NC Dinos became the team with a record. It is even more meaningful as it is the first fall baseball game at Changwon NC Park.
NC set the first wild card record and a new record in the first game of the 2023 season wild card held at Changwon NC Park on the 19th.
The record came in the bottom of the fourth inning. NC was down 0-3 to the Doosan Bears until the top of the 4th inning, but in the bottom of the 4th inning, Seo Ho-cheol (27)’s bases loaded home run and Kim Hyeong-jun (24)’s solo home run came in succession, turning the score to 5-3.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, a spectacular home run hit. Infielder Seo Ho-cheol, who was at bat with bases loaded and 2 outs, hit Doosan starter Kwak Bin’s third pitch, a 148 km/h fastball, and hit a bases-loaded home run to left. In an instant, NC Park became a melting pot of enthusiasm.
Seo Ho-cheol caught the fastball slightly toward the center of his body and hit a large home run with a distance of 120 meters. It is the first wild card grand slam record of all time and the 17th postseason record.
NC, who had been blocked by Kwak Bin until the 3rd inning and had only an empty hit, quickly turned around with a home run in the bottom of the 4th inning. It didn’t stop there. Catcher Kim Hyeong-jun, who came to bat after Seo Ho-cheol, hit a 137 km/h slider driven to the top center in a situation with 2 outs, no runners, and 2 strikes, hitting a left-field home run with a distance of 115 meters. This is the first consecutive hitter in a wild card game in history, and the 27th back-to-back in the postseason.
Kim Hyung-jun broke the record for the youngest home run in a wild card game with a home run that day. On this day, Kim Hyung-jun was 23 years, 11 months, and 17 days old, making him one year older than the previous youngest wild card home run hitter. The previous record for the youngest wild card home run was held by SK Jeong Jin-gi at the age of 24 years, 11 months, and 25 days in the first wild card game against NC on October 5, 2017.메이저놀이터
Meanwhile, with 5 runs scored in the bottom of the 4th inning, the batting order rotated more than once, starting with 2nd hitter Park Min-woo and ending with 3rd hitter Park Geon-woo, making 11 at-bats. This is also a new record for the most at-bats in one inning in Wild Card history. The previous record for the most at-bats was 10 at-bats between Doosan and Kiwoom in the 4th and 6th innings in the second wild card game on November 2, 2021.
On this day, NC celebrated the first fall baseball game at Changwon NC Park since its opening in 2019 and selected ‘Dinosaur Jwa’, a fan who came to the stadium wearing a dinosaur suit, as the first pitcher. This is the first time in NC postseason history that a first pitch was thrown while wearing a doll outfit. This is also the first record. et16@sportsseoul.com