Professional baseball team LG Twins overcame the setback of their coach's ejection to achieve a dramatic comeback victory.
LG won 5-2 against Doosan Bears in a game held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 11th. During the match, LG coach Yeom Kyung-yeop was ejected after protesting a referee's decision and left the field. Captain Park Hae-min gathered the players for a meeting and inspired them by saying, "Let’s make sure to win today."
Trailing 1-2, LG's attack in the bottom of the 5th inning began with lead-off batter Moon Sung-joo hitting a single to left field. With one out and runners on first base, Lee Joo-heon hit a line drive down the third base line. Third baseman Kang Seung-ho attempted a diving catch, but the ball hit his glove and bounced into foul territory. Umpire Kim Gap-soo declared it fair. Kang Seung-ho quickly picked up the ball and threw it to second base to get the lead runner out.
First baseman Moon Sung-joo hesitated in the middle, thinking he was going to be caught on the line drive, before returning to first base. Batter Lee Joo-heon sprinted to touch first base. It was now two outs and a runner on first base. However, both Doosan and LG players seemed unaware of the exact situation, leading to strange occurrences.
While Moon Sung-joo and Lee Joo-heon were stepping on first base together, as Moon Sung-joo was about to enter the dugout, the Doosan infielders threw to first base from second base. Moon Sung-joo returned to first base and stood on it alongside Lee Joo-heon. The first baseman tagged both players in turn, but the umpire declared a dead ball, resolving the situation to two outs and a runner on first base.
This time, Lee Joo-heon returned to the batter's box holding his bat. It seemed like someone from the LG bench had called "foul." Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop came out to ask the umpire about the situation. The umpire intended to continue the game with two outs and a runner on first base.
At this moment, coach Yeom Kyung-yeop came out to appeal. Coach Yeom appeared to protest to the umpires while raising his arms, saying "foul." The appealing coach had an argument with first base umpire Lee Young-jae. Assistant coach Kim Jeong-jun tried to intervene but to no avail. The protests persisted, and ultimately, chief umpire Bae Byeong-du announced the ejection of coach Yeom.
Upon the ejection announcement, coach Yeom became more agitated and pushed first base umpire Lee Young-jae with his shoulder. It even resulted in a physical confrontation with the umpire. Assistant coach Kim Jeong-jun, along with players Oh Ji-hwan and Park Hae-min, tried to stop coach Yeom. After the situation calmed, the umpires said, "Coach Yeom Kyung-yeop was ejected for using abusive language toward the umpire."
The umpire stated that the raised hands gesture was not a foul but a time call. Coach Yeom reportedly became agitated after hearing that umpires could call 'time' during a situation attempting to execute a double play.
After coach Yeom Kyung-yeop was ejected in the bottom of the 5th inning, during cleaning time, LG players gathered in front of the dugout for a meeting. Captain Park Hae-min gathered the players and raised the mood by saying, "Let’s make sure to win this game."
Park Dong-won explained the situation at the time by saying, "Hae-min hyung sensed that the atmosphere was chaotic and said strongly, since our coach did this for us, let’s make sure to win today's game."
Park Hae-min received applause for making a super catch that prevented a run in the field. In the top of the 6th inning, Doosan had a chance with runners on first and second base and no outs, but Kang Seung-ho and Kim Gi-yeon were both retired with consecutive strikeouts. He managed to prevent a run with a stellar defensive play, catching a well-hit ball by Choo Jae-hyun after running more than 20 meters to snag it. The defense was more valuable than a hit.
LG turned the game around with Park Dong-won's three-run homer in the bottom of the 7th inning, and in the bottom of the 8th inning, back-to-back doubles by Kim Hyun-soo and Austin extended the lead to 5-2, securing victory.
After the game, coach Yeom Kyung-yeop emphasized, "Whether trailing by one run, leading by one run, or in a tie situation, a strong team must be able to turn the game around. I am grateful that the players kept that promise, and I truly want to commend them. I have high expectations that they will show the best concentration in the remaining games."
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