“Honestly, I think I was lazy.”
Kiwoom Lee Hyung-jong hit the end of the 10th overtime in the opening game against Hanwha on the 1st, and heard “thank you” several times from his colleague Lee Jung-hoo. Hyungjong Lee said, “Junghoo made some mistakes.” In the beginning of the 8th inning, when Kiwoom was leading 2-1, it was a response to Noh Si-hwan’s double that cut through the middle left. At the time, Noh Si-hwan went up to third base due to Kiwoom’s mistake.
According to the record, the mistake was made by left fielder Kim Tae-jin. He put his glove on, but the ball went backwards. At this time, Lee Jung-hoo, who quickly followed, managed to catch the ball well. However, he seemed to throw to third base somehow loosely. First of all, this appearance became the cause for Noh Si-hwan to aim for the third base.
Noh Si-hwan said ahead of the Gocheok Kiwoom match on the 2nd, “I came out instinctively. When he got to second base, he saw an opening. He always sees his opponent’s gaps. I think he was frankly indolent. He made the right decision. He said let’s play third base. More than anything he wanted to make the team win.”
The reason Lee Jung-hoo said ‘oops’ wasn’t that he loosely threw to third base. It wasn’t easy to catch Roh Si-hwan at third base, who was accelerating anyway. However, when a ball is hit in the middle left and right, the center infielders go up to the outfield and play the role of cut man. At the time, shortstop Edison Russell was in the outfield. If Lee Jung-hoo wet the batted ball and immediately connected it to Russell, Russell would have been able to make a bet on third base. Lee Jung-hoo’s mistake was this. Coach Hong Won-ki also said, “It was hot” ahead of the game on the 2nd.
On the other hand, Hanwha coach Carlos Subero praised Noh Si-hwan for running. “He is a player who is constantly growing. what a good game he played He also improved his running skills. It’s not bad for him to get 1 hit on An Woo-jin, but he hits 2. He continued the good pace of the exhibition game and is positive, and it is a year to watch the growth to the next level.”
However, Lee Jung-hoo is not the best hitter in the KBO and a ‘baseball genius’ for nothing. He quietly took revenge in the game on the 2nd. Another opponent was Noh Si-hwan. He definitely has a good feel for hitting. Noh Si-hwan hit the two-seam through Eric Yokishi, who had one out and first baseman Kiwoom in the first inning, and hit the ball through the middle right.
At this time, Lee Jung-hoo’s response was extremely agile. After catching the ball with a one-bound, he connected it to cut man Kim Hye-seong, who came out to the outfield. Kim Hye-seong threw the ball accurately and tagged out Lee Won-seok, who was digging into the home. It was a perfect relay play from Lee Jung-hoo to Kim Hye-seong to Lee Ji-young. Noh Si-hwan entered second base, but one RBI was stolen.
In fact, Lee Jung-hoo didn’t look so good at hitting in the opening two games. There were many cases where the quality of the batted ball that he retired with a bum hit was poor. Still, baseball continues, and when the starting fielder goes on defense, he has an obligation to reward fans and teammates with his best play. Lee Jung-hoo did his best in defense and running for Kiwoom and Kiwoom fans.
Lee Hyeong-jong said,안전놀이터 “When I am sluggish, Jung-hoo will do better. We are helping each other.” Anyone can predict that Lee Jung-hoo will be the player who contributes the most to Kiwoom’s victory and that he will be the team’s most contributing player. Kiwoom fans have never been betrayed by Lee Jung-hoo in the past 6 years.