The player who ended the close game in the 12th inning of extra time was KT’s “Mrs. Ahn” Jang Sung-woo (34).
Jang Sung-woo led his team’s 8-7 victory by hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League Kiwoom at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 27th.
In the game alone, Jang Sung-woo exploded with two hits, five RBIs and one run in six at-bats, including a home run, showing the true face of a “solver.”
In the bottom of the first inning, Jang hit a three-run homerun off Kiwoom starter Jeon Jun-pyo’s fastball of 143 kilometers per hour on the first and third bases with no outs, breaking the personal record of most homeruns in a season by hitting his 19th homerun of this season. He thus broke his 18th homerun record in 2018. He thus achieved a career-high at the age of 34.
In the bottom of the second inning, Jang also had a chance to hit a timely double to the left with one out and runners on the first and third bases, giving his team a 4-0 lead. KT seemed to be displaying a relaxed game by taking a 5-0 lead through the third inning thanks to Jang’s hard hitting. However, KT came from behind to lose 5-7 by getting hit by a timely double to the left by Kim Hye-sung in the top of the eighth inning, and had to revive the game by tying the game 7-7 with Kang Baek-ho’s superior solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and had to engage in a first-round match that lasted until the 12th inning.
If not, it could end up in a draw. However, KT had Jang Sung-woo. As Jung Joon-young got on base with a pitch and Mel Rojas Jr. had a hit to the midfielder, KT gained a chance to hit the bases with one out and runners on the first and third bases. Jang Sung-woo made a walk-off sacrifice fly to right field, and KT won 8-7, allowing it to jump to the 5th place alone. KT, which is continuing its all-time race against SSG, can secure at least a joint 5th place if it wins the match against Suwon Kiwoom on Sunday.
After the game, Jang said, “Our team has been strong against Kiwoom this season, but since the last two games were against Kiwoom, I thought it might be a little difficult. Baseball is not as good as you think. Baseball is a sport in which even the 10th place can beat the 1st place. I thought it would be a little easier at the beginning by picking up five points, but it led to a difficult game as expected. Still, I feel good that I won at the end.”
On his walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 12th inning, Jang said, “It was my first time to have a showdown with Park. I got a slider at the first pitch and got a strike. I thought I should aim for the slider, but it led to a fly.”
This year, Jang has played in 130 games with a batting average of .271, 19 home runs and 81 RBIs. Both home runs and RBIs are in career high seasons. Jang, who signed a four-year FA contract with KT after the end of the 2021 season, is considered one of the “exemplary FA” cases. He is showing off his attack strength compared to most top catchers, as he is ranked joint second in catcher’s home runs and second in RBIs in the league. 메이저놀이터
Park Dong-won (LG) is the only catcher who hit more home runs than Jang. As Park has 20 home runs, the two players are only one homerun apart. Yang Eui-ji (Doosan Hyundai) has 94 RBIs, but Jang produced two more home runs than Yang Eui-ji. Jang, who has 19 home runs alongside Kang Min-ho (Samsung Samsung), is leading KT’s “miracle” by displaying top-notch offense as a catcher. This is why KT has been using Jang as the center hitter throughout this season.
“I played for 17 years in the pro league, but I don’t think hitting 20 home runs is very meaningful. Rather, hitting 80 RBIs made me feel better,” Jang said. “I didn’t have any physical difficulties because I was in the center batting line throughout this season. I kept hitting at the center batting line, but I don’t put much importance on it because the coach wants me to connect to the next batter rather than a home run.”
In a nutshell, the amount of the FA contract of 4.2 billion won is a worthy cause. Jang joined Lotte under the first nomination in 2008 and was traded to KT in 2015 to succeed in turning his life around. One of the decisive moments is the large-scale trade involving Jang Sung-woo in the process for KT to win its first unified championship in 2021. Attention is focusing on whether Jang Sung-woo, the “winning catcher,” will be able to lead the fall miracle of KT again this time.