LG Twins captain Oh Ji-hwan is confident that his team will clinch the title in Game 5 of the Korean Series (KS).
The LG Twins defeated the KT Wiz 15-4 in Game 4 of the best-of-seven best-of-five series of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on Nov. 11. With the win, LG improved to 3-1 in the series and is now just one win away from the championship.굿모닝토토
After suffering a blowout loss in Game 1, LG rebounded with three straight wins in Games 2-4. In the history of the Korean Series, 16 out of 17 teams have won the title after being down 3-1. That’s a 94.1 percent chance of winning. LG has the advantage.
LG’s rise to the top of the standings can’t be explained without the play of Oh Ji-hwan. After a solo shot in the second game, Oh led the team’s comeback in the third game with a two-out, three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning. He followed it up with a three-run homer in Game 4 to seal the win.
Three consecutive home runs for KS. Oh tied the KS record for home runs in consecutive games held by Kim Jae-hyun (formerly of the SK Wyverns). However, Kim’s record was set in 2007 and 2008. Oh is the first to homer in three consecutive games in a single season. He became the protagonist of the record.
After the game, Oh said, “It doesn’t mean much to me that it’s the most consecutive home runs in a single season. It means more to me that we took advantage of our chances and won. I don’t come to the plate looking for a home run.”
Oh Ji-hwan’s eyes are set solely on the team’s championship. LG’s championship clock has been stopped since 1994. With one more win, LG will lift the trophy for the first time in 29 years. Oh Ji-hwan, who made his debut in 2009, will also be celebrating his first win in 15 years.
The captain is full of confidence. “We’re going to finish in five games no matter what,” Oh said. “Right now, we are ahead of KT in terms of momentum, batting, atmosphere, and everything else. We won’t think about it after Game 5, we’ll finish it in the next game,” he said.
The team atmosphere drives the captain’s confidence. “We have a lot of seniors who have won league titles, including Kim Jin-sung, Park Hae-min, Kim Hyun-soo, and Heo Do-hwan. The team atmosphere is also good. We’ll regroup and enjoy Game 5 and definitely win.”
Meanwhile, Oh took a step closer to his dream KS Most Valuable Player (MVP) title and a Rolex watch with his third consecutive home run. The Rolex watch is a symbol of LG’s ‘Han of Indifference’ and was purchased in 1998 by former LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, who said, ‘If we win the championship, give it to the Korean Series MVP’. Since LG hasn’t won a championship since 1994, the watch hasn’t been given a new owner yet. If LG wins the KS this year, the watch will be given to the MVP. Oh Ji-hwan is the favorite.
After being named the Daily MVP of Game 3, he said, “It’s been 15 years for me (I joined the team in 2009) and 29 years for the fans. Winning is my biggest goal, and Rolex doesn’t mean anything to me,” he said. But both the championship and the Rolex are becoming very real to him. On Monday, May 13, when the fifth game is played, he will try to seal the title in front of his home fans.