By Yoon Chul
The SK Wyverns clinched the best-of-seven Korea Baseball Organization’s Korean Series, Tuesday.
In a road game at Daegu Stadium, the regular season champions managed by Kim Sung-kun beat Sun Dong-ryul’s Samsung Lions 4-2 in Game 4 of the Series.
Wyverns batter Park Jung-kwon earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award averaging .455, one home run and six RBIs in four games of the series.
The postseason of 2010 attracted huge attention from spectators as the first and second rounds’ best-of-five playoffs ended in the final Game 5.
But the Incheon-based team, which dominated the regular season, didn’t make the Series more dramatic. Baseball fans will be more likely to remember the Doosan Bears, who took the first two rounds to 10 games against the Lotte Giants and the Lions.
However, the Wyverns should also be respected for their advanced system — the SK player trained for the most time among other teams.
The regular season champions didn’t have a single error in the first three Korean Series games and denied the trailing Lions in every game through great defense.
In addition, the Wyverns analyzed the Lions perfectly as they have done the entire season, making the second-ranked team look desperate.
In Game 4 there was no difference to the previous three games. The Wyverns always looked to get one more base or earn one more run, while the Lions seemed to defeat themselves.
Starters Gary Glover of the Wyverns and the Lion’s Jang Won-sam pitched well in the first three innings, but Jang who recorded a win in Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs against the Bears pitching six scoreless inning as a reliever, stumbled in the fourth.
With the bases loaded, Jang walked Park Kyung-wan, bringing in the Wyverns’ first run and Park Jung-kwon’s two-run double extended the lead to 3-0.
In the sixth, Park Kyung-wan’s RBI-double brought third base runner Choi Jung home for a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile the Lions failed to earn a score on easy chances.
In the sixth with runners on first and second, and no outs, the Lions batters went back to the dugout following two strikeouts and a ground ball.
In the seventh, they had a similar chance, but hit two fly outs and a strikeout.
With runners on third and first in the eighth, Wyverns boss Kim called Kim Kwang-hyun — 17 wins in the regular season — and the Wyverns ace allowed one run, giving a walk and hit-by-pitch, but also ended the inning with two strikeouts.
The Lions scored one more in the bottom of the ninth but this was too late.