“Trust me and good results”
NC’s ‘Changdan member’ rebellion, no hits for 44 days, silence → surprise final shot explosion “Trust me and good results”
A player who failed to hit a hit in the first division for more than a month hit a multi-hit and even hit the winning home run. NC Dinos’ Kim Sung-wook (30) swung a hard blow after a long time.
Kim Sung-wook started as the sixth batter and center fielder in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Changwon NC Park on the 5th. Having started the game on the bench, he had a chance to start as the main center fielder Jason Martin came out as a designated hitter.
In the at-bat, he was wandering in the early stages. Kim Sung-wook, who appeared in a situation with one out and second base after his team scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, played a game up to six pitches, but he stepped down with a flying ball to first base on a hanging slider. He then came out as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth inning, but was struck out by a check swing on an outer fastball.
However, Kim Sung-wook’s bat later erupted into flames. Appearing in the bottom of the sixth inning, he hit a fastball in the middle of Kiwoom’s second pitcher Lee Myung-jong and survived with a hit falling in front of the right fielder. Choi Bo-sung’s left-center hit and Park Se-hyuk’s grounder to second base advanced to third base, but failed to score.
Kim Sung-wook, who coordinated his batting sense, eventually became the team’s hero in his last at-bat. In the bottom of the eighth inning, when they faced 3-3, they cleared Kiwoom pitcher Kim Sung-jin with fouls in a row at the ball count 2-2. Soon after, he did not miss the fastball that entered the top of the strike zone for the seventh pitch and hit a solo home run with a distance of 115m over the left-center fence. It was his fifth home run of the season and his 60th career.
NC, which took the lead with Kim Sung-wook’s one-shot, put closer Lee Yong-chan in the top of the ninth inning to secure a 4-3 lead and won a thrilling victory. As a result, NC won three consecutive games while maintaining its joint third place (47 wins, 43 losses, 1 draw, 0.522) with the Doosan Bears. NC manager Kang In-kwon acknowledged the ball after the game, saying, “Today’s victory was decided by Kim Sung-wook’s home run in the eighth inning.”
Kim Sung-wook, who joined NC in 2012, is the only four founding members left on the team (Kim Sung-wook, Lee Min-ho, Lee Jae-hak, and Park Min-woo). Even before serving in the military, he was recognized for his gap power and excellent defensive skills. After joining the Sangmu Baseball Team in 2021, he was discharged from the military in September last year, and it was a resource that could have joined the team immediately if he had not undergone elbow surgery.
Kim Sung-wook, who has been struggling with teeth this season, started the season by inheriting the back number 25 of Yang Eui-ji (currently Doosan), who left for FA (free agent). In April, he batted 0.271 with two home runs as the main left fielder, but in May, he batted only 0.125 per month, and he was eventually demoted to the second division due to mistakes in defense. After that, he returned to the first division again, but failed to hit in 14 games on the 44th after the match against Changwon LG on June 22. After being pushed out of the starting lineup, he was eventually excluded from the first-team entry once more in mid-July. 토토사이트
Kim Sung-wook, who made a cool home run for the first time in a long time, said after the game, “I’m happy that I contributed to the team’s winning streak with today’s home run.” “Coach, coach always tells me to trust myself and play a lot,” Kim Sung-wook said. “Even when I hit a home run, I played with the idea of trusting myself more than I thought led to good results.”
Kim Sung-wook predicted his performance in the rest of the games, saying, “I will do my best to achieve good results with confidence in one at-bat and one at-bat in the remaining games.”