Have to Win by All means

Who will be the final winner?

Tigers and Twins, the two teams that have done their utmost to grab the championship, will have a final bout. It is the final 5th game of the playoff between Kia (i.e. Tigers) v. LG (Twins) on Nov. 1st in Kwangjoo.

So far they have got even. (Each won 2 games) Each of the teams is expected to utilize all the means available to it. It will be a game for which no prediction is possible. Only god knows who will win. Then, on whom is the goddess of victory smiling? Two teams will be compared below.

▽ Starting pitcher = Kia will put on the mound Kipper, who recorded the most wins (i.e. 19) during the regular season. Against LG, Kipper has recorded three wins so far. Proving his records, Kipper shut out Twins by allowing 1 ERA and 6 hits in the second game held on Sep. 27th. On the other hand, Twins put in the starting line-up Choi Won-ho, who beat Hyundai in the first game of the semi-playoff. In the post-season, however, he pitched as a one point-reliever in the second and third game, losing the former with his balk in the 11th. For LG that has been used up all the pitchers it has in each game, the victory depends on the performance of Choi. Objectively, considering the records, it is hard to deny that Kipper is better than Choi.

▽ Keys = The best hitter of each team, Chang Sung-ho of Kia and Lee Byung-gyu of LG, feels a pressuring responsibility. Chang, who was the best hitter during the regular season, demonstrated an excellent performance in the fourth fame with 4 hits and 1 RBI for 5.

On the other hand, Lee recorded about 0.1 batting average up to the third game of the Korean Series. But in the fourth, he kept his name by hitting 2 runs with 1 RBI. The upcoming final 5th game will probably be determined by a big shot of either.

Another key player is Lee Sang-hoon of LG. In the fourth, he recorded his first post-season save. At the beginning of the post-season, Lee looked out of stamina. Game after game, he seems to have regained his strength.

Up to this point, neither of the two teams recorded any error. Therefore, an unexpected, fatal error could ruin either of them. In addition, the size of Kwnagjoo ballpark is small. Thus, one homer could call the shots.

▽ Worries = Rookie Kim Jin-woo is the hot potato for Kia. During the regular season, he recorded 12 wins (11 losses) as starting pitcher. In the post-season, he had taken the mound as a saver. But, rather than saving his team, he worsened the situation for his team. In the first and second game, he allowed 18 ERAs during only three innings. Seems like he suffered from inexperience in big games. In the third and fourth, he was not allowed any opportunity to pitch.

What harasses LG most is its lack of reliable starting pitchers. LG manager Kim Sung-keun even commented, "Ace has no meaning whatsoever for us at all. We just have to pitch in whichever pitcher available." Even though LG has good one-point relievers and savors, it can`t do anything when the mound collapses at the early stage of the game.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com