This is why the Doosan Bears invested 7.8 billion won (7.8 million U.S. dollars) in the Stove League. Yang Seok-hwan (33), a former LG Twins player, hit his 32nd home run of this season against the LG Twins, marking a new history for the Bears.
Yang Seok-hwan started as the fifth first baseman in Game 1 of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League against LG at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 21st and led his team to a 14-7 complete victory by swinging two hits, two home runs, six RBIs and three runs in four at-bats.
From his first at-bat, he got on base and scored runs. He appeared with the bases loaded with one outs in the top of the first inning when his team was 0-0, and gained a throwing dune against Lee Ji-gang, and after moving to third base on Jarrod Young’s two-run double, he scored a run away when Lee Yoo-chan hit a ground ball to shortstop.
Yang took a breather with a foul fly on the third baseman in the top of the second inning and a grounder to the shortstop in the top of the fifth inning, and hit a two-run shot with one out and one runner on the first base in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead 7-5. While first baseman Kim Jae-hwan reached the second base on a wild pitch, he hit a 141-km fastball driven to the center of LG’s left-hander Kim Yoo-young at 3B-1S, leading to a 130-meter home run to the left. It was his 32nd home run for this season in two games since the game against Samsung Lions at Jamsil Stadium on Tuesday.
With this home run, Yang Seok-hwan hit the 101st RBI of the season, making it the 92nd in KBO League history and the 11th 30 home run-100 RBI by the Bears. It was the moment when the Bears’ native right-handed hitter, who achieved 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in 24 years since Shim Jung-soo in 1999 and Kim Dong-ju in 2000, was born.
In addition, Yang has become the most homeruns among right-handed hitters in Korea, surpassing 31 homers by Shim Jung-soo in 1999 and Kim Dong-ju in 2000. His career record of 600 RBIs was a bonus.
Yang did not stop. He had a chance to hit the second and third bases with no outs in the top of the eighth inning when his team led 9-7. Yang hit the third slider (136 kilometers) at 1B-1S to hit a 130-meter home run to left-center. He became the sixth consecutive homerun in this season.
“Thirty home runs and 100 RBIs are the record I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. I’m honored and happy to have achieved the record with home runs in important situations,” Yang said after the game. “I’m glad that I was able to achieve the most home runs by right-handed hitters at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which has a long history. It means more to me because Jamsil Stadium will disappear soon and Dome Stadium will be built.”
Yang Seok-hwan graduated from Shinil High School and Dongkuk University and achieved his dream of becoming a professional player by ranking 28th in the third round of LG’s second round in the 2014 Rookie Draft. After his first double-digit home run in 2017, his fourth year as a member of the team, he burst his potential with 22 home runs in 2018, and immediately joined Sangmu to resolve his military service obligations.
Unfortunately, his military service became the first turning point in Yang’s baseball career. While he lost ground after being discharged from the military in August 2020, his first-team record only hit 246 with three home runs in 40 games. Worse yet, he ended the season bitterly by staying on the bench despite being included in the entry in the semi-playoff. 스포츠토토
Yang Seok-hwan has a second turning point. In March 2021, he moved from LG to rival Doosan through a 2-2 trade, and instantly erased Doosan’s troubles with right-handed hitting and absence of first baseman, earning the title of “trade fortune.”
Yang served as Doosan’s home run hitter along with manager Lee Seung-yeop’s inauguration in 2023. With a batting average of 281 and a slugging percentage of 89 RBIs in 140 games, Yang ranked fifth in the home run category. He succeeded in 20 home runs (28-20-21) for the third consecutive year, and raised the stock price properly for the upcoming FA season.
Yang Seok-hwan, who was called the FA’s biggest fish in the Stove League, signed an FA contract with his original team Doosan on Nov. 30, 2023 for up to 7.8 billion won for 4+2 years. The total amount of the first four-year contract is up to 6.5 billion won (2 billion won in down payment, 3.9 billion won in annual salary, and 600 million won in incentives), and it was a satisfactory contract that included a two-year, 1.3 billion won mutual option triggered by the agreement between the club and the player after the end of the four-year contract.
Yang set a goal of 30 homers and 100 RBIs at Jamsil Stadium, along with signing an FA contract and appointing a captain, but kept his promise to fans before the season ended. He also shot his 32nd homer of this season, writing a new history of the Bears’ right-handed hitting spree. His trade three years ago changed Yang’s baseball career.
