“Let the batters win or let me win…I’m grateful to the fans”

“When it’s bad, it’s bad no matter what you do…”
The Lotte Giants of baseball rallied from a 0-4 deficit to win 6-5 against the NC Dinos on Aug. 6 at Sajik Stadium in Busan, extending their winning streak to three games. It was their first win since Aug. 3.
The Giants were in a tough spot on the day as starter Aaron Wilkerson was roughed up for five runs (four earned) in five innings. However, trailing 1-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, they scored two runs on a bases-loaded walk to Son and a single to right by Hwang Sung-bin. With the bases loaded, Go Seung-min was retired on a pitcher’s choice, but Jeon Joon-woo tied the game at 5-5 with a two-run single to center field. In the eighth inning, Na Seung-yup hit the game-winning RBI single.
And the ninth inning. Lotte brought in closer Kim Won-joong, who hadn’t recorded a save since June 28 against Sajik Hanwha. He struggled in the month of July with an 11.05 ERA, two losses, and three blown saves. First pitch of August.
Kim Won-joong got off to a good start by striking out the first batter, Kim Joo-won, but back-to-back singles by Park Min-woo and Seo Ho-cheol put runners on first and second. A wild pitch put runners on second and third. Davidson came to the plate, but he was hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, they went for the kill.
Kim Won-joong hit a line drive to third base against Kwon Hee-dong, the first batter of the inning, but substitute third baseman Choi Hang made a jumping catch to rob the ball. With the bases loaded, Choi induced Kim Hui-jip to ground out to shortstop for the save. It was his first save in 39 days.
After the game, Kim Won-joong greeted the media with a straight face and said, “It’s not good… but if we can get through this one, we’ll have another one. I thought so, and I threw with the mindset that the batters’ bats would win or I would win, and I think I won today,” he said, breaking his long save silence.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t that hard,” Kim said. “I thought I shouldn’t get emotional because tomorrow will come and I’ll be on the 파워볼사이트 mound again,” he said. “I tried to throw hard every time I went out, but it didn’t work out. A slump is a slump, and if you know why you’re slumping, there’s no reason to slump. If it doesn’t work, you can’t do anything about it, so I prepared for every game with a relaxed mindset,” he reflected.
“I had a simple thought that if it went over, I would lose, and if I caught it, I would win,” he said, adding, “I believed that (Choi) had good energy, so when I went to him, he would catch it.” On that day, the Lotte players performed a “cradle ceremony” to celebrate Choi Hang, who was born the previous day (July 5), and Koo Seung-min, who was born on July 31.
Kim Won-joong responded to his poor performance by saying, “It’s not about the process, it’s about the result.” He said, “The process and routine were fine, but the result was bad.” He said, “My preparation was fine, and I didn’t think I fell. I thought the problem was the result,” he said, adding, “I tried to prepare more perfectly and harder, and I tried to accept that part because the result is unavoidable. Also, I may have a slump in the future, but rather than thinking about that, I think that since I had a slump, I can only go up, and I will prepare thoroughly and go up.”
And finally, he bowed to the fans. The fans greeted Kim Won-joong with enthusiastic applause as he took the stage to interview the club’s honored player. Kim Won-joong said, “I think it’s harder than me. They cheered passionately from the first inning to the ninth inning, and they cheered so loudly every time I ran to the mound, whether I was doing well or not, and they greeted me on the mound. I just want to say thank you for giving me so much strength and keeping me going,” he said.