The LG Twins won their first championship in 29 years with a 6-2 victory over the KT Wiz in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on March 13. After the game, Kim Hyun-soo said with a big smile on his face, “Everyone did a great job today,” and said that every player’s performance led to the victory in the final game. There were many players who deserved to be recognized.
The Korean Series MVP went to captain Oh Ji-hwan, who hit three nutritious home runs in a row from Games 2 through 4, and the Daily MVP for Game 5 went to Park Hae-min, who had two hits, two RBIs, two doubles, and a crucial diving catch in the outfield. Although he wasn’t considered the best player, the “little giant” Moon Sung-ju also contributed to the team’s six runs with his steady batting performance in the No. 8 spot with three hits and one RBI.
A month later, Moon started preparing for next year. He started working out with Hong Chang-ki, Baek Seung-hyun and Lee Jae-won at the Yoon Hyung-joon Training Center in Bangbae-dong. On the 12th, we asked Moon to recall his memories from a month ago. “I didn’t feel bad before the Korean Series. I didn’t care about the results, I just kept hitting, and good results came. I think the heavens helped me.”
He said he felt so good that he wanted to continue playing baseball even after the last game was over. “I felt like I wanted to play more,” Moon said. The feeling was so good. From the second to the fourth game, I had one hit each, but I had the confidence that I could do something better. I played with that confidence, and I got a good result in the fifth game.”헤라카지노
In the fourth game, after hitting a two-run triple to extend the lead from 9-1 to 11-1, Moon celebrated with a big smile. Looking back, Moon said, “I think it was because I played in a good mood. I was able to enter the batting cage with a good mood in the fifth game.”
Next year will be her third year as a mainstay, having played more than 100 games since 2022. However, Moon still has a tag that he hasn’t completely shaken off. For the second year in a row, his pace slowed down in the last half of the season. This year, when the same result occurred despite batting practice, manager Yoon Kyung-yup diagnosed it as “not a physical fitness problem.”
Moon Sung-joo said, “We won’t know until next year, but since I failed in the first and second seasons, I need to prepare well so that I don’t repeat the same failure next year. When such a situation (slump) comes, I try not to think about it as bad or good, but to think about it positively,” he said. “Last year, I played a lot of designated hitter, and this year, I played a lot of defense, so I think (through experience) I will have less stamina problems next year,” he added.
Meanwhile, automatic ball-strike judgment (ABS), which is set to be introduced next year, could be a big factor for Moon’s type of hitter. In 136 games and 534 at-bats this year, Moon struck out 34 times and walked 67 times. He has nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts, the highest walk/strikeout ratio of any hitter in regulation. “I don’t care about (the umpire’s call), I think you just have to hit it the same way,” Moon said, “and if a low changeup is called a strike, you have to go with it. When I used to catch high pitches, I used to get a little ‘nervous’ because I’m short. After another season, I got used to it and it was fine.”