After reaching the Korean Series, the championship round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), in 2022, the Kiwoom Heroes have finished in last place for two consecutive years.
The Heroes will finish out the 2024 season Monday evening against the SSG Landers in Incheon, just west of Seoul, but their place in the bottom of the 10-team standings had long been sealed. They are 58-85, with the same number of wins as in 2023 and three fewer ties.
Manager Hong Won-ki, who has been at the helm since 2021, said it was “quite disappointing” to be at the bottom of the standings yet again. “More so than other years, I think we lost a lot of close games that we could have won,” Hong said in his pregame media availability at Incheon SSG Landers Field. “The players did their best under the circumstances, but the results aren’t what we wanted. This season has been more disappointing than any other years.”
Hong said the emergence of some young players was one of few bright spots for the Heroes this year.
“The fact t
hat we have so many young players on the rise only means that we’re not a deep team to begin with,” Hong said. “But I do think that this year served as an opportunity for our young guys to learn the league, so that they can hopefully take the next step. More so than recent seasons, we’ve had a lot of young players from the position player side.”
There is a lot at stake for the Heroes’ opponents for Monday. If the Landers win, they will play the KT Wiz for the fifth-place tiebreaker game, with the last ticket to the postseason on the line. But if the Heroes win, then the Landers’ season will be over.
The Heroes are coming off a weekend in which they battled the Wiz in two closely contested games. The Heroes blew a late lead in losing both of them.
“These games mean a lot to our opponents, and we’re also doing our best,” Hong said. “We’ve been putting out our best possible lineups, and we have no choice but to keep doing the best we can, because these games can determine the fate of our opponents.”
Source:
Yonhap News Agency