Outfield Covered with Nets Awaiting Lee Seung-yup`s Homerun

“I don`t really care whether I`m hit with homeruns or not. All I want is my team`s victory.”

Kim Young-soo, SK`s starting left-handed pitcher for the game against Samsung at Daegu seemed unexpectedly calm before the game. He said that he arrived at Daegu the previous day, and saw on the TV how the baseball ground got into a mess when the pitcher intentionally gave four to Lee Seung-yup.

“I imagined myself throwing at that moment. Would the audience have been so irritated if the ticket to the play-offs is at stake? Depending on the situation, I will confront or avoid Seung-yup. Fans at Daegu will understand.”

SK is currently competing with Hanhwa to get the final ticket for the play-offs. Kim, who desperately needed to gain another victory, put in all he had when throwing the baseball against all batters of Samsung, including Lee Seung-yup. Such efforts reaped superb pitching achievements, for he did not allow a single hit until the top 6th, when Samsung`s Jin Gap-yong hit a single homerun.

Lee could not hit any homeruns, either. At his first bat, Lee hit a ground ball, resulting in a double out, and had four balls at his second bat. During the top 6th, Lee hit a two-base hit, but had another set of four balls at the 9th, and failed to hit another homerun before his home ground fans. No homeruns for the last two games, after the historical 55th in Gwangju on September 25, during the game against Kia. Only 4 games remain for

Lee Seung-yup, which could possibly make Lee feel desperate.

SK won the game by 5 to 1, with Kim Young-soo`s great pitching (2 hits and 1 loss, during 5 2/3 innings) and Lee Ho-jun`s two-run homerun. Baseball fans started crowding in at the Daegu stadium from the morning, and bought all 12,000 tickets two hours prior to the beginning of the game, thanks to Lee Seung-yup`s popularity. When Lee had four balls at the 9th inning, several fans even threw bottles onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Shim Jung-soo of Hyundai hit his 53rd homerun for this season, a preemptive two-run homerun at the bottom 1st, in Suwon against LG, on September 27.

Sang-Soo Kim Chang Jeon ssoo@donga.com jeon@donga.com