By Cho Mu-hyun
KIA Tigers’ Yoon Suk-min has won the Golden Glove for best pitcher of the year, adding another top honor besides his Most Valuable Player (MVP), to finish a spectacular season.
Yoon gained 189 votes out of 306, easily pushing aside runner-up Oh Seung-hwan of the Samsung Lions who earned 113 votes, to garner the glove at the award ceremony that took place at Seoul Trade Exhibitions and Trading Center (SETEC), Sunday.
The 25-year-old has had his best season to date, and stood atop of all four hurler’s categories with a 2.45 ERA, 17 wins, 178 strikeouts, and a .773 winning percentage in 172 1/3 innings, a feat previously achieved only by Sun Dong-yeol in 1991.
Out of the 34 nominees in eight categories, 10 players took gloves home, with Lotte Giants winning the most out of the competing teams with four.
Lotte’s Hong Sung-heon won his fourth consecutive glove in the designated batter category, with 223 votes. This is his sixth overall, having won as a catcher in 2001 and 2004 as well.
Giants’ slugger Lee Dae-ho, who recently signed an 11 billion won, 4-year contract with Japan’s Orix Buffaloes, won his fourth golden glove in the first baseman category, adding another honor to his Triple Crown this year. He gained an overwhelming vote of 272, owing to his stellar record this season that sees him with a .357 batting average, 176 RBIs, and 225 homeruns.
Catcher Kang Min-ho won his second glove, having first won in 2008. “I wanted to be remembered as a humble player by the fans,” he said, and did not forget to thank the coaching staff for their long support.
Lee’s teammate Choi Hyung-woo, who had 118 RBIs this season and hit his 30th homerun at the Asian Series in the Toongi game last month in Taiwan, was one of the three winners for outfielder alongside teammate Son Ah-seop and the Tigers’ Lee Yong-kyu.
Hanwha Eagles’ Lee Dae-soo won his first award in an 11 year career by winning the glove for best short stop. He was greeted with the most bouquets from his fellow players, and he could not conceal his joy, saying “I have achieved the dream I had 11 years ago in the (same) ceremony.”
The glove for second baseman went to KIA’s Ahn Chi hong and third baseman went to SK Wyverns’ Choi Jung who won their first gloves ever.
Besides the main honors, Samsung Lions’ manager Ryu Joong-il, who led his team in clinching the 2011 Asia Series championship, received an honorary plaque for his contributions to Korean baseball. Doosan Bears’ Kim Sun-woo won an award for fair play, while LG Twins’ Park Yong-taek received the glove of love for his active charity work.