Kim Do-young 20-20, new record for career home runs, at least 6 million spectators in the first half of the KBO League
Kim Do-young 20-20, new record for career home runs, at least 6 million spectators in the first half of the KBO League
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The KBO League, which drew a total of 5,993,122 spectators in 413 games that it played until Thursday, surpassed 6 million spectators in the first half of the season on Wednesday for the first time. The cumulative number of spectators increased by about 32 percent year-on-year, and broke the record of the most sold-out (116 games) in a season and the record of the most daily spectators (142,660). It is more likely that the era of 10 million spectators will open, surpassing the previous record of 8,406,88 in 2017.핑크알바
Analysts say that the increase in female fans in their 20s and MZ generation has led to an increase in spectators. The increase in baseball-related broadcasting and YouTube contents seems to have affected the increase. There is also an analysis that TVing is selected as a wired and wireless broadcasting right operator, and that those who used other contents as OTT (online video service) before have flowed into baseball fans.
The field also met expectations with fierce competition and high-quality performances. The most noticeable phenomenon is young player sensation. The flagship runner is Kia Tigers infielder Kim Do-young (21). A promising player, he displayed full capacity in his third year since his debut. He had 10 to 14 steals during April, becoming the first to hit 10 to 10 homers to 10 steals per month in the game against Hanwha Eagles in Gwangju on April 23, becoming the fifth player in the team's history to hit 20 homers to 20 steals within the first half. He was by far the most valuable player in the first half.
Rookie pitcher Kim Taek-yeon has emerged as the closing pitcher of his team Doosan Bears, proving his heavy pitching and deep distribution. He was also the only rookie to be named in the Best 12 (Dream All-Star Intermediate Pitcher) of the All-Star Game, which was announced on April 17.
Records were also pouring in. Choi Jung (SSG Landers) hit his 468th career home run against the Lotte Giants on April 24, surpassing Lee Seung-yeop (current Doosan manager) to become the most home run hit player in the KBO League.
Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos also had his 2,505th hit in the game against Doosan Bears in Jamsil on April 20, surpassing Park Yong-taek's previous record of most hits. Kang Min-ho of the Samsung Lions and Choi Hyung-woo of the Kia Tigers also rewrote the record of most participants and most hits in a career. Veteran and young players have shown their presence one after another, creating a league that has constantly drawn attention.
The competition among teams is also unpredictable. As of Thursday, the gap between the second-ranked teams (Doosan, Samsung and LG Twins) was 0.5 to 1.5 games. The gap between the fifth-ranked teams (SSG) and the 10th-ranked teams (Kium Heroes) was also limited to five games
Samsung and Doosan, which were undervalued before the opening, showed a reversal just by keeping the top ranks. Another interesting aspect was the composition in which No. 10 Kiwoom had seven wins and three losses against "defending champion" LG, and Lotte, which was at the bottom, had seven wins, one draw and three losses against No. 1 KIA. Hanwha, which had been sluggish even after recruiting Korean baseball's representative pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, is also eyeing a process in which it seeks to take a leap forward by replacing "back-turned-old" manager Kim Kyung-moon as its head coach.
The 10 clubs, which have completed their schedules until the 4th, will start the second half of the season from the 9th after the All-Star break.