KT Wiz bullpen pitcher Son Dong-hyun, who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Korean Baseball Playoffs, said, “I think it’s because of my good seniors, especially (the late) Young-pyo, who says nice things to me after every game. Sometimes he buys me chicken and we have long conversations, which is really helpful for juniors.”
KT set-up man and 2023 regular season holder (32) Park Young-hyun added, “He buys me meat as well as chicken. He talks about baseball most of the time, but he also talks about life as a person, not just as a player. I learned a lot from watching him.”
Ko Young-pyo said, “When you’re in a long race, you need to relax. If there are a lot of people, it can be overwhelming, so I only look at two or three people casually. I was embarrassed when (Son) Dong-hyun and (Park) Young-hyun told me that I didn’t get to see Bob often enough,” he laughed.
It’s not just the pitchers that Ko takes care of, either. KT slugger Kang Baek-ho also counts him among his closest friends.
“I think it’s important for seniors and juniors to have a place where they can talk in a more relaxed atmosphere so that they can get closer,” he said. “In the end, the younger players need to grow to become a good team, so seniors need to pull them up and sometimes push them. I pass on what I have learned from my experiences.”
KT, the 10th team in the KBO, has been in last place (10th) for three consecutive years since 2015, when it first entered the first team. Founding member Ko Young-pyo was the lone ace during those dark years. The pitching staff was mostly composed of rookies, so he didn’t have many seniors to lean on. He vowed to become a helpful senior when there were more juniors.
His leadership is needed now. KT took the first game of the Korean Series (KS-7) against the LG Twins on April 7, but lost the second game 4-5 on April 8.
Young-hyun Park, who had been dominant all fall, gave up an RBI single to Kim Hyun-soo in the bottom of the seventh inning with KT leading 4-2, and a two-run homer to Park Dong-won in the eighth. Park needs to work on his mental game. 토토사이트
He said, “The conversation after a bad game is different than usual. We don’t talk about results or technique. I just share my thoughts on what kind of mindset I need to have to bring out the best in myself.”
After Game 2 of the KS series, Ko Young-pyo spoke to the young pitchers again. The KT bullpen has been key in this series. It will be interesting to see how Park Young-hyun performs in the future.
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