Craziest Game I've Ever Seen!

Okay, I watch the tail end of a bee-e-a-utifully played game after work Wednesday night in which the Tigers have to manufacture a run in the 8th to scratch out a 3-2 win over the Lotte Giants and then hold that lead for an inning. That's the kind of baseball a baseball purist or defensive specialist or rounders scholar or whatever they want to call themselves would absolutely LOVE! I don't like that kind of ball. If it's a good pitching duel and hits are at a premium, there's drama in the close score, I'll give you that. But there's boredom in the non-action. Give ME THAT! I prefer a game where the pitchers suck and the hitters are feasting on them, padding their hitting stats and getting the fans' asses out of their seats so often that they just abandon the seats altogether. That's the kind of game we had, (and sorry for the Lotte fans but you have had your games like this versus Kia so pppttthhhhhbbbbtttt!), tonight and I absolutely loved every second of it! Craziest, and dare I say? I think I dare! Best game I've ever seen! Wait a second. I have to say that watching the Tigers' 10th championship winning game with my good buddy Guns in my dormitory apartment close enough to Moodeung Stadium that we could actually hear the cheers when Na Ji Wan hit the game winning homer..... yeah, THAT was better. But not because of sheer exciting play. Mostly for dramatic importance of the game. This game today held little importance. Even at the end of the season if Kia misses the playoffs by one game, there will be many other games they look to that they should have won. Already several this season. But this game! This game was a once in a lifetime dream game for a guy like me! I may be overstating a tad but I may NOT! Okay. I'm sure you're anxious to hear and see the results. Here are the highlights of the game. Now if you are like me, and you love baseball statistics, WOAH, brother or sister! Strap yourself in for this! Where to begin? I guess the score. 17-1. Pretty self-explanatory. But what went into this drubbing? WAAAAY more interesting to a baseball person! Someone who doesn't just show up for the win or loss or to see their hero or to eat popcorn or drink beer or blabadee friggin blah. This was a treasure of a game for the statistician in me! And in all of you TRUE baseball fans who know how rare hitting for the cycle is, (or what it means). There were actually TWO guys who were within one hit of the cycle in this game! BOTH by the 6th inning so they had a couple at bats to complete it! When do you get a chance to see THAT? I'll dispel the drama, and tell you that neither did it. There's still only one guy who has done it for the Tigers this year and that's Kim Ju Chan. Gives you an idea of how ridiculously hard it is. I mean having two guys trying for it in the same game sort of cheapened it a little. It's gotta be some sort of record just to have two guys going for it! Na Ji Wan had two at bats in which he needed a double. He normally has a discriminating eye at the plate and takes a lot of walks. You could tell he was swinging for a double. But he ended up swinging at bad pitches and striking out in the first cycle at bat, and hitting a ball out of the strike zone for a dribbler to the shortstop in the second. The other guy with a shot at the cycle, Oh Joon Hyuk, was in the more common, and less enviable position of needing a triple to complete it. He only got one chance and ended up taking a walk. On this bizarre Cinco De Mayo/Children's Day May 5th afternoon, the 12 teams in the KBO combined for, (are you ready for this?), 82 runs! That's almost 7 runs per team! Kia wasn't even the team who scored the most runs! The SK Wyverns won THEIR game 19-6! And the NC Dinos hung up a 15 for the day. Maybe the players like hitting in the afternoon sun. They were all 2:00 games. So anyway, back to the stats. The Tigers piled up 18 hits and 12 walks. They also had at least one bit batter. Which led to a bench clearing brawl. ON CHILDREN'S DAY! LMAO!!! The Lotte Giants pitchers threw a total of 194 pitches. That's TWO games worth! Starter - 90, Reliever - 86, Closer - 18. That's what I call Loooooong relief! Na Ji Wan, who gets a walk every 4 at bats, and gets hit by a lot of pitches, has an unbelievable on base percentage of almost .500. But he got his homerun by hitting a 3-0 pitch. Swinging at a 3-0 pitch is something he never does. It's something really NObody should ever do. But when you have a huge lead in the game, why not? The captain of the Tigers, and their best hitter this season, Lee Bum Ho, did not even play this game. They piled up 17 runs without their power hitting, clean up slot man! He was seen massaging Na Ji Wan before his first at bat in search of his cycle-completing double though. 10 Kia players had a hit, 5 had multiple hit games and three had 3-hit games. The only guy who went hitless was Kim Ju Hyung, who has been hitting well this season, just not fielding so well. Oddly, (heh heh), the Tigers only scored in the odd innings getting 2, 6, 5, and 4 runs in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings respectively. A guy like me hopes for just ONE big inning per game. This game had FOUR!!! Kang Han Ool, the speedy #13 on Kia, had a banner day of his own. He got a hit in the 3rd inning then three consecutive walks, two in the same inning, the 5th. He and Oh Joon Hyuk both scored 3 times. NINE different players worked a walk in this game! The only regulars who didn't were Kim Joo Chan and Brett Pill, and they're not supposed to walk. Ten different players scored at least one run, and ten different players batted at least one run in. The offense was evenly spread around. That is fantastic for the team! A game like this is just what the doctor ordered for both the players and the Kia Tigers' fans. They've been under-performing this year and hopefully this game will put a resounding end to that! We shall see...