`Homerun Weekend` to Slam 56th

Only 1 is left now. Just one more homerun by `National Batter` Lee Seung-yeob (27, Samsung) will set up a new record of 56 homeruns that clears the Japanese record with an epoch-making in the Korean professional baseball.

There are 6 games left until the end of regular season, thus the chances to set up a new record are high. Of course, there was an 8-game no homerun slump from homerun number 53 to 54, but Lee slammed 55th after only 4 games to clear the anxiety of his surrounding. He says, “Only 1 left in the remaining 6 games. I will approach the batter box without any mental burden”

The games that come right before his eyes are against Lotte (27th) and SK (28th) Lee hit his 43rd homerun, the new record, in the game against Lotte in 1999, and hit his 300th homerun as the youngest in the world in the game against SK this year. “Something that happened once may happen again” so there is a chance for these two teams to become the scapegoats again.

Lotte, ranked the last wouldn’t divert too much against Lee, but it wouldn’t feel nice for them if they allow the ‘huge record’ in its home. Furthermore, the pitchers are suffering mental burden just as much as Lee, which resulted in bad control.

Kim Jin-woo allowed a walk to Lee Seung-yeob in his first chance to bat on the 25th, and said, “It is true that he makes me feel pressed more than others”showing the mental load. The surroundings say ‘never evade’ and corner catching is difficult. …… The pitchers all feel ‘bitter’.

Also, it is not easy to walk Lee since the pitcher has to face 4th and 5th hitters Ma Hae-yeong and Yang Jun-hyeok, which is one of the shortcuts to mass loss of points.

Lee was ‘waiting’ for a ball coming inside to hit his 55th homerun, but his hitting sense doesn’t seem very well. His `master` Coach Park Heung-shik said, ˝His tip of the bat is dull at present, and the `hitting bottoms up’` gives a revolution direction that is opposite from a batted ball close to a homerun.˝

Lee should hit the bottom side of the ball to make it fly high and away, but his batting at present hits the upper side of the ball to give resolution direction to the bottom to for a drive. This is why there is increasing number of grounders recently.

However, the baseball related persons are all confident in Lee’s new record establishment. Ha Il-seong KBS Commentator said, ˝It is not easy to say that Lee Seung-yeob’s hitting sense has become dull when I see him slamming away Kim Jin-woo’s 147Km/h fastball. I guarantee that he will get his 56th during the 2 games in the weekend.˝ Then he advised Lee to ˝to wait for a certain course, inside or outside˝ to hit a homerun.

Jo Gye-hyeon pitcher coach who were under same roof at Samsung for 2 years said that Lee Seung-yeob is an incredible hitter to see him get over the pressure. ˝He has flawless skill, and he is a very intelligent player who is capable of reading the pitcher’s mind. I believe he will get his 56th.˝

This is the reason why there are indications saying, ˝The state pension is facing crisis, and the officials are enjoying higher profit˝.

Professor Kim Jin-su of Yeonsei University Dept. of Social Welfare said, ˝The decision by the constitutional court show problem regarding the balance of social welfare, thus the government should reorganize official pension focusing on basic securing.˝ Then he added, ˝There are visible problems when a re-employed former government official earns operating income with the whole pension.˝

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com