SSG Landers submarine pitcher Park Jong-hoon finally became the winning pitcher. He won his battle against himself. When you change your mind, the results change.
SSG won 6-3 in the 10th game of the season against the Hanwha Eagles in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 29th. Park Jong-hoon, who took the mound 24 days after the KIA Tigers match on the 5th (losing 5 runs in 2⅔ innings), became the winning pitcher with 3 hits and 7 strikeouts in 6 innings.
All three batters struck out in the first inning. And so his game began. He did not allow a single hit until the third inning. Until the 6th inning, there was not even a single shot. Park Jong-hoon pitched 5 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts and 1 run over 7 innings at the time.
Park Jong-hoon recorded the pitching of the Musa-sa ball that day. The previous Musasagu match was held on September 22, 2022, in the Literary Hanwha Match, after 310 days. After his elbow surgery and rehabilitation, he showed his best pitching.
His time in District 2 was not wasted. Park Jong-hoon said, “I exercised while thinking ‘I am having a camp’. He continued to watch the video, and when he felt like it, he went outside and exercised, even if it was late. He thought it was just practice for me now,” he said.
The solution to his sluggishness was, after all, practice. Coach Won-hyeong Kim also said, “I am grateful that he blocked the team with no runs for 6 innings, but the part where they pitched without a run is impressive. I think that is the result of his patience and well-prepared work in the 2nd Army. Jong-hoon was able to win thanks to his good pitching.”
Park Jong-hoon decided to pay less attention to the release point for the joy of victory on this day. Analysts say that his release point went up compared to when he was at his peak, and his sluggish performance continued. He couldn’t help but worry about himself.
Park Jong-hun is the player who can release the ball at the lowest point in the league. However, the release point has been raised. Director Kim Won-hyung did not cite the release point as the cause of Park Jong-hoon’s recent difficulties. However, Park Jong-hoon has been paying a lot of attention to this part. As a result, he became more troubled, and pitching did not work as intended.
He finally brushed off his troubles. Park Jong-hoon said, “I have been paying a lot of attention to the height of his arms. As a result, during practice or games, he was caught up in the thought of ‘this isn’t right’. I feel sorry for that thought.” Because he’s thinking a lot on the mound, he can’t really fight opponents. He has a lot of worries and nothing good. Rather, when things don’t go well, ‘simple is better’ is the advice of many leaders.
Park Jong-hoon accepts and acknowledges the worries he has and the things that have changed compared to the good times, and the result has changed. “I think it’s helpful to acknowledge and accept that the release point has been raised,” he said.
Park Jong-hoon is a pitcher who used to release the ball at such a low level that the back of his hand would scratch the mound and bleed. However, after his surgery and rehabilitation, his release point increased. Park Jong-hoon said, “It has risen by almost 20 cm.” So he said, “I didn’t think this was it. He grew distrustful of himself,” he said.
“I kept fighting with myself,” he said. Then he abandoned much of the idea of the ‘release point’ problem. He was just trying to think he was batting and winning. It took him a while, but when he was in District 2, he thought, ‘It’s camp period’ and worked out.꽁머니
Park Jong-hoon said, “It’s not luck today, but we have to show this in the next game and the next game. Even if it’s not like today, he will throw the ball more confidently and show how to deal with batters. I will show you that it is not luck, but skill.” The resurrected ‘Eagle Killer’. It remains to be seen if he will be able to show what he has learned against other teams.