The Lotte Giants of professional baseball were unable to celebrate their weekend 2 wins and 1 tie winning series. This was because Lee Ho-joon and Son Sung-bin were hit in the head one after the other before they could shake off the nightmare of Jeon Min-jae's hit by pitch.
On the 11th, Lotte experienced an unfortunate incident when two players were hit in the head during the second game of a doubleheader against KT in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League at Suwon KT Wiz Park (the 6th game of the season).
The first incident occurred in the 4th inning when trailing 0-1. Lead-off batter Jeon Jun-woo walked on four straight balls, and Son Ho-young drew a walk, setting up two outs with runners on first and second. Lee Ho-joon then stepped up and was hit hard on the back of the helmet by a 130 km slider from KT starter Oh Won-seok. Lee Ho-joon collapsed on the ground, expressing significant pain, and was urgently transported by ambulance after emergency measures by the medical staff and team trainers.
A Lotte official noted, "Lee Ho-joon was hit in the back of the head and is being transferred to a nearby Hwahang Hospital." Fortunately, after an X-ray and CT scan at the hospital, there were no significant issues. However, considering the sensitive area of the head, the Lotte team stated, "We will continuously monitor Lee Ho-joon's condition going forward."
The misfortunes for Lotte did not end there. In the top of the 8th inning, with the score tied at 1-1, Son Sung-bin was hit again on the back of his helmet by a 125 km forkball from Son Dong-hyun during a 1B-1S count.
Son Sung-bin also collapsed on the ground, expressing pain for some time. The arrival of the second ambulance on the field elicited sighs from Lotte fans. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung and KT manager Lee Kang-cheol both came onto the field and watched Son Sung-bin with serious expressions.
Unlike Lee Ho-joon, Son Sung-bin fortunately managed to get up and walked to first base, carrying on with normal base-running activities. He also defended without major issues, and a Lotte official stated after the game, "Son Sung-bin fortunately shows no significant problems with his condition."
Since there was no intention behind the incidents, Oh Won-seok and Son Dong-hyun both expressed their apologies to the players who were hit in the head. After the game, team captains Jang Seong-woo (KT) and Jeon Jun-woo (Lotte), along with veteran players Woo Kyu-min (KT) and Jeong Hoon (Lotte), engaged in conversations to clear any misunderstandings.
The reason Lotte's players and fans were particularly sensitive to the two headshots that day was because they had recently lost 'trade luck' Jeon Min-jae due to a headshot.
Jeon Min-jae, who was riding a wave with a .387 batting average, 1 home run, and 10 RBIs through 30 games, suffered a right anterior chamber hemorrhage after being hit in the facial area by a pitch from Kiwoom’s Yang Ji-yul on the 29th of last month. Following a specialist's advice that stability was needed, Jeon Min-jae has been resting for over ten days.
On that day, Lotte finished the doubleheader with 1 win and 1 tie, concluding the weekend series with a record of 2 wins and 1 tie. They also maintained their recent winning streak of four games. However, they could not fully enjoy the joy of remaining undefeated.
As Lee Ho-joon and Son Sung-bin consecutively got hit in the head, a headshot warning was issued to the team.
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