Despite an early-season slump, his manager’s faith in him remained unwavering, and he’s been rewarded in May.
This is the story of Yoon Dong-hee (21) of the Lotte Giants. On May 21, Yoon hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Kia Tigers at Sajik Stadium in Busan, Korea, to help the Giants come back from a 0-1 deficit and win the game. It was the moment when ‘last place’ Lotte overturned leader Kia.
With runners on second and third, Yoon ignited the hearts of the 14,066 baseball fans who attended the resignation ceremony with a storming double from second base to home plate on a wild pitch by opposing pitcher Choi Ji-min. Lotte then added Yoo Kang-nam’s two-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete the 6-1 victory.
After the game, Yoon Dong-hee said, “The trajectory of the pitcher’s (Choi Ji-min) ball was very low. I thought it would go far if I missed, so I ran full speed. I felt like I could go far enough to get home,” he laughed.
“When I was going from second to third, I thought I had about 80 percent (of the way to home). I saw the coach’s sign and I was confident.”
Yoon hasn’t played in the second team even once this year. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung explained, “We don’t have anyone else to play center field, and he’s not a good hitter, but he has a role to play.”
He is slowly repaying the trust. After hitting just 2-for-2 in April, he improved his batting average to 3-for-3 in May. His OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) in May is 0.844.
Yoon said, “I’m careful to answer, but since I got (a hit) today… I think my timing was off because I was greedy for runs. Now I’m trying to hit more boldly than 토토사이트 before. I’m not looking at the ball too much and not thinking about getting on base, but I’m putting the ball in play in favorable counts.”
The team has been missing key hitters such as Jeon Jun-woo, Jung Hoon and Son Ho-young due to injury. “The whole team is focused on every single ball,” said Yoon Dong-hee. We are trying to win one game at a time. We’re not looking too far ahead.”
He even made a nice run on the game-winning hit. “He said something and slapped me on the butt, but I’m not good at English,” Yoon said with a wry smile.