NC's Park Gun-woo adds a double
Game 2 of the 2023 KBO League Playoffs (PO) between the NC Dinos and KT Wiz at Katie Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, on May 31. NC's Park Gun-woo hits a double to the left center field in the eighth inning.
Park Gun-woo (33-NC Dinos) is batting .206 (41-for-199) in the postseason with the Doosan Bears.
It's not a great performance considering his career batting average of .326, which ranks third overall and second among active KBO players with more than 3,000 at-bats.
The KBO's all-time leader in career batting average is Lee Jung-woo (.340 - Kiwoom Heroes), and the second is the late Jang Hyo-jo, a former Samsung Lions second base coach.
Playing in the NC uniform for seven games this year, including the Wild Card Decider, semi-playoffs, and playoffs (PO), Park went 11-for-28 (.393) with one home run and seven RBIs in the fall of 2023.
On the 2nd at Changwon NC Park, Park Gun-woo said, "I don't think about my past performance. Today and tomorrow are more important than the past," he said, citing "composure" as the reason for his postseason rebound.
"Of course, I know I didn't perform well in the postseason before. However, there were also series where I did well (like the 2021 semifinals, where I batted .417)," he said. "I think it would be more intimidating to get stuck in the past, saying, 'I didn't do well in the past. I just think about how to play well today, and if I don't play well today, how to make up for it tomorrow. To be honest, I don't even look at my postseason record this year."
Roaring Park
In fact, Park has been battling a cold and body aches for this PO. In order to comply with the doping rules, he opted for 'natural treatment'.
"This cold is really strong and lasts a long time," he said, "I'm really careful not to pass it on to my teammates. I'm not 100%," he admitted.
However, he was hot at the plate, going 4-for-12 with one home run and four RBIs in the PO. He also hit two doubles, and three of his four hits were long balls.
"Our hitting coach, Song Ji-won, joked with me, 'What's it like to play the postseason this year with a cold,'" Park said.
Despite his composure in the postseason, Park gets excited when he thinks about the Korean Series.
"The Korean Series is new every time, and only those who have played know the atmosphere," said Park, who played seven consecutive seasons with Doosan from 2015 to 2021 and won three titles (2015, 2016, 2019). "I really want to play the Korean Series at Changwon NC Park."
Despite losing to kt wiz in the third game of the best-of-three PO on the 2nd, NC still holds a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five PO.
Park Gun-woo said, "They say that one postseason game takes about seven regular season games. I don't know if that's true, but I've been falling asleep in my hostel after the last game," he laughed, adding, "That's the thrill of the postseason. I want to go to the biggest stage, the Korean Series, and feel that feeling until the end of the season." 슬롯사이트