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| SK Wyverns fans call Han Dong-min, left, and Kim Dong-yup "the Dong-Dong brothers" as the two players share Dong as their first names, although they are not real siblings. / Yonhap | |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The SK Wyverns are a special nightmare for pitchers on opposing teams mainly because of their formidable sluggers. They have more power hitters who could pull together home runs than any other team in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League.
The Wyverns currently lead in the KBO home run rankings by team with 97 so far, outdistancing the runner-up Doosan Bears (51) with 46..
Three Wyverns players are in the top five of the KBO home run rankings — third baseman Choi Jeong, and outfielders Han Dong-min and Kim Dong-yup. Choi leads the ranking with 18, followed by Han with 16. Kim, who is in his second year in the KBO league, has hit 13 homers.
Canadian-born infielder Jamie Romack, who has produced 11 home runs so far, is also an emerging slugger.
Among those four sluggers, Wyverns fans call Han and Kim "the Dong-Dong brothers" as the two players share Dong as their first names, although they are not real siblings.
Han topped the RBI ranking with 41. Kim placed fifth both in RBIs and home runs.
Their teamwork produced a drama-like result for their team in a recent game against the KT Wiz on May 31.
The Wyverns routed the Wiz 8-2 in the game and the two sluggers produced a total of seven-RBIs through their home runs.
With bases-loaded with two outs, Kim hit a grand slam off Wiz pitcher Ryu Hee-un in the fourth inning. It was his first grand slam in the KBO League. His upset homer helped the Wyverns lead the game 4-1.
Wyverns manager Trey Hillman seemed to have felt the need to widen the gap to make sure of his team's victory and called up slugger Han to play pinch hitter in the sixth inning.
With runners on first and third bases, Han hit the high velocity pitch (145-kilometer per hour) from the Wiz pitcher which landed outside the fence. With his three-run homer, the Wyverns won 8-2.
Han joined the KBO in 2012 and was the home run king in the minor Futures League before he returned to the major league.
Accolades for the Dong-Dong brothers flourished online among Wyverns fans after the win. In response to articles about the game, some Wyverns fans wrote, "The Dong-Dong brothers finally made it."
Kim's rise as a slugger has created an interesting observation about the relationship between his home runs and game results — if Kim hits a homer, the Wyverns win. Kim has hit 13 homers so far and 12 of his homers were produced in games that his team won. So whether Kim hits a homer or not has been used among baseball analysts as a litmus test to predict chances of a Wyverns' win earlier in the games.
Before joining the Wyverns, Kim spent two years in the United States as a minor leaguer. He signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2008 after graduating from Bugil High School in the midwestern city of Cheonan. But he couldn't reach his dream of playing in the Major Leagues. He returned to Korea in 2012 to serve his mandatory military service.
He joined the Wyverns in 2015 after a tryout. Those who are familiar with the internal process about the recruitment of Kim said the right-hander had an injury to his ankle during the tryout and was unable to fully demonstrate his potential as a slugger. So there were some on the ball club who were skeptical about Kim but then the general manager, who was aware of Kim's strong potential as a slugger, reportedly went ahead with the recruitment.
In his first season in 2016, Kim hit .336 with six homers and 23 RBIs in 57 games. He was included on the opening roster this season and has so far played in 49 games.
Manager Hillman, who joined the Wyverns in January, reportedly supports Kim all the way. He was quoted as saying in a media report that he has seen many right-handers and Kim is as great as any other sluggers in the Major Leagues or Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Kim is a second-generation athlete. His father, Kim Sang-kuk, was a former catcher for the Hanwha Eagles. Senior Kim had played for the Eagles from 1986 to 1995 and was traded to the now defunct-Hyundai Unicorns before he retired after the 1996 season.
After retirement, he began coaching the Bugil High School baseball team.
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