Starting with the opening game, ‘All stadiums are sold out’, they turned around the turning point. With the second half approaching, we have gathered the main details among the many records made during the first half of the total of 397 games.
▲ ‘Baseball popularity’ that finally returned to before Corona 19
The heat of the baseball field this season is very hot. It has regained its pre-COVID-19 popularity. Players are also competing for the ‘everything’ ranking thanks to the fans’ hot interest, and 4 million spectators (4,412,020) came in from a total of 397 games in the first half.
This is a 33% increase from the same period last year (3,312,999). If the box office continues this season, the total number of spectators (6,076,074) exceeded last year, and it is expected to face the era of 8 million spectators in five years since 2018 (8,073,742).
▲ First ever record of 1,500 RBIs and doubles KBO League 18th year KIA Hyung-Woo Choi’s record march
KIA Hyung-Woo Choi, who is in his 18th season in the KBO League, has risen to the top of his career in RBIs and doubles.
On June 20, he hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning against the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon, surpassing Lee Seung-yeop’s (former Samsung)’s 1,498 and reaching the 1,500 RBI mark, which no one had achieved in the KBO league, with the highest number of RBIs in his career.
Previously, on April 23, against Samsung in Gwangju, he recorded his 465th double, surpassing Lee Seung-yeop’s 464, which was the previous record for first place in doubles.
▲ Great pitcher record Hyeon-jong KIA Yang Hyeon-jong, 2nd in most wins, 3rd in most innings
KIA’s Hyeon-jong Yang recorded 162 wins against LG in Gwangju on May 27, surpassing Min-cheol Jung (former Hanwha) and ranked 2nd in total wins.
In addition, Yang Hyeon-jong, who currently records 162 wins out of 164 total wins as starting wins, adds one win to tie with Song Jin-woo (former Hanwha)’s record of 163 starting wins, which is the first place in his career. Meanwhile, on May 21, against Kiwoom in Gwangju, he exceeded 2,205 innings pitching in total, surpassing Lee Kang-cheol (former KIA) and ranked third in the most innings.
▲ One step closer to the KBO league record for most hits, NC Son A-seop, who is running
toward the top spot in total hits, took a step closer to the record.
On July 5, against Gocheok Kiwoom, he recorded his 2,319th hit with a heavy hit, surpassing Yang Jun-hyuk (former Samsung)’s 2,318 and ranked second in total hits alone.
It is narrowing the gap with the youngest record of 2,500 hits as well as Park Yong-taek (former LG)’s record of 2,504 hits. On the 13th, the last game of the first half, against Changwon Lotte, Son Ah-seop hit 5 hits, the most in a single game, and achieved 100 hits in 14 consecutive seasons for the 5th time in history, and 150 hits in 8 consecutive seasons for the first time in history.
▲ ‘Still a boy trader’ Choi Jeong-eun, a
living history of KBO league home run records for 18 consecutive seasons, Choi Jeong-eun set a record of double-digit home runs for 18 consecutive seasons for the first time ever.
On June 1, he hit a home run in consecutive hits at the Munhak Samsung Game, extending his previous record of double-digit home runs in the KBO’s most consecutive seasons from 17 to 18. Choi Jeong-eun, who hit 11 home runs in June and won the MVP award, recorded 448 home runs in his career, and is fast approaching 450 home runs and Lee Seung-yeop’s record of 467 home runs.
▲ NC ‘New Ace’ Eric Peddy Minimum 10 wins & minimum win against club before match record
Peddy, who joined NC this season and immediately established himself as the ace of the dinosaur corps, built up wins at an amazing pace.
He achieved his 10th win against Changwon SSG on June 9, his 12th appearance of the season, and tied the record for the lowest 10 wins in KBO League history.
Peddie became the third player in history to achieve this record, following Kim Il-yung (former Samsung) in the 1985 season and Jung Min-cheol (former Hanwha) in the 1993 season. In addition, Peddie, who had a perfect first half, tied the record for a win against the club at least in the 15th appearance of the season, finished with the most wins (12 wins) and the average ERA (1.71), and is expected to play an active role in the second half.
▲ LG Jung Woo-young & Kiwoom Lee Jeong-hoo ‘breaking the youngest record’
LG Woo-young Jung and Kiwoom Lee Jung-hoo, who have become KBO league representative players from prospects, are each breaking the record for the youngest at their position.
Jung Woo-young recorded 100 holds at the age of 23 years, 7 months and 20 days on April 8 against Jamsil Samsung, achieving the youngest 100 hold record. Previously, the youngest was Hanwha Jung Woo-ram at the age of 25 years, 11 months and 17 days, and Jung Woo-young advanced the record by two years. In addition, this record was set in 261 games, breaking the previous record of 100 holds (336 games) by Han Hyun-hee.
Lee Jung-hoo set another record for the youngest hit. Lee Jung-hoo, who has been hitting more than 100 hits every season since his debut season, made his 100th hit of the season against Gocheok KT on July 11th. With this hit, at the age of 24 years, 10 months and 21 days, he achieved 100 hits for 7 consecutive seasons, surpassing Lee Seung-yeop’s age of 24 years, 11 months and 24 days, making him the youngest record.
▲ KIA, KBO League 7th Team Triple Steel ‘Jin Record’
All three players played. KIA made a new record.
In the game against KIA-LG in Jamsil on April 29, the 7th triple steel, which is rarely seen in the 42-year history of the KBO League, came out. At the beginning of the 9th inning, KIA Kim Kyu-seong, Lee Woo-sung, and Socrates completed a triple steel that caught the opponent’s defense off guard, eliciting cheers from the fans. In a situation where the game was close, KIA made the record even brighter by performing a base run play that was difficult to see and even taking victory. 메이저놀이터
▲ NC’s valuable ‘win with one hit’
In a baseball game in which you can win only by earning points, you need a lot of hits and points. However, NC won with only one hit.
NC recorded only one hit in 10 innings against Munhak SSG on April 15, but won the game 1:0. With the help of pitchers’ good pitching and momentary concentration, NC created the 5th one-hit game victory in KBO league history.