Kia Tigers’ “Budong No. 4 hitter” Choi Hyung-woo has made another monumental achievement. He is the oldest player in Korea to ever hit a grand slam. In addition, he answered the opponent’s bench’s choice by skipping his teammate Kim Do-young with a grand slam, making it all the more meaningful.
Choi Hyung-woo started as the fourth designated hitter against the LG Twins in Jamsil on July 9 and contributed to his team’s 11-4 victory with three hits, one home run, five RBIs and three runs from five times at bat.
On the day, Choi played the role of troubleshooter from the first at bat in the top of the first inning. After Kim Do-young’s timely double at the first inning, Choi hit a timely RBI single by hitting the opponent team’s starting pitcher Kelly’s second fastball of 143 km/h. Choi, who advanced to the third base afterwards, made an additional run when Kim Sun-bin hit a timely hit.
In his second at-bat in the top of the third inning, Choi also hit a double to the left of the left field, creating an opportunity for runners on the second and third bases with no outs. Then, Na Sung-bum’s sacrifice fly ball came out, leading to additional runs.
After being chased by five to two, Choi again showed his side as a troubleshooter in the top of the sixth inning. With consecutive hits by Park Chan-ho and Socrates, the LG bench decided on Kim Do-young’s intentional four pitches. He skipped Kim Do-young and chose Choi.
Choi was placed in a 2B-2S situation when he was swung and missed by two sliders against the changed pitcher Lee Sang-young. However, Choi turned his bat without hesitation and hit a 105-meter-long superior grand slam when a 124km/h slider was thrown in the fifth pitch. It was Choi’s ninth grand slam. After confirming the homer, he lifted his arm and performed a bigger-than-usual ceremony.
With this homer, Choi also became the oldest Korean player in the KBO League to hit a grand slam (40 years, 6 months and 23 days). The previous record was a grand slam (40 years, 2 months and 30 days at the time) recorded by Lee Dae-ho (Lotte Giants). The grand slam (41 years, 3 months and 29 days) recorded by Jose (Lotte Giants) on Aug. 31, 2006 is the oldest foreign player in the KBO League.
Choi Hyung-woo, who led his team’s 11-4 victory, told reporters after the game, “I felt better when I hit a home run in an important situation than the record of the highest grand slam. When I played with LG, if I didn’t score an additional goal, I was always in pursuit, so it was hard. I was even more happy because I got an important score in that area. Above all, I think I showed a big emotion because I hit a decisive home run in my first showdown with an important team in the second half of the year.”
Choi Hyung-woo hit the last slider and crossed the fence even though he swung twice on Lee Sang-young’s slider, the first pitcher he faced.
Choi Hyung-woo said he didn’t care at all about skipping the previous batter Kim Do-young and facing him.
“Now they all know my age (laughs). I didn’t feel anything at all, and I didn’t care. I just wanted to make the RBI happy somehow,” Choi said with a smile. “Of course, I would be dumbfounded when I was young (laughs), but now I just play baseball with a happy heart no matter what the circumstances come.” 퀸알바
“Honestly, at first, I thought I was an easy target, but the slider was more bent than I expected. The ball that needed to be cut became a swing and miss. Personally, I felt a bit like Barnes. After eating two strikes first, I decided to make contact somehow while setting the middle timing. But luckily, a slider came in from my body to the middle. If it was a slider course before then, it would have been a swing and miss again,” Choi said.
Choi has displayed remarkable RBI pace with 78 RBIs in 78 games this season. He seems to be challenging the record of 144 RBIs (2016 season), which is the highest by an individual player.
“I am satisfied with the RBI’s pace. It does not make sense for me to keep going like this. There will be times when I don’t get an RBI single again later on,” Choi said. “However, it was because the younger players including (Kim) Do-young played so well in the front and kept giving me chances to score points,” Choi said. “I had a great win against the second-ranked team, which will significantly boost the team’s mood.”
