Seo Ho-cheol, who emerged as a hero of the NC postseason
"I didn't know that, but I also played 40 games in fall baseball."
NC Dinos Park Min-woo is a young player who has just entered his 30s, but he is a decent veteran on the fall baseball stage. He played in 39 games until the first round of the playoffs on October 30, ranking 32nd in the most appearances in the under-30 postseason ever. As NC has at least three autumn baseball games left in the future, it has secured 42 games single 28th place.
"Looking at that, you're a veteran. laughs I think 40 games is a lot of participation." This is what Park Min-woo told reporters before the first playoff game in Suwon on the 30th.
Even Park Min-woo had a "first time." Park Min-woo said, "It's my rookie years. "I played fall baseball every year in 15 and 16 years from 2014, and I was the youngest at that time," he said, recalling his memory a long time ago.
At that time, the oldest was coach Lee Ho-joon, coach Lee Jong-wook, and Son Si-heon. He was older than me. When I think about it now, the seniors made me very comfortable, but from my point of view, there was a pressure that it was a big game and because they were such great seniors, I was wary of them."
Oh Young-soo hit a home run on the 30th
"You lead me well, so I can play as much as I want"
Park Min-woo, who has become a veteran as time passes, is taking the lead this fall and playing the role of a dugout "atmosphere maker." When organizing NC's postseason photos, Park Min-woo appears in almost every cut. In the photo, Park Min-woo is striking a "thumbs up" pose while tapping a junior player's hip, putting his hand on his shoulder, or smiling broadly. He deliberately volunteers to shout fighting louder than usual and encourage and raise the atmosphere.
"There are many young players on the team. I'm not that old either, but I'm a veteran. Like in the season, I'm trying to brighten up the atmosphere as much as possible while doing it as my older and younger brothers, and I'm paying a lot of attention to making sure my younger brothers don't notice. I think it's one of the reasons why juniors are playing without being nervous this postseason." These are the words of Park Min-woo.
In this postseason, Park Min-woo is performing more consistently than anyone else with a batting average of 0.389 and seven hits in 18 at-bats in five games. However, he has never received a daily MVP or series MVP yet. This is because NC's young players in their early and mid-20s show off their crazy presence every game, so the spotlight has not even reached Park Min-woo.
The performances of NC's young players in this fall baseball are as follows: In the first round of the wild card game, Seo Ho-cheol, a 27-year-old reserve, and Kim Hyung-joon, a 24-year-old home mother, dominated the game. Ryu Jin-wook, who is also 27 years old, also made his debut in the fall baseball game with two innings of hard pitching. In the first round of the semi-playoff, 24-year-old right-hander Shin Min-hyuk silenced the SSG Landers lineup with brilliant pitching. In Game 2, Kim Hyung-joon hit his third home run in the fall baseball this year, and in Game 3, 23-year-old young left-hander Kim Young-kyu took the MVP of the series with three consecutive games of good pitching. And in the first round of the playoffs held on the 30th, Oh Young-soo, a 23-year-old big gun rising star, took the lead in the team's great victory with three hits, including a home run. Low-year players like Park Min-woo 10 years ago, who are unfamiliar with the fall stage, are leading NC's five-game winning streak this fall.
Kim Hyung-joon and Seo Ho-cheol met with reporters after the game
Once is a coincidence, but if something similar is repeated two or three times, it is not a coincidence. There is a good reason why NC's young players, who have a lot of experience in big games, are active in unison this fall. Oh Young-soo, who met with reporters after the game on the 30th, said, "Son A-seop, Park Min-woo, Park Gun-woo, Kwon Hee-dong, and Lee Yong-chan are all so good," adding, "I and young players are doing so because they told me to play comfortably and with a sense of playing." I think that's why the atmosphere is better," he said.
"Isn't it because veteran seniors lead us well?" We're just working hard and fulfilling our dreams that we want to do on the ground. Since seniors are good at it, I think we can play as much as we want." Oh Young-soo is the key to thinking.
Of course, even a veteran is nervous about the autumn feast. However, the difference between a low-year player and a veteran is that they know how to connect with good performance while enjoying the inevitable tension. "I'm not nervous," Park Min-woo said with a smile.
"Of course, it's a big game, so I'm nervous. But I try to enjoy the tension. Rather than being nervous, I want to have fun, so I think it's a bonus game. Even if I make a mistake, I'm not dragged by the mistake, but I've got time to refresh again
Veteran players also shone everywhere in Thursday's game. Park Min-woo spun and caught a tricky ball that bounced wide in front of him in the bottom of the second inning, leading to an out. At the bottom of the third inning, Kim Joo-won threw a hard ball, but he did not panic and stepped on the second base to catch the leading runner. Kwon Hee-dong and Son Ah-seop's timely hit with a "tuk" is also a scene where the sense of "coming from the texture" stands out.
The rich autumn baseball experience gives you a broad view of the team and the entire game, not just your own play. With runners in the first round of the wild card, foreign hitter Jason Martin attempted a sacrifice bunt. Park Min-woo approached Martin, who returned to the dugout, and said something. When asked what he said at the time, Park Min-woo said, "He buntted. He seemed to have a lot of pressure. So I said, 'You're the fourth hitter of the NC Dinos here. I said, "Don't bunt it. Hit it. "He didn't sign, but bunt himself. So even if you can't hit, you have to hit. I told him not to bunt and hit it."
Shin Minhyuk roars
"The seniors should lead the mood so that they don't feel pressured"
Veteran NC players have put in a lot of effort since the first day of the postseason to ease the burden on young juniors. In a word, the message that seniors constantly convey in words and actions is: Enjoy the game. Our veterans will bear all the burden and responsibility, so play on the ground to your heart's content.
"I'm the oldest, and I think we can definitely feel the burden of the postseason because we have a lot of young players in our team," Son Ah-seop said before the first round of the wild card game.
"Older players like me, Gun-woo, and Min-woo should lead the atmosphere and create a situation so that juniors can feel less pressure in the beginning. You shouldn't put pressure on them to demonstrate their abilities like in the regular season. Since it's the postseason, I think it'll be a burden if we say something special. I'm just thinking about preparing the same way as the regular season
After Son Ah-seop mentioned "Kim Joo-won" as a player expected to play baseball this fall, he worried that his comments would put pressure on young juniors. "I think Joo-won will do well, but I don't actually say this to players. This one word may be burdensome to the player. Please don't talk to Joo Won. (laughs)
This is a scene that showed how NC seniors are considerate of junior players in this series. Son Ah-seop then expressed his expectations for young players in the team as follows.
"I think it can be scary once you get into that atmosphere because young players get into that atmosphere. I want to be an ambush in this postseason."
Son Ah-seop's words were made as if they were prophecies. NC is running without a single loss in this fall's baseball. There are few signs of stopping.
The coaching staff is also trying not to put pressure on low-year players. Coach Kang In-kwon considered changing the batting order several times this fall, but in the end, he used the original lineup - veterans from No. 1 to No. 5 and low-yielders from No. 6 to No. 9. Seo Ho-cheol is considering placing No. 2 in the game on the 30th In the end, he put Park Min-woo in second place and returned to success. NC easily played the game as veterans scored the first point with an active attack in the early days, and created comfortable conditions for young players. 스포츠토토
Park Min-woo is the mood maker of NC this fall
The scent of 2015 Doosan at 2023 NC…Fall experience for young players, a springboard to a sustainable strong team
The joint performance of young players this fall is also important for the future of the NC club. This fall, promising players have grown through a lot of experience, laying the groundwork for them to become long-term strong teams. Not only players who played in the game, such as Seo Ho-cheol, Kim Hyung-joon, and Oh Young-soo, but also players who experienced autumn in the dugout, such as Choi Jung-won and Park Young-bin, will be included. In 2015, the Doosan Bears also became a strong team that has been on the Korean Series stage for seven consecutive years through this process. NC's gust of wind this fall heralds the heyday of NC that will continue for a long time.
A scout official from other teams who watched the postseason said, "The solid team power that NC has built over the past few years has been a successful result of this postseason. He has been successfully scouting, and he is also systematically developing players in the second division. "The combination of veterans, core players, and prospects is ideal," he said.
Park Min-woo met with reporters on the 30th
It is not yet known how far NC will go this fall. Nearby, there are talks of "Korean Series" and "Winner," but NC players are not considering it that far away. Ahead of the first wild card game, Son Ah-seop said, "Just because we are given this qualification, it is certainly a good opportunity for the squad," adding, "It will be a lot of experience for young players." It is a statement that is meaningful to the "experience" of the fall baseball.
Park Min-woo said something similar before the match on Thursday. "Before the wild card, 'This is a bonus game, we've played 144 games really well this year. Let's have fun,' we said. Then, with good results, the atmosphere seems to be getting better."
Park Min-woo said, "We didn't think about 'how far we go' from the wild card. Each of us might have thought, "Let's win" and "Let's go up," but we didn't talk about that among ourselves. Rather, he confessed, "I did well enough" and "Even if we lose, it's a bonus game, so let's have fun."
"Even after winning once, it wasn't like, 'Let's go up more (up)'. 'We're up a notch. Good job. You can lose here. So let's have fun." I was like that when I was training before the playoffs. 'It's amazing that we've come all this way. Let's enjoy it. Let's have fun without regrets." I didn't even talk about the Korean series at all. It's a playoff right now, so I'm just thinking about enjoying this game and this moment."
NC's young dinosaurs are enjoying every moment of this fall that will never come back. We don't know how long it will continue, but it's a wonderful fall that will be memorable for a long time.
