Samsung Lions veteran Choi Hyung-woo started in left field and delivered at the plate and in the field on Tuesday, helping his team beat the KIA Tigers 8-3 in Game 2 of the KBO postseason playoff series at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, according to 뉴스핌. The 43-year-old recorded a home run, an RBI walk and an outfield assist, answering manager Park Jin-man's decision to accept defensive risk in exchange for more offense.
The best-of-five series is now level at one win apiece. Samsung lost Game 1 on Monday 5-1, managing just two hits as its central lineup went quiet, 뉴스핌 reported.
Why it matters
Samsung's lineup choice was the story of the game. Park had kept Choi on the bench in Game 1, prioritizing defensive stability, but the team's bats never got going and Choi was not even used as a pinch hitter, according to 뉴스핌.
Before Game 2, Park said he wanted to maximize offense and added Choi because of his experience and his ability to change the momentum of a game. The manager also pushed back on doubts about Choi's defense, telling reporters that Choi is not a player who deserves to be underrated and asking them to watch him in the field, 뉴스핌 reported.
The decision was complicated by Gu Ja-uk's injury. Gu, recovering from a left hamstring problem, could not play the outfield and had to serve as designated hitter, which meant Choi could only start if he took left field, 뉴스핌 reported. Choi had played just six games and 43 innings in the outfield during the regular season, and his last postseason start in left came eight years ago, in a 2018 wild-card game while he was with KIA, according to 뉴스핌.
Records fall and a key assist
Choi's first at-bat of the day came in the field, and he handled Lee Ho-yeon's fly ball cleanly in the top of the first inning, 뉴스핌 reported.
In the bottom of the second, with one out and nobody on, he worked a full count against KIA starter Adam Oller and singled to right for Samsung's first hit of the game, according to 뉴스핌. The hit made him the oldest player ever to appear in a KBO postseason game at 42 years, 10 months and 11 days, and the oldest to record a postseason hit, 뉴스핌 reported. Both previous marks belonged to NC Dinos manager Lee Ho-jun, set during his playing days in 2017.
Samsung led 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Choi came up with two outs and the bases loaded against KIA left-hander Lee Eui-ri, 뉴스핌 reported. Park had warned before the game that Lee Eui-ri, who had pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in Game 1, would likely face Samsung's left-handed-heavy middle of the order and that the left-handed hitters would have to deliver. Choi drew a full-count walk that forced in Park Seung-kyu and made it 6-0, becoming the oldest player to drive in a postseason run, according to 뉴스핌.
His biggest swing came in the bottom of the seventh. With Samsung ahead 7-2, one out and nobody on, Choi hit a 133 km/h slider from Kim Beom-su over the right-field wall for a solo home run, 뉴스핌 reported. It made him the oldest player to homer in the postseason, breaking a record he already held from a 2024 Korean Series game against Samsung when he was with KIA.
The defensive play Park had been asked about arrived in the top of the sixth. With two outs and nobody on, KIA's Castro hit a ball off the left-field fence and tried for second, but Choi played the carom cleanly and threw him out, 뉴스핌 reported. Castro had gone 4-for-4 with three hits, a home run and three RBIs in Game 1, so the assist carried extra weight.
The game was played in wind of about 5 meters per second, which Park had flagged before first pitch as a factor in outfield play. He said he had spoken with Choi individually about handling the wind and expected him to position himself accordingly, 뉴스핌 reported.
Samsung's Game 1 problems had included a first-inning throwing error by Kim Sung-yun that allowed an extra base and led to an early run, according to 뉴스핌. On Tuesday, Choi's accurate throw produced an out instead.
Choi's regular season had already been a record-setting one. According to 뉴스핌, he set new marks as the oldest player to appear in a game and to record a hit, a home run, a stolen base and a grand slam. In May he became the KBO's all-time leader in hits and the first player to reach 4,500 total bases.
The series continues with Game 3, where Samsung must decide whether Choi stays in left field or returns to a role that asks less of him defensively.
