Kim Do-young (20), the present and future of the KIA Tigers, glistened his eyes as he looked higher after recalling the 10-year-old club record. KIA won 9 consecutive games with a 7-1 victory over the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 6th. It was an achievement that waited 10 years and 3 months, more specifically 3,730 days. KIA has not surpassed this record for 10 years since it achieved its last nine consecutive wins from the Mokdong Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom) match on June 8, 2013 to the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles match on June 20.
In 2013, when KIA won nine consecutive games. Kim Do-young was a 10-year-old kid. At that time, Kim Do-young was in the fourth grade of elementary school, and it was time to learn baseball and have fun. I don’t remember KIA winning nine consecutive games in 2013 because I’ve never watched a professional baseball game properly. 스포츠토토
Kim Do-young said, “I honestly don’t think I liked baseball that much back then. I started playing baseball in the fourth grade of elementary school, but I didn’t watch a lot of professional baseball then. I think I’ve seen him since middle and high school,” he recalled 10 years ago.
The boy, who did not like baseball very much, grew up to be the main player of KIA’s nine consecutive wins 10 years later. Kim Do-young started as the second batter and third baseman and played with two hits (one home run) and two RBIs in five at-bats. Kim Do-young hit a wedge two-run shot in the top of the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead.
It was a home run made by Kim Do-young, not Kwak Bin’s mistake. This means that the batting sense has been hot recently. Kim Do-young hit a 145-per-hour fastball that came high from the ball count 1-1 and crossed the left fence. It was a large two-run gun with a distance of 130 meters.
Kim Do-young said, “(Kwakbin) seemed to keep using his body to me. “I thought Yang Eui-ji (Doosan catcher) was paying attention to his body, including his first and second at-bats, so I think the timing came just like that,” he said.
“I think it fits the best.” Maybe it was because I went in thinking that the ball would come (to my body) from the batter’s box, but I think it hit me well. I was convinced that it was a home run. I got hit because I was filmed completely. He added, “It was originally a ball that was bent, but it went as it was, so I felt a home run.”
Regarding leading the team to nine consecutive wins, he said, “It’s an honor. As a KIA fan, I am also honored to win nine consecutive games in 10 years. “I feel good these days because I think I went out and helped,” he replied with a big smile.
Kim Do-young has received keen attention as he has been called a super rookie since he graduated from Dongseong High School in Gwangju and joined KIA as the first nomination in 2022. He has been known since high school as a shortstop with fast feet and contact skills, and was evaluated for a style similar to Lee Jong-beom (currently LG Twins coach) who is the “son of the wind.”
Last year, when he was a rookie, he actually had a time to adapt to the KBO League. In 103 games, he batted .237 (53 hits in 224 at-bats), three home runs, 19 RBIs and 13 steals. It is true that the performance was not enough to expect the Rookie of the Year award, but he learned a little about how to survive by exploding his potential in the professional stage by steadily playing in the first division for a year.
Kim Do-young, who has grown to the next level, is proving why he pushed out Moon Dong-joo (20, Hanwha Eagles) and was chosen by KIA last year. He almost blew the first half of the season due to a fracture in the left mid-foot bone at the beginning of the season, but he is flying after his return. In 49 games this season, he has a batting average of 0.310 (62 hits in 200 at-bats), four home runs, 27 RBIs and 15 steals, contributing greatly to KIA’s last-minute competition for the semifinals.
While KIA won nine consecutive games, Kim Do-young’s sense of hitting got even hotter. He has a batting average of 0.371 (13 hits in 35 at-bats), two home runs and seven RBIs, leading the batting lineup with Choi Hyung-woo and Na Sung-bum. During this period, KIA has been devastating the opponent’s mound to the extent that it has a team batting average of 0.336 points.
Regarding the recent sense of hitting, Kim Do-young said, “I think the cycle has come up,” adding, “When things are bad, I think I reduced the slump period by talking to power analysis coaches or batting coaches.”
He stressed that last year’s pain was the foundation for this year. Kim Do-young said, “At this time last year, I think I got used to the pro a little bit. The record has changed this year. At the end of the first half, he seems to have established a lot of what to do at-bat. “I haven’t experienced all of it yet, but I think baseball is doing well this year, maybe because I think I experienced it last year,” he replied honestly.
As of the 7th, KIA is in fifth place with 57 wins, 50 losses, and 2 draws. It remains 0.5 games behind the fourth-ranked NC Dinos, while the sixth-ranked Doosan Bears have dropped to four games. The KIA team, which has gained momentum with nine consecutive wins, is trying to look up more. Although it is far from the leading LG Twins by 8.5 games, it is not impossible considering Doosan’s miracle of winning the integrated title, breaking the 100% chance of SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) winning the regular season in 2019. Na Sung-beom asked back, “Isn’t he playing baseball to win the first place?” and said the players would look to the top and keep running.
Kim Do-young thinks the same. He said, “I just want to go up to the top. We always believe that we have the power to get to first place. I want to go up to the top. We also wonder how far we will go,” he said, vowing to do his best to win as much as possible in the remaining 35 games of the season.
KIA is now trying to win 10 consecutive games. The last 10 consecutive wins were recorded in 2009, when they won the combined championship. It was a historic season that won its first championship since the parent company changed from Haitai to KIA. KIA won 10 consecutive games from Sajik Lotte Giants match on July 30 to Gwangju Lotte Giants match on August 12. Will KIA achieve 10 consecutive wins against Doosan in Jamsil on the 7th and receive the good energy of 2009 to look to the top and run further like Kim Do-young’s wish.
