KIA Tigers manager Lee Bum-ho was rather relieved by right fielder Na Sung-bum's fatal error on the previous day (July 7). What was the reason.
Ahead of the regular season home game between the Kiwoom Heroes and the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League, which will take place at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field on Tuesday, Lee said, "The ball could have hit me in the face. I'm glad it hit me in the glove.
The scene where the head coach breathed a sigh of relief was Kim Jae-hyun's at-bat with one out in the top of the second inning against Kiwoom in Gwangju on the 7th when KIA was leading 3-0. KIA starter Eric Stout was on the verge of loading the bases with one out after giving up a hit to Kim Hye-sung, a walk to Choi Joo-hwan, and Kim Byung-hwi. Kim Jae-hyun's hit, which was then lightly pushed, headed straight toward the right field.
The speed of the ball was not that fast, so it almost ended up with a flying ball. However, right fielder Na Sung-bum seemed to catch the ball but sank back and missed the ball. He followed to catch the ball late and center fielder Choi Won-joon threw it to the infield, but fast third baseman Kim Hye-sung had already homered. All the other runners went one base further. Fortunately, the inning ended with Stout's double play, but it was a fatal error that could have resulted in a large number of runs.
Na had his reasons, however. He missed the ball as it instantly disappeared due to strong lighting. "I heard the ball went into the lighting tower. As the lighting has changed to LED lighting, there have been cases where balls that were not caught before have been caught," coach Lee Bum-ho said.
The Gwangju-Kia Champions Field LED Light was replaced in February 2022. Since then, a ball heading to the left-center field by right field has often disappeared as it enters the lighting tower. It was not just mistakes. In the case of a fastball, there was ample risk that players who missed the ball would get hurt while rushing in. Manager Lee Bum-ho reportedly suggested this matter to the Kia team.
Coach Lee said, "Last time (Choi) Won-jun did the same, and other players said that the lighting tower caught the ball. When I told the club, I understand that when the season is over or they can be repaired, they said, "Shouldn't we make a change?" 메이저놀이터
"(Simple) floating ball can be caught because of the lack of time, but) liner-like ball like yesterday is hard to catch because of the lack of time. It was fortunate that he got hit by the glove yesterday as well, but he could have gotten hit by the face. (B) Sung-bum blocked it well with his glove, so I think he finished it well without any problems."