A Baseball Friendship

When they were young, they were poor. But even though they were hungry, they practiced their hitting and pitching. Even after their official training sessions ended, they remained on the field and practiced more. These men succeeded in their professional careers and decided to become sworn brothers.

This is the story of Kim Dong-ju (31), a former Doosan batter, and Park Myeong-hwan (30), an LG pitcher.

They played for Doosan (then OB) together in 1998 when they met for the first time. Park then had been playing for two years right after graduating from Chungam High School. Kim had just started his career as a baseball player after graduating from Korea University.

Park treated Kim as a senior. Park said, “I cannot forget the famous batter Dong-ju from Baemyung High School when I was a first-grader in high school. He had more homeruns than hits. I played against his team several times and I gave him bases-on-balls on purpose.”

Kim said, “Park is kind and listens to me very well.” Park is one of his friends to whom he can open up his mind.

The two have become competitors this year. Park was qualified to be a free agent and changed his team to LG. The two players have met three times this season. Kim is two out of seven against him with two bases-on-balls. But Kim also has three strikeouts.

Park said, “When I am the pitcher and Kim’s turn at bat comes, I laugh without reason. Kim also says he wants to laugh, but controls the urge.”

Kim said, “We give each other batting and pitching advice.”

Kim wants to be remembered as a hard-working player, while Park, with his record of 98 wins, 80 losses and nine saves, hopes to break the career wins record of 203 held by Song Jin-woo from Hanwha.

Kim and Park exercise together at a gym in Seoul. Their friendship runs deep. “We will work harder with our hardship of the past in mind,” they said.

beetlez@donga.com