“I was upset and embarrassed”.

It was frustrating when the KBO League's dominant offense couldn't get going. It was the first time I was chased by a slump from the start of the season. I was embarrassed for my juniors. Of course, the embarrassment didn't last long. She bounced back with a home run two days in a row to give her team a valuable win as captain. He seems to be back on track.  

Na Sung-beom played a key role in the victory over the Doosan Bears in the 2024 KBO Baseball World Series at Gwangju-Gia Champions Field on Friday. He went 3-for-5 with a walk-off two-run home run, four RBIs, and one run scored. The team snapped a two-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory. Doosan was unable to stop Na Sung-beom and had its 10-game winning streak snapped. 

He returned from injury but continued to struggle. His timing was off. In-play balls didn't come through and he swung wildly. His slump continued for more than 30 at-bats, and his batting average dropped to 8. The team was unable to take the lead. Finally, on the 14th against Doosan in Gwangju, the clue came. In his first at-bat of the second inning, he hit a 125-meter over-the-wall two-run arch.  

He then hit another 125-meter blast to right field in the bottom of the third inning with the bases loaded and down 1-0. In the fourth inning, he followed that up with a two-run single to center field with two outs. He followed that up with a 먹튀검증 single to left in the sixth inning. 

After the game, he was honored with the postgame award and took the podium to greet the home fans. “The home run in the third inning and then the double in the fourth inning was great. I hit good pitches in all my at-bats. I didn't want to be greedy, I just wanted to make contact. It was nice to make good contact and get a hit and score a run. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of pitches that are getting in front of me. I think the home runs and RBIs came because I was more confident,” he explained.

The slump was not only embarrassing for Lee, but also for those around him, including manager Lee Bum-ho. “It was my first time experiencing a bad start to the season. My teammates were working hard, accumulating a lot of wins and leading the league, but despite being the captain, I couldn't help much.  After I came in, things went downhill, and I was upset and disrespectful to the younger guys.  I hit a lot of good shots yesterday and today. I hope I can show them a lot of winnable games and help the team,” he said afterward. 

“The guys are working hard and doing well every day. They play hard and make mistakes. We need to be more encouraging and supportive. They know they made mistakes, so I'm giving them words of encouragement. We're in first place and they want to win. I want to win the title, and I promised the players that I want to win the title now.”