From a starting spot to a wild baserunner to the first out of the park… Roller coaster Lee Woo-sung’s ending is a ‘sad ending’

Lee Woo-sung of the KIA Tigers is considered one of the team’s key outfield resources. That doesn’t mean he can start every game, as the team has plenty of competitive outfielders. So when a golden opportunity came along, Lee wanted to live up to the team’s expectations in any way he could, but it didn’t end well.

Lee Woo-sung started the 13th game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Doosan Bears at Gwangju-KIA Champions Field on April 15, batting sixth and playing right field. On this day, KIA kept foreign hitter Socrates Brito on the bench for conditioning purposes, and the outfield consisted of Choi Hyung-woo in left field, Lee Chang-jin in center field, and Lee Woo-sung in right field.

In the bottom of the second inning, with the team trailing 0-1, Lee put runners in scoring position from the first at-bat. Leadoff hitter Choi Hyung-woo doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Kim Sun-bin.

Lee took a chance and pulled a fastball from Doosan starter Brandon Waddell, but it rolled toward the third baseman. Choi Hyung-woo, the third baseman, stayed on his feet and watched the throw from third baseman Heo Kyung-min, who threw the ball to first base, but it was far off.

Choi came home to score the first run of the game. The problem was Lee Woo-sung. While running to second base after realizing the ball was out of play, he collided heavily with first base umpire Na Kwang-nam and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Since it was an “in-play” situation and not a “balk,” the Doosan fielders continued to play, and second baseman Park Kye-beom tagged out Lee at the plate for one out. The two teams had traded runs and outs.

If Lee hadn’t bumped into the umpire, he could have stolen second base, or if he had stopped at first base, he could have set up the next batter, Hwang Dae-jin, at first base. However, due to the unintended run, KIA had to settle for a tie. 바카라

Lee Woo-sung, who was more frustrated with the situation than anyone else, restored his pride with a home run. In the bottom of the fourth inning, with his team down 1-2, leadoff hitter Na Sung-bum doubled, Choi Hyung-woo walked, and Kim Sun-bin singled to load the bases with nobody out. On a 2-2 count, Lee took a seven-pitch slider from Doosan starter Brandon Waddell and blasted it over the left field fence for the game-winning run. It was Lee’s seventh home run of the season, 27 days after his last against the Daegu Samsung Lions on March 19.

Selected by Doosan with the 15th pick in the second round of the 2013 rookie draft, Lee has played for the NC Dinos and KIA since then, but he hadn’t hit a grand slam until now. It was a home run that was more special to him than ever before.

However, Lee was unable to get a hit in the middle and late innings of the game as he was hit by a fly ball and a ball hit to his body, and the team lost the game 6-8. It could have been the game of his life, but it was a ‘sad ending’.