The Korean Baseball Series

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Distinguishing the winner and the culminating games in long-run of 7 months and 144 games, Korean baseball series has ended in October 30th. KIA tigers has won the victory of 2017 baseball season within 5 games out of seven. Similar to all other sports, baseball has a characteristic of gambling, high risk and high return or nothing. Within a long history of baseball, from year of 1982, many players and head coaches have made somewhat ridiculous or risky decisions, which ended up becoming a hero or, on the other hand, a traitor. This phenomenon has also happened in the last game of current Korean series. Even though the result was successful, many critics and fans of baseball argue that the last decision was very high risk. Acknowledging the …show more content…

There are two examples, which explains Kim’s decision was actually plausible. Let’s go back to 1984 when Lotte giants won the first place. The most surprising fact is that Choi Dongwon from Lotte played 5 games in seven games. In other words, he threw total of 41 innings within 63 innings. It is impossible to think one player pitches 5 games in Korean series, because it is not only harmful to pitcher’s physical state, but also possesses great possibility of losing games. Lotte was competing against the best baseball team, Samsung, with great players such as Lee Mansoo, Yang Joonhyeok, and Kim Sijin. Choi and the head coach think of Choi as the best and superior pitcher, neglecting all other relievers, to fight against Samsung. Choi has personality of boldness, which was highlighted when he threw more than 200 balls in one single game. Therefore, because he was young and good player, the head coach believed him, and there was no other better option for the head coach. Even though it was very absurd idea to play five games, it was maybe inevitable for Lotte to fight against Samsung, and now every fan praises him as “iron arm”. The other instance happened back in 1986. Sun Dongyeol from Haetae tigers was recognized as the best player in Korean baseball league, thus everyone was afraid of him. His earned run average (ERA) was 0.99, which was believed to be impossible, and recorded total of 214 strike outs. In Korean series, Sun was warming up in the bullpen even though he threw 9 innings in previous day. The purpose of the head coach was not to let him pitch, but to make opponents afraid or give up. Actually, after the game, one of players from opponent team interviewed, and said, “Atmosphere in bench was extremely cold when we looked Sun was preparing.” In other words, reason for Yang’s and the head coach’s decision can be explained with precedented events: sense of duty and making certain

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