By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The fever is on at ballparks. In spite of a daunting cold snap prevailing in early spring, the number of spectators hit the 1 million mark Sunday, with the accumulated tally reaching 1.04 million, in 93 games.
This is the third quickest the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has reached the million spectator mark, following 79 games in 1995 and 91 games in 1990. With 17.5 percent of the whole season played so far, the KBO expects this year's total target of 6.5 million to be achievable,.
But to reach this goal, the league will have to get over one huge problem that might deter audiences heading to local ballparks, as the Lotte Giants, the team spearheading the KBO box office, are squirming in a deep and sticky quagmire.
The Busan-based team plunged to the bottom of the table having been swept in their weekend series with the league-leading SK Wyverns.
Even though its clean-up batters remain in good shape, the breakdown of its once-robust army of starters and its disastrous defense is making it harder to close the gap with their rivals in a bid to snatch a post-season ticket for the third straight season.
Both the keystone duo of Cho Sung-hwan and Park Ki-hyuk are on the disabled list, and to make matters worse, slugger Lee Dae-ho is currently off the diamond with pain in his wrist. The absence of Cho and Park has led to a shaky infield, with the instability contaminating the other outfielders.
Friday's first game against the Wyverns series was a nightmarish time for die-hard Giants fans: They committed three errors in the fourth and fifth innings, including two missed fly balls, causing them to allow eight runs in the two innings in their 9-7 loss.
Their starting pitchers are not performing as well as they were last season. None but Cho Jung-hoon (3-1, ERA 2.25) is playing up to their potential, and even Cho suffered a 2-1 setback in the pitchers' duel Saturday against the Wyverns lefty ace Kim Kwang-hyun.
On the other hand, the Wyverns and the LG Twins are enjoying a sweet rally. Once worried by a 1-4 start to the month, SK ended the next 15 games in a surprising 14-1 roll, stretching their winning streak to 10 games.
The fears of manager Kim Sung-keun that his boys may struggle this year proved premature, as their trademark teamwork has picked up momentum.
With Kim successfully coming back from injuries to his left wrist and elbow, and import starting pitchers Ken Kadokura and Gary Glover playing well, the team is likely to dominate the KBO.
It seems likely that their run will continue for a while, with the pending return of relievers Jun Byung-doo and Chong Tae-hyun, as well as the hard-hitting Lee Ho-jun.
The Twins, the league's doormat for the last few years, now appear to have emerged as a totally new squad. They are 7-1 in their last eight games. New manager Park Jong-hoon is making a soft landing in the leadership of the squad, which has often been marred by discord among the players.
As Park Myung-hwan is putting in impressive stints following a long-awaited comeback, their perennial weakness of shaky pitchers has made a remarkable improvement with new additions such as new closer Shinya Okamoto.
From April 14 to 22, they enjoyed six straight wins, and the Twins posted a 2.5 ERA to lower their overall ERA from 5.4 to 4.52, to near the league average.
This week will be crucial in the Giants' bid to try and turn their season around. They start the week with a series with the seventh-place Nexen Heroes beginning Tuesday.
It is also likely to be an important time for both of the high-rolling pair, the Wyverns and the Twins, as the two teams are set to meet over the weekend. Before that, the Wyverns take on the Kia Tigers and the Twins play the Samsung Lions.