Lee Jong-beom "I am the King of Hits and Steals"

“I am King, too”

The entire professional baseball fans are focusing attention on Lee Seung-yeob`s new Asia homerun record achievement, but there still are players who are competing fiercely for other individual titles.

On the 17th, with 10~15 games left for each team, an absorbing race is progressing for titles toward most hits, runs, era, number of wins, saves, etc.

Lee Jong-beom (Kia) and Park Han-I (Samsung) are distinguishing themselves in the offense categories. Lee Jong-beom is dashing fast as leader in most hits (154) and steals (54) as `good hitter and fast runner`. He has also accomplished 20-20 club (homerun – steals) He is ranked in the 2nd for runs (100) behind Park Han-I by only 2.

On the other hand, Park Han-I is running after Lee Jong-beom in most number of hits (148), behind by 6. Lee is also being pursued by Park Yong-taek (39개), 4 ahead of him. There are 15 games left, with Samsung playing 3 more games than Kia, which means nobody, can yet relax. The competition toward best hitter is also intense. Kim Dong-ju is in the lead (Doosan •batting average 0.340), and Lee Jin-yeong (SK•0.334) is right behind him.

As for pitcher, Lee Seung-ho (LG) is the leader of most strikeouts and Jeong Min-tae has high chance of becoming the best in winning percentage. (Hyundai•0.875) However, there is a melee for the rest of the categories. Lee Sang-mok (Hanhwa) and Jeong Min-tae (14 wins) are both leaders in the most wins, and Bowers is chasing closely with 13 wins. On the other hand, Bowers is leader in the ERA (3.01) with Lee Sang-mok (3.06) watching for a retake.

Lee Sang-hoon (LG•34 save points) is leading Jo Woong-cheon (SK•33 save points) by a small majority in the number of saves. As for hold, Lee Sang-yeol (Hyundai, 16 holds) and Cha Myeong-ju (Doosan, 14 holds) are engaged in the soundless combat.

jaeyuna@donga.com