“Go, World Series, World Champions.”
The Major League Baseball World Series will begin on the 28th (Korean time) with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers facing off. The teams that lost 110 games (Arizona) and 102 games (Texas) in the 2021 season will be fighting for the top spot for the first time in two years.
For Korean fans, the relationship between BK Kim Byung-hyun (44, broadcaster) and Arizona is a hot topic. Arizona was the team where Kim enjoyed his prime in the major leagues. He joined the team in 1999 and played there until he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 season.
His best years were in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, he had a 5-6 record, 11 wins, 19 losses, and 19 saves in 78 games with a 2.94 ERA. However, he struggled in the postseason, going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA in six games. In particular, he gave up three runs on four hits (two home runs) in 2⅔ innings in Game 4 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, and two runs on two hits (one home run) with one strikeout in ⅔ innings in Game 5.굿모닝토토
Byung-hyun Kim was left on the mound after giving up crucial home runs to Tino Martinez, Derek Jeter, and Scott Brochures, and the image of him on the mound is still very much in the minds of Korean fans. Arizona was down 2 games to none after Byung-hyun Kim blew Games 4 and 5, but took Games 6 and 7 at home to win the World Series for the first time in four years since the franchise was founded in 1998.
Byung-hyun Kim also won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, but he will be remembered more for his 2001 championship as a closer. In 2002, Byung-hyun Kim had a strong season, going 8-3 with a 36-save record and a 2.04 ERA in 72 games. He was then traded to Boston for a starting job. He returned briefly to Arizona, then the Colorado Rockies, before ending his major league career with the Florida Marlins (now Miami).
Arizona hasn’t been to the World Series since 2001, and will return to glory 22 years later. Byung-hyun Kim reminisced on Instagram on Sept. 26, posting a photo of himself with then-Arizona manager Joe Garagiola Jr.
“Arizona Diamondbacks, Manager Joe, congratulations on your first World Series appearance in 22 years. Go, World Series World Champions,” he wrote. Korean Major League Baseball fans, as well as Kim Byung-hyun’s fans, responded with enthusiasm. ”I wanted this reaction from my brother,” one fan said happily.
