Samsung Lions fall to bottom
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Samsung Lions starting pitcher Yoon Sung-hwan, right, lowers his head after allowing the eighth run during a game against the Hanwha Eagles at Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Daejeon, Sunday. The Lions lost 10-6. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
The Samsung Lions, who had been at the top of the standings up until last season, have taken a massive fall, ranking at the bottom of the 10-team Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League.
Sunday’s 10-6 loss to the Eagles was definitely jarring to the Lions, who had won the Korean Series title for four consecutive years from 2011 to 2014.
The Daegu-based team had two losses and one draw in a three-game series with the Hanwha Eagles in Daejeon last weekend to bring their record to 33 wins, one tie and 46 losses. With the series over, the Lions are now the lowest ranked team for the first time in nine years. The last time the Daegu-based team placed at the bottom was on May 5, 2007.
There had been signals that the Lions would suffer this season ― they released their closer Lim Chang-yong and pitchers Yoon Sung-hwan and Ahn had to join the league late due to an illegal overseas gambling scandal; and they failed to make a contract with the third baseman Park Sok-min. But baseball experts couldn’t imagine that the mighty team, which claimed the Korean Series eight times in the league’s 35-year history, would struggle like this.
This season the Lions have struggled with injured players ― pitchers Cha Woo-chan, Jang Won-sam, Sim Chang-min, Ahn Ji-man and fielders Park Han-yi, Koo Ja-wook, Park Hae-min and Bae Young-seob were injured off and on.
The Lions have not been helped much by overseas players. Though they replaced their starting pitcher Collin Balester with Arnold Leon in May, Leon only played a game before being sent down to the minors with an injury.
The team also replaced their injured starter Allen Webster, who went four wins and four losses with an ERA of 5.70, with a Dominican lefty Yohan Flande on Monday.
The Lions have one three-game series left with the fifth-placed Lotte Giants (37-0-42) in their second home park in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, from Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether the Lions can make use of their last chance to rebound in Pohang, as they have shown strength whenever playing there, recording 28 wins and seven losses since the 2012 season.
In the meantime, with the winning series this past weekend, the Eagles (32-3-43) now stand in eighth place followed by the ninth place KT Wiz (32-2-44) and the Lions in tenth.
Considering that the Daejeon-based team had 20 more losses than wins, Eagles fans would probably be amazed at how much progress they have made.
Before the All-Star Game break, the Eagles will have their last three game series with the seventh place LG Twins (33-1-43) in Seoul beginning Tuesday. There is only half a game separating the seventh and the eighth spots.