▲ Raul Alcantara of the Doosan Bears pitches against the NC Dinos in Game 1 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2020. (Yonhap)
▲ Raul Alcantara of the Doosan Bears pitches against the NC Dinos in Game 1 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2020. (Yonhap)
▲ Raul Alcantara of the Doosan Bears (R) holds a trophy after winning the Choi Dong-won Award as the top pitcher in South Korean baseball in 2020 during a ceremony held at the Korea Baseball Organization headquarters in Seoul on Nov. 19, 2020. To Alcantara's right is Incheon High School pitcher Yoon Tae-hyun, who won the award in the high school category. (Yonhap)

pitcher-award

Bears' ace Alcantara receives top S. Korean pitching award

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- Doosan Bears' Dominican right-hander Raul Alcantara received the top pitching prize in South Korean baseball on Thursday.

Alcantara was named the winner of the Choi Dong-won Award, an annual prize named after the late former pitcher in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), on Nov. 11. Alcantara then attended the award ceremony held at the KBO headquarters in Seoul on Thursday.

Alcantara and the Bears are playing in the Korean Series against the NC Dinos, but Thursday was an off day after the first two games of the best-of-seven series. All games are being played at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, and Alcantara had said Wednesday that he wanted to attend the ceremony and show his respect for the award and for the KBO.

In 2020, his second season in the KBO, Alcantara, a native of the Dominican Republic, led all pitchers with 20 wins and ranked second in innings pitched with 198 2/3, second in strikeouts with 182, and fourth in ERA with 2.54.

"It's an honor to receive such a huge award. I'd like to thank Doosan, my coaches and teammates and my family for giving me a chance to win this award," Alcantara said at the ceremony. He received a trophy and 20 million won (US$17,900) in prize money. "We're playing in the Korean Series, but I really wanted to come here because it's a huge honor to be the first Latin American player to win the Choi Dong-won Award."

The award was created by the Choi Dong-won Memorial Foundation in 2014 to recognize the best homegrown pitcher in the KBO in the name of Choi, who passed away in 2011. Foreign pitchers were considered for the honor for the first time in 2018, and Josh Lindblom, former American ace for the Bears, won the prize in 2018 and again in 2019.

The award ceremony has been held on Nov. 11 each year, in a nod to Choi's old number, 11. The foundation switched to Thursday to take into account the Bears' postseason schedule.

Candidates must meet the following criteria: at least 25 starts, 180 innings pitched, 12 wins, 150 strikeouts, 15 quality starts, a sub-3.00 ERA and 35 saves.

From the nine-person selection committee for the foundation, seven gave first-place votes to Alcantara. Without offering further details, the foundation said four American pitchers were also in the running: Dan Straily of the Lotte Giants, Aaron Brooks of the Kia Tigers, Drew Rucinski of the NC Dinos and David Buchanan of the Samsung Lions.

The foundation said it gave high marks to Alcantara for holding the Bears' rotation together as the team lost multiple pitchers to injuries.


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