A day later, the afterglow of Park Kyung-soo (39-KT WIZ)’s performance still lingers at Changwon NC Park.
As teammates and reporters showered him with praise ahead of the fourth game of the 2023 Baseball Playoffs (PO) against the NC Dinos, he held out his hand, saying, “It wasn’t enough to admire.”
Despite Park’s repeated lowering of his head, everyone who met him was talking about “Game 3 Hoseby” ahead of the PO Game 4 at Changwon NC Park on Wednesday.
In the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2 of the PO, with a 3-0 lead, Park flew out to catch a hard-hit ball from leadoff hitter Jason Martin and accurately throw to first base.
There were gasps from the stands and the dugout.
“I’m grateful that you see it that way, but I don’t think my defense was decisive in the game,” Park said, joking that “if I were a faster player, I would have thrown from the front without falling.”
However, Park’s defense proved to be a big help for KT bullpen Son Dong-hyun, who came on at the start of the seventh inning with a narrow lead. It was also the defense that broke NC’s will to chase.
“We were down 2-0 in the PO, so our KT players were really focused and played the third game,” Park said. “Moreover, our veteran infielders made mistakes in the first and second games, so we wanted to make up for it. In Game 3, the infield finished the game without any mistakes, and our team won. I’m glad we brought PO to Game 4,” he said, chanting ‘Team First.
KT lost both games due to errors by third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun (36) in game one and first baseman Park Byung-ho (37) in game two.
“Me, (Park) Byung-ho, (Hwang) Jae-kyun, and other seniors started the PO saying, ‘We want to lighten the burden of the juniors in this postseason,'” Park said. “Fortunately, we won Game 3, and the mood is changing, so we’ll try harder to advance to the Korean Series.”
In 2021, when KT won its first overall title, Park was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Korean Series.
His batting performance was unremarkable at the time, going 2-for-8 with a double, a home run, and one RBI, but he came through on several occasions to save the day.
Park was injured in Game 3 of the Korean Series and did not play in Game 4.
KT ended the 2021 Korean Series in four games, and after the team won the championship, Park walked up to the juniors, supported by Han Yoo-joon. It was a memorable moment in Korean baseball history.
KT fans who remembered Park’s celebration in the 2021 Korean Series were renewed by Park’s celebration in the third game of Game 2 of the PO.
“When we won, our infield defense was really good. Mistakes are contagious, and hobbies are contagious to your teammates,” Park said, adding, “Our infield played good defense in Game 3 of the PO, so I think there will be a hobbie parade in the remaining games.”
In Game 4, Park was removed from the starting lineup. Oh Yoon-seok started at second base in his place.
Park said, “I’m not disappointed at all. “I hope we can score first and keep the lead until the seventh inning, and I can say, ‘Yoon-seok, you did a good job, I’ll take over the second half,'” he said with a smile. 파워볼사이트