“The Korean Series is the biggest game of my life”: Giving up a batting title on purpose… Hyo-ja breaks the curse of the outfielders.
In February, at a camp in Arizona. I mentioned to Austin Dean, the new foreign hitter for the LG Twins, that LG’s foreign hitters hadn’t been performing well. He knew about it. “When Korean fans found out I was coming to LG, they sent me DMs on social media about the foreign hitter curse,” Austin said at the time, “and I wanted to break that curse.”
He kept his word. In 139 games, Austin batted .301 with 163 hits, 23 home runs, and 95 RBIs as LG’s No. 4 hitter.
He not only broke the curse of unsuccessful foreign batters, but also became a filial protector, lifting a 29-year curse. Austin, who laughed and said that he had “broken the curse” and “achieved his goal,” said, “I was satisfied with baseball this year and had fun. I’m motivated to play baseball. When I first found out that LG was trying to win a championship after 29 years, it felt great to be a part of LG’s history.”
LG’s first Korean Series title in 29 years. Austin is eager, too. He won a championship in high school, but hasn’t won a title since turning pro. “I’ve been close to winning a championship before, but I haven’t won a championship,” Austin said, “so I really want to win a championship.”
The KBO’s tiered postseason is unfamiliar to Austin. “It’s definitely different,” Austin said of training and waiting for the Korean Series after winning the regular season. “In the U.S., it’s not always about the team that’s been playing the best, 카지노사이트킴 it’s about who’s in the flow at that moment,” he says. “I think Korea has the advantage of being able to take a break and play scrimmages. We just need to keep our senses sharp during this time.”
He said he believes in what he has been doing. “The Korean Series is the biggest game of my baseball career,” Austin said. There are a lot of nerves. So I think it’s important to stay calm,” he said, adding, “I believe in what we’ve been doing since spring training. It’s important to believe in the path that the players, the coaching staff, and the front office have prepared us for, and to show it to the end.”
Austin was able to challenge for the batting title at the end of the season. Until Oct. 3, when LG clinched the regular season title, there were seven RBIs between Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (99) and Austin (92). Since Noh was at the Asian Games, Austin could only focus on being the top hitter. However, he didn’t show much enthusiasm for the batting title, taking one game completely off and one game out of the lineup.
Coach Yoon Kyung-yeop, who was trying to keep the players who were challenging for the title in the lineup after the title was clinched, said, “Austin doesn’t seem to be thinking about the batting title.” Austin ended the season with 95 RBIs, good for second place.
When asked about the batting title, Austin had a surprising answer. “It’s not that I wasn’t thinking about the batting title,” he rambles, “but from the moment I clinched first place, I was thinking about the Korean Series,” he says unexpectedly. “I thought, ‘Let’s focus on the Korean Series,'” Austin continued, “and then I thought, ‘Let’s get my body in shape and keep my senses in check. I thought I was preparing for the Korean Series.”
That’s why Austin batted fourth for the Twins in their first home game at LG Champions Park in Icheon on the 23rd, hitting the only two hits of the game.
This man became a true Twins man with the first team. I’m serious about winning the Korean Series.