NC’s Kim Joo-won is congratulated by Park Min-woo after catching KT’s Oh Yoon-seok’s hit to end the game in the bottom of the ninth inning during the second round of the baseball ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason‘ playoff game between KT Wiz and NC Dinos at Suwon KT Wiz Park in Jowon-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, on Oct. 31.
“I made a fielding error as a rookie and was on the front page of the newspaper…”
Park Min-woo (30), who was praising ‘Keystone Kombi’ Kim Joo-won (21), smiled as he said this. He said that it was amazing that he was able to show his skills in a big game without being intimidated at such a young age, and he was full of ‘junior love’.
Park Min-woo will start at second base in the third game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Playoffs (best-of-five series) at Changwon NC Park in Gyeongnam, South Korea, on April 2.
NC, which went through the wild card round and semifinals undefeated, has been gaining momentum in the playoffs, taking both Game 1 and Game 2.
In the second game, they clinched the victory with a “super catch” by shortstop Kim Joo-won with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, trailing 3-2.
Minwoo Park of NC Dynos.
Park Min-woo, who watched, said, “I think it’s great. They don’t feel intimidated because they have a good mentality,” he said, adding, “(Son) Asup and (Park) Gun-woo set the tone well, and they don’t have a big age difference with their seniors, so they seem to be comfortable.”
Watching Kim Joo-won play reminded him of his own rookie days. Park, a founding member of the NC, won the Rookie of the Year award in the 2014 regular season with a .298 batting average and 50 stolen bases.
However, his first postseason experience left him a little disappointed. In four semifinal games against the LG Twins, he went just 1-for-13 (.077), and in Game 2, he missed a routine grounder that led to an extra-base hit.
“When I made that mistake, it became the number one search term on a portal site,” Park recalled. It was even on the front page of the newspaper the next day,” he recalled, adding, “It was the opposite of what should have been a good story.”
“It was the opposite of what should have been a good thing,” he said, adding, “(Kim) was able to do things that I couldn’t do at the time. That hit in Game 2 was not an easy hit either.”
This season, NC’s infield was dominated by young players such as Kim Joo-won, Seo Ho-cheol, and Oh Young-soo. Although they had some concerns about their defense, they are getting better as they work together around Park Min-woo.
“I think our concentration is better because it’s a short-term game,” Park said. “Even if we make a mistake, we try to focus more on the next one, and I think we’re getting better.”
“Anyway, the most important thing is for the team to win. Even if I make 10 mistakes, it’s okay if the team wins. It’s better than not making any mistakes and losing the game,” he laughed. 슬롯사이트