“Hey Broomba, Why Don’t You Give Up Your Lead?”

Baseball players often say, “I have no personal interest. My team’s score is my first interest.”

It often sounds as if they are only thinking of their team’s goal. Yet, at the bottom of their hearts, they want personal titles too.

In this year, when the turning point is near, individual competitions are more serious than in any other year. They are burning inside even though they don’t let it show on the outside.

Hyundai’s Broomba is facing a fierce challenge in batting. Up until last month, some even predicted that he would come out on top with the best homerun mark and receive the triple crown. However, he allowed his rivals to chase as his condition suffered from the summer heat and rainy weather. In addition, there is a concern that he may enter into a slump after trying unreasonable swings aiming only for long hits as his self-esteem gets damaged due to his drop in the “best 10” list.

Although Broomba is as of Wednesday the top hitter with 25 homeruns, “Podo Daejang (police chief)” Park Kyung-wan (SK) is following him at three behind. Yang Jun-hyuk (Samsung), the “Hero of the Hurrah batting style,” recorded 20 homeruns. Park Kyung-wan, who left out from the All Star Game like Broomba, hit two homeruns Wednesday, including a grand slam in the game with Hanhwa, as if he is free from worries.

In batting, Yang Jun-hyuk recorded 72 hits and became the top hitter ahead of Broomba, who has 70 hits. Broomba has recorded only two hits in his most recent five games.

Competition for the top batter spot is even hotter. Hanhwa Davis is at the top with his .351 batting average, which is only slightly ahead of Broomba’s (.350) in second place. Every morning when we wake up, we see the rank has changed.

Davis and Broomba recorded only 0.002 difference in their walk rate. Currently, Davis is leading with his rate of 0.485 and Broomba is second with 0.456.

There is fierce competition happening on the mound as well. In multiple wins, Rios (Kia), Bae Young-soo (Samsung), and Rath (Doosan) shared the lead with nine wins. Chang Moon-seok (LG) and Park Myung-hwan (Doosan) shared the fourth rank with eight wins. Pitchers who won six games number five, including Kim Soo-kyung (Hyundai) and Song Chang-shik (Hanhwa).

At the final game for the top, Lim Chang-yong (Samsung) and Cho Yong-jun (Hyundai) are playing a rescue game with their pride depending on the result. Lim Chang-yong is leading with 21 saves, followed by Cho Yong-jun with 19 saves in second place.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com