openly complained in the ABS zone the next day, which was unusual for him, was not unrelated to Hanwha’s heavy team atmosphere.
Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho also said, “It is true that the players have become sensitive to the team atmosphere due to the recent losing streak. “The players are also trying to win, but I think they are a little more sensitive because that’s what (the game) is like,” he said. Not only the coaching staff but also the players appear to be reacting sensitively to each ball under great pressure. Baseball is said to be a mental game, and in this atmosphere, the players’ play is bound to suffer.
It’s not an easy situation in many ways, but we’re still not in last place. Since we have earned something in the beginning, there are ample opportunities for a rebound in the future. The bench, led by coach Choi Won-ho, must be well-centered. This chaotic atmosphere must be resolved as soon as possible for the sake of the home fans who fill the home stadium for every game regardless of the performance. There are still 116 more games left in the season. /[email protected]
Tags: Ryu Hyunjin world sensitive losing games row day set KBO box office record .. Hanwhas unbelievable slump
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