KIA's Kim Do-young: Why Did You Switch the Batter-Pitcher? The 'Behind' Story Revealed "(Moon) Hyun-bin's pitches were just too bad. The reason we didn't choose our teammate (Han) Jun-soo..." [Jamsil On-site]

*This content was translated by AI.

KIA Tigers' Kim Do-young (23) wittily expressed his regret over being eliminated from the home run derby the previous day (the 10th).

The 'Festival of Stars,' the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO All-Star Game, will take place at Jamsil Baseball Stadium at 6 p.m. on the 11th. With Jamsil Baseball Stadium disappearing into history at the end of this season, this marks the final All-Star Game to be held there.

Kim Do-young, known as the 'Sharing All-Star,' participated in the home run derby the previous day but unfortunately failed to claim the championship.

Currently leading the regular season with 27 home runs, Kim Do-young managed to clear the fence only twice in the home run derby preliminaries, finishing fifth and having to wait for the next round.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the All-Star Game on the 11th, Kim Do-young said, "When I was driving to work earlier, even though the weather was incredibly hot, there were lines stretching out extremely long. It made me feel the popularity of baseball once again and gave me the thought that I need to perform even better."

Regarding his elimination from the home run derby the previous day, he said, "Naturally, I felt regretful at first. Still, we were tied for first place in the home run category, so I should have hit more, but I couldn't, which was a bit disappointing. However, since there is another important game today, I think it's fine," conveying his feelings.

The player who threw the batting ball to Kim Do-young during the home run derby the previous day was Park Chan-ho (Doosan Bears), with whom he had once shared the same rice bowl. Originally, Moon Hyun-bin was set to be Kim Do-young's batter-pitcher, but it was changed. What was the story behind this?

He said, "(Chan-ho hyung's) pitches were fine. But I just couldn't hit them. First of all, Chan-ho hyung really thought I was a championship contender and tried to throw well for me. However, since I failed to meet that expectation, I feel sorry and a bit regretful."

Then, regarding the switch of the batter-pitcher from Moon Hyun-bin to Park Chan-ho, he said, "Actually, yesterday when I was trying to practice, I tried hitting (Moon) Hyun-bin's pitches, but they were just too bad. (Laughs)." This brought laughter from those around him before he added, "Then after that, Chan-ho hyung came to let me practice with (Park) Jun-soon. 'Oh? Chan-ho hyung was here,' I thought again, and Chan-ho hyung also said, 'Still, since it's a pitch you've hit before, just hit your own pitches.' So I tried hitting them, but the result was unfortunately disappointing."

However, Han Jun-soo of the same team, KIA, formed a pair with Kang Baek-ho and ultimately won the championship. Kim Do-young said, "(Han) Jun-soo hyung seemed to match me the best. I think that was the right judgment," bringing laughter from those around him once again before adding, "Actually, the reason I didn't choose Jun-soo hyung is because he's on our team; if he gets overworked in the derby, it would be a loss for us. Our team's catcher is precious right now. (Laughs) So I wanted to avoid making him exert too much effort, but since he is a teammate of mine, my lack of trust led to this disappointing result," continuing to speak wittily.

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*This content was translated by AI.