“We see each other more often than family. Nothing else is family. I think we are family.”
Oh Ji-hwan of the LG Twins said on the phone with Casey Kelly almost every day ahead of the first semi-playoff match on Saturday, adding that this relationship is not strange to him at all. “It’s the same for Yoo Young-chan, too. I visited yesterday morning (on the 4th) because it felt like it was my family’s affair. He said he would come back soon. I think this is my family.”
Yoo Young-chan joined the team from Friday after his signature was completed. His eyes were red when he met him after training.
LG players started the game by consoling Yoo Young-chan together. The result was a complete victory of 7–2. After giving up the first game, LG balanced the game with one win and one loss before embarking on an away game in Suwon. Yoo took the mound in the ninth inning with two outs and a bases-loaded walk, and finished the game without losing a point.
At interviews before and after the game, players expressed their condolences to Yoo Young-chan in their own ways. Lim Chan-gyu, who became the winning pitcher, and Kim Jin-seong, the oldest member of the pitching group, felt the same way.
Lim Chan-kyu lost his father back in 2021. With the same pain, I could understand Yoo Young-chan’s heart better. Lim Chan-kyu said, “It’s such a heartbreaking thing that can’t be expressed in words. Young-chan returned right away, and it must have been really hard, but I respect and appreciate it.”
“After going through something big, you will be heartbroken for a long time. Me too. I want to thank Young-chan for making such a good pitch for my teammates and my family. I think it will be comforting for my family as well as Yoo Young-chan.”
Ahead of the match on the 6th, Kim Jin-sung said, “Young-chan couldn’t come out in the first round, and I was worried that he might be worried because I felt sorry. So I think I was lucky because I threw it with more care (so that I don’t worry).” Kim Jin-sung pitched in relief with runners on the first and third bases with one out in the sixth inning on the 5th and allowed no runs in one ⅔.
Kim Jin-sung also said, “(He) encouraged me, although it would not be comforting. He even made fun of me on purpose. Yesterday, I told him to take good care of his mother, instead of caring about her. I know it’s hard for me because I won the prize. I say I will come out today, but I’m sure you’re very tired. About a week is hard.”
Yoo Young-chan also knew how his teammates felt and was able to concentrate more on the game. “Before I went up, I thought of my father, but I thought I shouldn’t do that in the game, so I tried to throw it the same way as usual. My brothers cheered me up and encouraged me that my father would help me a lot. I have to repay that. I will do my best to throw it,” he said in a broadcast interview after the second game. 토토사이트
“I couldn’t watch the Korean Series together last year. I thought we could watch it together this year, but I was sad that we couldn’t. So I will try harder to throw more powerfully on the mound,” he said, vowing his good performance.
