“He ran really hard. So I gave him a big hug.”
He became the heroine of a drama that turned around. In an interview after the game, however, he talked more about his teammate, who would have struggled due to mistakes, rather than his performance. And he talked more about starting pitchers who pitched well. Park Dong-won, LG’s main catcher, dramatically led his team to four consecutive wins.스포츠토토
At the bottom of the ninth inning against NC Dinosaurs at Jamsil on Tuesday, Park hit a forkball by rival closer Lee Yong-chan with runners on the first and second bases with two outs, to end the game. He did not miss his real throw at the full count, and the ball hit the top of the left fence. With Park’s two-run double, LG beat NC 4-3 to win three consecutive games over the weekend.
The following is Park Dong-won and reporters’ questions and answers after the game.
-Tell us how you feel about leading the reversal.
All of our players had good concentration today. I thought about why they had good concentration, but I remembered what Norma Garcia Farah said in the past. It was said that the pitching tempo made it good, but I think that’s right. The pitchers’ pitching tempo was fast and their concentration was good. I think that’s the secret to a good defense. The only regret is that (Son) Joo-young threw well and he hit a home run in the seventh inning. I had an ominous feeling that Davison was going to hit one, but that came out.
-Do you remember getting a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning more than a walk-off double?
That’s right. What a waste. Isn’t Davison such a dangerous player? That’s how much we prepared. In fact, I thought of only one strike at bat in the seventh inning. I planned to put one deep in my body and then lure it all to the outside breaking ball. But I really think Davison is a good player. I didn’t miss just one entry. I was really sad at that moment.
-I talked about the tempo, but I used PeachCom today. Did using PeachCom have a good influence on the fast tempo?
Yes, as soon as Ju-young received it, she pressed PeachCom. In fact, to use PeachCom, you have to deliver the signature this fast. So I pressed it as fast as possible. The faster I pressed it, the faster the game progressed. It was good for the tempo.
-Son finished the regular innings today. He now ranks second in ERA (3.67). Tell us about Son’s growth as a catcher who works with him.
First of all, he is a really good pitcher with a fastball. And I really like to put in a breaking ball as a strike compared to the past. It will be very difficult for batters to put in a strong fastball and a breaking ball as a strike.
-In the beginning of the game, he pitched mostly in balance, but started pitching at full strength in the fourth inning. He also showed impressive performance as a starter.
That is one of Son’s biggest strengths. As he continues to experience this, he adjusts the timing of his pitches to his full strength and changes his ball mix completely. Son, who is currently a pitcher, has many options to deal with batters.
-“Please tell us the moment of your finishing hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.”
I had two strikes from the start. So I thought I couldn’t do it. But I had three fastballs. At that moment, I thought that a breaking ball would eventually come. I thought the opponent was more burdensome to go with four fastballs. I was aiming for a breaking ball and the actual pitching came in, and good results came out
-Did you feel the moment you hit it?
No. The defender jumped. I thought he was caught. I thought he was out because he followed me to the end and jumped. After seeing the ball fall, I knew how to end it.
-It has won four games in a row. The team is in a good mood.
The winning streak is good, but looking back on last year, I think the winning series consistently is better than winning and losing for a long time. I want to continue to play the winning series with two wins and one loss.
-He is No. 1 in home runs for catchers. He could block Yang Eui-ji and Kang Min-ho, who have been on the Golden Glove for 10 years.
No. The two brothers are really good. Whenever I play with KIA, I always tell (Choi) how he turns the clock back like that. But the two brothers are always turning the clock back. That’s why I don’t think too much about Golden Glove. The prize I want to receive is the defense award.
-I played two defense games today. I made two out-counts with a throw to third base.
To be honest, I made the throwing easier. When I caught a runner on the third base by throwing the ball to the third base, I originally tried to fill the bases. So I threw the ball comfortably because I could fill it up even if I failed, but the result came out well.
-After finishing it, Koo Bon-hyuk hugged me a lot.
Bon-hyuk ran really hard. So I only hugged Bon-hyuk. It must have been hard because of the mistake. If we lost, we would have lost more confidence, but we will forget it quickly because we won. I think we will play good defense again.
LG’s Park Dong-won hugs Koo Bon-hyuk, who made a mistake in the top of the ninth inning after hitting a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning against NC Dinosaurs in Jamsil on the 11th. Photo | LG Twins
-Last year, the batting pace was very good in May and then dropped sharply in the summer. This year, it has been going much more steadily than last year.
We have prepared a lot for this year. My goal this year was to reduce the number of ups and downs. So I prepared a lot in winter and agonized a lot. I agonized over two things. Will I be a homerun batter or a mid- to long-distance hitter? The conclusion was to increase my OPS by becoming a mid- to long-distance hitter. Players with high OPS are widely recognized. That’s why I focused on increasing my batting average and increasing my OPS.