They Are Post-Seung-yeop

The competition to be homerun king is already hot in 2004 Pro Baseball, especially now that Lee Seung-yeop has left to play in Japan.

The most promising hitter is Samsung’s foreign player, Oriori, even if only two games have been played. He was branded as a troublemaker because of a “self-leaving” incident that happened just before the opening of season, but showed his talent with three homers, satisfying Samsung’s manager, Kim Eung-riong, who had been displeased with Oriori.

It is impressive that Oriori has a similar style as Lee Seung-yeop. Oriori is also left-handed and uses the impact of a fast swing. He is a veteran player who slammed 127 homers in the Major Leagues. He is also similar to Lee in terms of burst: he hit a homer in the opener on April 4 and hit homers in consecutive at bats on April 5.

In addition, he has an advantage because Deagu Stadium, where most homerun kings have been from, is his home stadium.

In contrast, generally acknowledged as the frontrunner for the homerun title after Lee Seung-yeop, Hyundai’s Shim Jeong-soo has not yet appeared in a regular-season game. He has had pain in his left side since he finished an exhibition game against Samsung last month, and was held out of the opener because of the discovery of 3mm of torn muscle after a close examination.

It is not a big injury, however, so he travels with his team and waits for playing time. His strong point is that he has maintained his pace by coming in second place in homers for two years in a row.

2000 homerun king Park Kyoung-hwan also hits in spurts. He batted poorly for the pressure of catching job, but he is rising with the flow at the beginning of the season with homers for two days straight.

In addition, Hanhwa’s Kim Tae-kyun, who was selected as a successor by Lee Seung-yeop and Ma Hae-young, who was moved to Kia, and Doosan’s Kim Dong-joo, who is remembered for an out-of-the-park homer in Chamsil Stadium, haven’t hit homers yet, but they are strongly favored for the homerun title.

Hwan Soo Zang zangpabo@donga.com