It was a very rare scene. LG veteran Kim Hyun-soo (35) recorded a sacrifice bunt. It has been 16 years since his time at Doosan in 2007, his second year as a pro.메이저놀이터
On September 22, 2007, Kim Hyun-soo attempted a sacrifice bunt in the match against Samsung and succeeded. Since then, there has been no sacrifice bunt until last year. In the Samsung-LG match held on the 13th at Jamsil Stadium, Kim Hyun-soo recorded the second sacrifice bunt in his personal career after 5743 days.
In the match against Samsung held at Jamsil Stadium on the 13th, LG was dragged down 0-1, conceding a run due to a defensive mistake in the middle. Leading batter Oh Ji-hwan’s double in the 7th inning led to Lee Jae-won’s sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1.
In the 8th inning, lead batter Kim Min-seong chose a walk. Replacement of main runner Jung Joo-hyun. Kim Hyun-soo entered the at-bat from the first base unscathed. On the mound is left-handed pitcher Lee Seung-hyun.
Kim Hyun-soo had previously retreated with a fly ball from center fielder, a ground ball from first baseman, and a straight hit from third baseman. The moment Lee Seung-hyun threw the first ball, Kim Hyun-soo took a bunt stance and calmly placed a sacrifice bunt in the direction of third base.
The third baseman catches it and throws it to first base for an out. It became 1st and 2nd. Afterwards, Oh Ji-hwan’s timely hit to the left broke out in the second out and 1st and 2nd bases, and he took a 2-1 lead and won.
Coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop said after the game, “It was a strategy. He instructed me to use a surprise bunt,” he said. In order to increase the success rate, he did not prepare a bunt stance in advance, but when the pitcher entered the pitch, he made a sacrifice bunt strategy like a surprise bunt.
Hyun-soo Kim once attempted a surprise bunt to break the opponent’s defensive shift (a shortstop or third baseman moves between 1st and 2nd base and only one infielder is positioned to the left of 2nd base) when there is no lead batter or runner, but the runner It was the first time he was instructed to bunt from the bench while on first base. Spotify commentator Oh Jae-won, who relayed the game that day, was surprised that “chicken meat has grown on his body.”
LG failed to score in the 2nd and 5th innings on this day, two chances to second base safely. When he reached second base safely in the 7th inning, coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop directed Moon Bo-gyeong, who scored 7 RBIs in one game, including a home run, against Hanwha on the 12th, to tie the score by ordering a sacrifice bunt.
In the game by one point, in the 8th inning, Kim Hyun-soo also made a sacrifice bunt operation on first base. In order to increase the chances of scoring and winning, Kim Hyun-soo ordered an unfamiliar strategy. It was Kim Hyun-soo’s second sacrifice bunt, which came out in 7917 at-bats in 1863 games. He carried out the operation calmly and became a stepping stone to victory.
Oh Ji-hwan, who hit the final blow, said, “I knew how Hyeon-soo hyung felt that way, so I thought he had to save it. He wanted to save his chance.”
Kim Hyun-soo fell into a severe slump with a batting average of 10% after May. His season batting average dropped to the .25 level. In the end, coach Yeom did not let Kim Hyun-soo play before Gocheok Kiwoom on the 6th and 8th, and clung to restoring the batting balance through training.
Kim Hyun-soo played again against Hanwha in Daejeon on the 9th and 11th and showed signs of improving his sense of hitting little by little with 5 hits in 13 at-bats (.385 batting average). No hit in 3 at-bats that day. In order to win in the decisive game, Hyun-soo Kim, who had only done it once 16 years ago, ordered a sacrifice bunt. Everyone was able to laugh at the success of the bunt and the victory of the team.