KT Moon Sang-cheol made up for it with a final hit. “I’ll follow your signature from now on.”
Professional baseball KT outfielder Moon Sang-chul (32) caused a rare triple death due to his wrong judgment on the Korean Series stage. However, in the last at-bat, he hit a hot shot and eventually led the team to victory.
KT won 3–2 in Game 1 of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Korean Series against LG at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 7th. The winning team of the first round of the Korean Series has a 74.4% chance of winning the championship (29/39) to announce a good start.
Ko Young-pyo, who started the game, pitched six innings, seven hits, three strikeouts, two outs, and two runs. Son Dong-hyun (2 innings) and Park Young-hyun (1 inning), who took the mound afterwards, also contributed by not allowing any runs.
Moon Sang-chul was the winner of the Daily MVP. Moon Sang-chul started as the 7th designated hitter and played with 1 hit and 1 RBI in 4 at-bats, and scored a winning hit in the top of the 9th inning when he faced 2–2, driving the team’s victory.
KT manager Lee Kang-chul said after the game, “I was able to win quickly from the beginning, but I almost got dragged because of one or two misses,” adding, “Ko Young-pyo showed his crisis management ability, and thanks to Son Dong-hyun’s two scoreless innings, I was able to cheer up until the end.” He added, “Moon Sang-chul’s long ball came out at the end and I was able to win.”
There was also a situation where the atmosphere subsided in an instant. KT missed a chance to score after Moon Sang-chul’s bunt failure in the top of the second inning with no outs and runners on first and second bases, trailing 1–2 and being tagged out to the allotment table running from first base to third base.
It is a rare scene as it is the first time in 19 years and the first time since Game 7 between Hyundai and Samsung in 2004. At that time, Yang Joon-hyuk (former Samsung) recorded a triple in the top of the first inning. This is the fourth postseason game in history.
Coach Lee drew laughter when he said, “Who would have thought of bunting there?” about Moon Sang-chul’s self-inflicted triple death. “In fact, I didn’t sign (bunt), but I think I was trying to get him to advance to tie it quickly,” he said. “I asked (Moon) Sang-cheol to be aggressive, but he unexpectedly bunt.” I was going to ask them to do something they were good at, but everyone was surprised,” he explained.
If KT had lost, Moon Sang-chul would have been responsible. Coach Lee said, “I was going to tell him to do (bunt) if he did, but I don’t think he will be shocked (Moon Sang-chul) because he won.” Moon Sang-chul went between hell and heaven that day.
Moon Sang-chul also said, “In fact, there was no sign, but I wanted to score the first run and get a turnaround and tie it quickly.” “The economy was not good, and I felt heavy because I went over to the atmosphere,” he said. “I tried to forget quickly because my colleagues said that if I hit one, I would have a chance.”
Moon Sang-chul struggled at the plate due to the burden after a fatal mistake. Nevertheless, coach Lee continued to send trust without replacing Moon Sang-chul, and eventually scored a golden final hit against Ko Woo-suk, who finished in the top of the ninth inning.
Coach Lee initially considered putting Kim Min-hyuk as a pinch hitter for Moon Sang-chul in the top of the seventh inning with one out and runners on first and second base, when it was 2–2. However, coach Lee used Moon Sang-chul as he was, and put Kim Min-hyuk in place of his follow-up Park Kyung-soo.
Coach Lee said, “I tried to use (Kim) Minhyuk first, but the batting line was bad at the back, so I used Sangchul and let Minhyuk go,” adding, “As a result, it was good to use Sangchul.” As for the reason why he did not replace Moon Sang-chul at bat in the top of the ninth inning, he said, “Sang-cheol was strong with three hits in three at-bats against Ko Woo-suk,” adding, “I thought he took Sang-cheol out for a moment, but he didn’t.”
Moon Sang-chul recalled, “Ko Woo-suk was the best player in Korea, so I didn’t want to miss the timing.” “I was preparing for a fast ball after two strikes, and I set up a zone to hit,” he said, adding, “When the ball came, I worked with the idea of not hesitating and hitting it confidently.”
Moon Sang-chul, who was heavily burdened by the mistake earlier, smiled, saying, “I think I should say (my heart) is empty because the results are good.” However, in the next game, he vowed to “bunt according to the sign.”