The Samsung Lions led the Kiwoom Heroes to a 1-0 victory thanks to Koo Ja-wook’s solo shot in the top of the 11th inning of extra time at the ‘2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League’ held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 29th. After the game, Koo Ja-wook said, “I thought that I should make a hit to survive rather than hit a home run. Since the hitters behind me were the main batters, I thought I should get on base somehow. I was lucky to have a home run.”메이저놀이터
Samsung has turned into a home run team this season. It has 147 home runs on its team. It is ranking first in this category. Last year, Samsung had only 88 home runs and ranked eighth. “Coach Lee Jin-young and Coach Bae Young-seop talk a lot comfortably. They always talk about the mood when analyzing players’ power and having meetings so that they can feel confident,” Koo said. “This is why our players are able to take the batter’s box in a relaxed mood. Rather than saying we did a good job, I think it’s because the batting coaches made us feel comfortable.”
Koo Ja-wook said that the more home runs you hit, the more your team can win. Koo Ja-wook said, “I think a strong team always wins a lot. It’s good for us to hit home runs, but winning comes first. There is no personal meaning to the No. 1 home run.”
Koo has 24 home runs this season. He has already surpassed his career high of 22 home runs he set in the 2021 season. He might become greedy to hit 30 home runs. “I don’t have any desire for long-distance shots,” Koo said. “I just thought about hitting more doubles. I did well today in baseball, but I may not be able to do well tomorrow. I don’t think about hitting 30 home runs. I hit enough home runs (before the season). I was only going to hit 10 home runs. I don’t have any greed for home runs.”
Samsung is rapidly growing its young players this year. Koo, who was the youngest player during the dynasty, has become the captain of the team. After graduating from Daegu High School, he wore a blue uniform as the 12th overall pick in the second round in 2012. At that time, Samsung reigned supreme in the KBO League. From 2011 to 2014, he won the title for four consecutive years, building the dynasty era. During the period, Koo stayed in the second division or served in the military at Sangmu.
After being discharged from the military, Koo made his first-team debut in 2015, where Samsung won the regular season but lost to the Doosan Bears in the Korean Series. Since then, Samsung has gradually lost strength due to the departure of its main players, and Koo has not made the Korean Series stage since then.
Samsung, which lost the top spot to the KT Wiz after the tiebreaker of the 2021 season, failed to advance to the Korean Series after being beaten by Doosan in the playoffs. Koo Ja-wook has also failed to make it to the Korean Series since his debut season in 2015. However, he is hopeful that it will be different this year.
Koo Ja-wook said, “We showed good performance this year because we worked hard. I think now is the process of young players growing up to build a new dynasty. I think it’s a team that is still lacking a lot. I think it’s a fact I know well, so I think the first thing to do is to do my best.”