On the 21st, Doosan won 5-2 with a multi-stolen base against Samsung to lead the season
Doosan won a valuable victory over difficult opponent Samsung in the away game in Pohang.
The Doosan Bears, led by head coach Lee Seung-yeop, won the away game against the Samsung Lions of the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Pohang Baseball Stadium on the 21st by hitting six hits including two home runs. Doosan, which is in an absolute inferiority of 2 wins and 12 losses against Samsung this season, won the game against Samsung, an important opponent in the ranking competition, and reduced its gap versus the third-ranked LG Twins, which lost 1-5 to the SSG Landers, to 1.5 games (62 wins, 2 draws and 57 losses).
Doosan’s starter Choi Won-joon won his fifth victory of the season with eight hits, three strikeouts and two runs in five innings, while Kim Taek-yeon set a tie record for the most saves (16 goals) in the history of high school graduates. At the plate, Jared Young and Kim Jae-hwan hit solo shots while Lee Yoo-chan, who hit a two-run timely hit in the fifth inning, became the winners of the final hit. And “Porsheng” Cho Soo-haeng, who is ranking first in stolen bases, stole two bases, setting a new record for the most stolen bases (58) in a season in Doosan’s history.
Doosan produced four stolen bases
Recently, stolen bases are not considered as high as before, but stealing second base from first base and third base from second base is a very valuable record that can change the atmosphere of the game at once. In fact, until the 1980s and 90s, so-called “Daedo” players such as Kim Il-kwon, Kim Jae-bak, and Lee Soon-cheol were recognized as stars throughout the league, and the competition between Jeon Joon-ho and Lee Jong-beom for stealing the title in 1993 drew the attention of baseball fans to the extent that it was important in all media. 메이저놀이터
There were times when Doosan put baseball ahead to the point where it was called “the top of the ladder,” and there were times when it had a slow image like their mascot. Doosan produced a total of four stealers in the club’s history, and the most impressive player was Jung Soo-geun, who was also famous for stealing. Jung Soo-geun monopolized the stealer king for four consecutive years from 1998 to 2001, and in 2001, when Jung Soo-geun took the last stealer king, Doosan won the Korean Series.
In 2006, an unknown player wearing Doosan’s uniform after being released from Hyundai Unicorns was named the “surprise stealer king.” He was Lee Jong-wook (NC Dinos operation, baserunning coach) who won the title with 51 stolen bases during the rookie season. Lee Jong-wook played for Doosan for seven years from 2006 to 2012, successfully stole 283 bases, and played an active role as Ko Young-min (Lotte Giants operation and baserunning coach), Min Byung-hun (TVing commentator) and Doosan’s “landscape.”
Starting in 2008, when Ko Young-min won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Doosan’s second base position was naturally inherited by Oh Jae-won. And Oh Jae-won recorded 46 stolen bases in 2011, beating Lee Dae-dae (SPOTV commentator) to become the first and last stolen base king. However, Oh Jae-won, who served as a commentator after retirement, lost his reputation as a baseball player when he was arrested on drug charges in April.
Jung Soo-bin, a “Jamsil Idol” who had been spotlighted as a fast-footed outfielder since he joined the pro league in 2009, became a 15-year veteran of the pro league and became the stealer for the first time in his career last season. He stole 39 bases last year, beating Shin Min-jae (37) of the LG Twins by two points to become the stealer king. Jung is ranking second in stolen bases this year, breaking his season’s record with 45 steals.
Jung Soo-geun surpassed his 1999 record, “Porsheng”
Cho was proven to have fast feet early on, as he played in 90 games and stole 92 bases when he was a player at Konkuk University. Doosan also selected Cho as the fifth overall pick in the second round and first round in the 2016 rookie draft. In fact, it is extremely unusual for a left-handed outfielder who has little potential for long balls to be selected in the first round in the rookie draft. This means that Doosan gave high marks to Cho’s fast feet and sophisticated hitting.
However, Cho rarely had a chance to play as a starting player after joining the pro league. Since 2016, Doosan’s outfield has established a strong outfield line that leads to Kim Jae-hwan, Min Byung-hun and Park Gun-woo (NC), and as Jeong Su-bin finished his military service in the fall of 2018, there was no room for Cho to squeeze in. It was also a big burden for Cho to join the team one after another that similar outfield competitors with fast feet such as Kim Tae-geun and Ahn Kwon-soo joined the team.
Cho, who had not been able to keep his position in the first division entry rather than jumping to the starting lineup, was given the opportunity to play in left field this year as more games in which Kim Jae-hwan plays as a designated hitter increased. He then maximized his strengths and started to impress manager Lee Seung-yeop and Doosan fans with his explosive base running every time he got on base. Once Cho gets on base, the ordinary chance of a runner on the first base turns into a scoring position.
Of course, Cho was threatened with the main position as his monthly batting average fell to .243 in June and Lee Yoo-chan turned to the outfield. However, rather than sticking to the main position, Cho steadily built up the stolen base record by doing his best in the position he was given. And with two stolen bases in the third and fifth innings against Samsung on the 21st, Jung Soo-geun broke Doosan’s record for most stolen bases in a season set in 1999 with his 58th stolen base of the season.
Some critics say that Cho has a slightly lower batting average (.272) and fewer hits (75), which is less efficient than the visible record. However, only Kim Do-young (91.9 percent) and Kim Ji-chan (91.7 percent) are recording higher stolen bases than Cho in this season’s league. It is not known what position Cho will play in the rest of the season, but he is definitely the best player in Doosan’s history.