As the 2024 KBO season progresses, here is a look at the top news and notes from the past week in Korea’s highest level of professional baseball.
KBO Sets Single-Season Attendance Record
For the first time in KBO history, over nine million people have attended a game during the 2024 season.
Dan Kurtz of MyKBO Stats reports that during the season’s first 610 games, the KBO averaged 14,756 fans per game and had 169 sellouts. One hundred sixty-nine sellouts are approximately 28 percent of this year’s games.
Last Wednesday, the KIA Tigers became the fourth KBO team to host over one million fans this year. The three other organizations are the LG Twins, Doosan Bears, and Samsung Lions. The KBO has 25 days to reach ten million fans, as the final day of the regular season is September 28.
Matt Davidson Smashes Home Run No. 40
NC Dinos designated hitter and infielder Matt Davidson drilled his 40th home run of the year on Monday in an 11-5 win over the Kiwoom Heroes. He deposited a poorly placed curveball from Heroes starting pitcher Ariel Jurado over the left-field bleachers for a two-run shot.
Davidson, 33, a former Major League Baseball player, spent the 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Davidson is the first KBO player to hit 40 home runs in a season since outfielder Mel Rojas Jr. hit 47 with the KT Wiz in 2020.
However, Davidson is the first NC Dinos player to hit 40 home runs since Eric Thames in 2016, who hit a single-season career-high 47 in 2015 with the Dinos. Davidson’s previous high for any professional baseball season was 33 in 2019, with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in the Texas Rangers organization.
Connor Seabold Throws a CG Shutout for the Lions
Samsung Lions starting pitcher Connor Seabold did not have eye-popping numbers in MLB with the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, posting an 8.12 ERA in 33 combined games from 2021-23. He was near-perfect last Tuesday against the Heroes.
Seabold tossed all nine innings in a 1-0 win, allowing only three hits while striking out a season-high 11 batters. He retired the final 12 batters he faced. The Rockies released the 28-year-old in December, and he signed a one-year $900,000 contract with the Lions 16 days later.
When asked by the media after the game, Seabold said his pitch-mix was a big reason for his success last Tuesday.
“Located and executed,” Seabold said in the post-game press conference. “Everything was well executed today. We had the fastball going really early. Our plan was just to attack them with fastballs, and then we started mixing in the cutters and the sweepers, and then at the end, the changeup played a really big part, too.”
This Day in Korean Baseball History
On September 3, 2002, South Korean first baseman Hee-seop Choi made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs, making him the first Korean-born position player to debut in MLB.
In a 10-1 Cubs win over the Milwaukee Brewers, Choi pinch-hit for future Hall of Fame inductee Fred McGriff and struck out in his only plate appearance.
Choi played four seasons in MLB with the Cubs (2002-03), Florida Marlins (2004), and Los Angeles Dodgers (2004-05). He participated in the 2005 MLB Home Run Derby but did not advance past the first round, hitting five home runs.
KBO Standings as of Tuesday, September 3
Watch KBO games using the global streaming platform SOOP.
_____
WBN KBO: https://worldbaseball.com/league/south-korea/
Photo Credit: Kiwoom Heroes players celebrate after winning the KBO League game between Sumsung Lions and Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome on April 03, 2021 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
