`No More Base-on-Balls!`, Scream of Jose

``Please face me.``

Best imported hitter, Jose of the Lotte Giants has been dispirited with the base-on-balls. Jose is the pivotal hitter of the Lotte, leading the four hitting categories, home runs (31), RBI (93), Slugging Percentage (0.707), and ranking the second place in the Batting Average (0.352) following Shim Jae-Hak of the Doosan (0.353). In particular, since he has shown the tremendous performance in a chance to the extent his BA over 0.400 with runners on bases, Jose has become `an object of fear` for each team.

Thus, the pitchers are always evading Jose intentionally. Due to the avoidance of the pitchers, Jose is expected to unintentionally break all records regarding the base-on-balls.

Jose walked 105 times during 101 games. If such a pace continues, it is a matter of time to break the record of the most walks in a season (114) established by Kim Ki-Tae (Samsung) in 1992. Among 105 walks that Jose obtained, intentional walks reach 24, closing in on 30 recorded by Lee Jong-Beom in 1997.

In game with the Samsung on 28th, the pitchers of Samsung concentrated on checking Jose in hold from the beginning. Im Chang-Yong intentionally walked Jose after one out with a runner on 2nd in the first inning. In the third, Jose acquired a base-on-balls even in a situation in which runners are on the first and the second.

Losing his feel of hitting due to the intensive checking of the pitchers, Jose only recorded 2 strikeouts, 1 ground-out and 1 pop-up out at remaining four bats. Jose has been a solid leader of BA, but as a result of no hit at four bats, he had to give up the leader to Shim Jae-Hak.

Jose seemed to ignore the concentrated checking of the pitchers, when he said that ``it would be okay if I don`t swing on the bad balls. I could hit well because I properly attacked the balls in the strike zone.`` But he does not look composed at bat toward the pitchers who are prone to walk him.

Kim Sang-Soo ssoo@donga.com