▲ In this file photo from March 17, 2022, Park Seung-wook of the Lotte Giants scores on An Chi-hong's hit against the Doosan Bears during the bottom of the fifth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game at Sajik Stadium in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)
▲ In this file photo from March 17, 2022, Park Seung-wook of the Lotte Giants hits a triple against the Doosan Bears during the bottom of the third inning of a Korea Baseball Organization preseason game at Sajik Stadium in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

baseball-player

Career backup capitalizes on rare opportunity in KBO Opening Day win

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, April 2 (Yonhap) -- To some, an Opening Day game may just be one of 144 in a South Korean baseball season. Don't tell that to Park Seung-wook, though.

Park, a longtime backup infielder now on his third team, the Lotte Giants, made his first Opening Day start in five years on Saturday, and pounced on that rare opportunity. He batted 2-for-5 with two RBIs in a 7-2 victory over the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

His two-run double in the top of the fifth turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, and Park also scored the first run during the five-run explosion in the eighth inning that sealed the deal for the visiting side.

Park was cut by the KT Wiz after last season, during which he was limited to just eight games. The Giants extended him a lifeline in December, and Park emerged from spring training as the unlikely starting shortstop to begin the season.

He batted .303/.351/.424 in 10 exhibition games, filling in admirably for the injured shortstop Lee Hak-ju. Then manager Larry Sutton told Park earlier in the week that he would be his Opening Day starting shortstop.

It kept Park up at night Friday, and Park came to the park on Saturday still a nervous wreck.

And it showed in his first two trips to the plate, as he struck out swinging both times against Kiwoom starter An Woo-jin. In the third at-bat, though, Park turned on a first-pitch slider and sent it into deep right field corner for a two-run, go-ahead double.

"I tried not to get too nervous but I couldn't control my emotions," Park said. "I didn't even know what I was doing up there. But that double in my third at-bat really helped me settle down."

Those nerves got in the way of Park's swing, too. He said he chased pitches well outside the zone earlier in the game and stepped into the box in the fifth inning with a different approach.

"I wanted to make sure I would swing at a pitch that I could actually hit," Park said. "Luckily, the pitch came over the heart of the zone."

Park's previous Opening Day start came with the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) in 2017. And after getting released last year and then battling his way back into the KBO, Park said he cherishes every opportunity he gets to play.

"This may be just one game but it meant so much to me," Park said. "I am just happy to be back playing baseball at this level."

Lee Hak-ju, a former U.S. minor league prospect whom the Giants acquired in a trade with the Samsung Lions, is recovering from a broken finger, and he is expected to assume the starting job once he's healed. Park said he wasn't worried about a move back to the bench.

"It's really out of my control. I just have to do the best I can when I take the field," Park said. "And when Hak-ju comes back, I will be rooting for him to do well and help us win games."

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]