[Baseball] Kim SH Finishes as Leader in 3 Categories

Slugger Kim Sang-hyun of the Kia Tigers has more to celebrate than just his team going straight to the Korean Series.

He finished this season as the league leader in homeruns (36), runs batted in (127), and slugging percentage (.632). He also hit his second grand slam of the season in the first week of May and three consecutive homeruns in one game, as well as leading the league in homers and RBIs this month.

Other stars who shone this season include Kim’s teammate Choi Hee-seop, who finished second in the league with 33 homeruns this season after returning to Korea. Lee Dae-ho of the Lotte Giants led his team to the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles made the superlative “worst” list by losing a game despite recording 14 strikeouts.

Kia, which won the regular season title for the first time in team history, tied for the league lead with six "bests" with the LG Twins, who finished seventh in the standings.

Losing in the Korean Series last season, LG played well until mid-season and eventually finished second to last.

LG ranked second in the number of this season “worsts" with seven behind leader Hanwha (eight), who finished with the league`s worst record and lost 12 straight games this season.

why@donga.com