The Best Foreign Batter in History

Although foreign players make up a huge portion of the Korean Baseball League (KBL), it is difficult for them to capture titles and especially become leaders in hits when opposing pitchers attempt to keep them in full check.

In reality, only two players in KBL history have taken the batting title since the implementation of the foreign player system in 1998. The origin of the "Korean Dream" Doosan`s Woods captured double titles in homeruns and RBIs in his debut year (1998), as well as the MVP award and an award for RBIs in 2001. Lotte`s "Imported Seagull" Hose also won double titles in slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

This is why the Korean fans still remember the most impressive foreign duo even after their departure from the KBL.

But since the start of this season, an extraordinary foreign batter who has surpassed the famous foreign duo of Woods and Hose has been attracting attention with his brilliant performances. The very player is 30 year-old Broomba. Broomba, who came to the KBL last year as the replacement for Franklin, received the MVP award in the Korean series, and has maintained momentum this year to lead in four categories including the three major titles (i.e. “triple crown”) as he leads in batting average (0.361), home-runs (20), RBIs (52) and slugging percentage (0.712). If Broomba captures the Triple Crown, he would be notched 2nd in KBL history after Lee Man-Soo in 1984.

Broomba is also within one of the leading group in hits (69) as he stands in 3rd. He also stays right behind the current leader Han-hwa`s Davis with a gap of only 0.001 in on-base percentage (0.463) and stands in 4th place in runs (42) as he is challenging records in seven categories excluding the category of steals (4).

But Broomba has been walked 13 times in his last nine games, as he appears to also take the lead in walks with 38, which is probably due to extreme reservations by opposing pitchers.

Broomba, who is hoping to become the 3rd “Korean Dream”, draws attention on how long he might be able to sustain his rising momentum.

Hwan Soo Zang zangpabo@donga.com