He could have been a bridesmaid, but he was never a bridesmaid. It was a Golden Glove Awards ceremony where everyone’s dignity shone. Korean Series MVP Oh Ji-hwan thanked KIA Park Chan-ho for attending the ceremony despite his failure to win the Golden Glove Golden Glove Award.
At the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Golden Glove Awards held at the COEX Auditorium in Seoul on Wednesday, Oh was given the Golden Glove in shortstop category. With this, Oh won the Golden Glove Award for the second consecutive season following last year.
The shortstop category was the biggest battleground in the Golden Glove. As many as eight players competed in the shortstop category. Key shortstop players of each team competed as candidates. LG Oh Ji-hwan, KT Kim Sang-soo, SSG Park Sung-han, NC Kim Joo-won, KIA Park Chan-ho, Lotte Noh Jin-hyuk, Samsung Lee Jae-hyun, and Hanwha Lee Do-yoon competed for just one golden glove.
Among them, the shortstop Golden Glove was a two-way race between Oh Ji-hwan and Park Chan-ho. In this season’s 126 games, Oh Ji-hwan played a batting average of 0.268 (113 hits in 422 times at bat) with 24 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 62 RBIs, 65 runs scored, and a slugging percentage of 0.396 with 64 walks and 82 strikeouts with a 0.371 OPS of 0.767. Notably, Oh performed the best as captain of the Korean Series, and was happy to be named the MVP of the Korean Series. He played in five games and led his team to victory with a batting average of 0.316 (six hits in 19 times at bat) with three homers, eight RBIs and six runs and three walks. Most importantly, he hit a home run whenever he was critical, and became a hero. In the second game, he hit a solo shot against KT’s William Cuevas, in the third game, his team’s dramatic come-from-behind three-run shot against Kim Jae-yoon in the top of the ninth inning when it was trailing 5-7, and in the fourth game, he also hit a three-run shot against Ju Sang-woo in the seventh inning. Out of the eight RBIs, seven were home runs. He was Oh, the first in the Korean Series to hit a home run in three consecutive games.
Park Chan-ho of Kia is also second to Oh Ji-hwan in the 2023 season. He played in 130 games this season, recording 18 doubles, four triples, 73 runs scored and 30 steals with a batting average of 0.378 with 56 strikeouts and an on-base hit ratio of 0.356 OPS 0.734. He ranks third overall in the KBO league in terms of stolen bases, and 13th in batting average. After graduating from Shin Da-bap Elementary, Kishin Middle School and Jangchung High School, Park joined the Kia Tigers as the 50th overall pick in the fifth round in the 2014 second rookie draft. He also posted his first batting average of .300 this season, the best year of his career. However, as his team failed to advance to the fall baseball league, he refrained from feeling regretful at the end of the regular season
Oh Ji-hwan and Park Chan-ho already won the joint defense award at the 2023 KBO Defensive Award, which was newly established for the first time this year. Oh Ji-hwan scored 75 points in voting and 12.5 points in defense, while Park Chan-ho (KIA) scored 66.67 points in voting and 20.83 points in defense. As a result of the total score, they tied at 87.5 points, and were eventually named joint winners.
At the Golden Glove Awards, Oh had a slight advantage over Park Chan-ho. Oh garnered 154 out of 291 valid votes, marking 52.9 percent of the vote. Park Chan-ho, who came in second with 120 votes (41.2 percent), followed by a gap of only 34 votes. Kim Sang-soo (KT) came in third with five votes (1.7 percent), Kim Joo-won (NC) came in fourth with four votes (1.4 percent), Lee Jae-hyun (Samsung) came in fifth with three votes (1.0 percent), Park Sung-han (SSG) and Noh Jin-hyuk (Lotte) tied for sixth with two votes (0.7 percent), and Lee Do-yoon (Hanwha) came in eighth with one vote (0.3 percent).
Oh Ji-hwan and Park Chan-ho both showed their dignity at the award ceremony. “I’m here to show my dignity as a runner-up,” Park told reporters before the ceremony. “I’m actually really happy to be mentioned together like this. I’ve been mentioned with Oh Ji-hwan for almost several months now. I feel like I’m one step closer to becoming such a player. I’m really happy just now. I wanted to shine as a player who was constantly mentioned with my seniors.” “Honestly, don’t you know (I won’t get it), and cheerfully asked back, “I never thought I’d get it, but I actually wanted to come to see Golden Glove Awards at least once. I have to come as a winner someday,” Park said with sincerity. Even if his award failed, he was willing to attend to shine.
After winning the Golden Glove Award, Oh Ji-hwan said, “Thank you to coach Yeom Kyung-yeop for making 2023 the best year ever. I received help from many coaches, Cha Myung-seok, front desk, and Kim Yong-il.” As a player, I really appreciate it. I had the best year ever. I’ve won in 29 years. Personally, I think I won in 15 years. Now is the starting point. LG will build a dynasty by winning an integrated championship next year. Thank you to my beloved wife and agent. Lastly, fans of LG Twins and 10 teams are the best. Thank you.”
Oh Ji-hwan, who met with reporters after the award ceremony, said, “There is actually a reason why I wanted to receive this award. I wanted to receive such a personal award in order for 2023 to be remembered as the best year for me. That’s why I was so greedy. Of course, I thought I was behind (Park) Chan-ho in the regular season performance. Still, I really thank Chan-ho for competing with me. I think that the shortstop position is competition, and the Golden Glove is important, but actually, it really helped me shine the shortstop position. That’s why it means so much to me. I feel happy just because young players are shining the shortstop position as the mainstay of the team,” he said.
Now, Oh is in a position to defend himself, not as a challenger. Asked about his juniors’ fierce challenge, Oh said, “Actually, should I say that I was lucky in one team when it comes to competition? That’s why I have maintained this position all the time. As my younger friends are rushing up to the stage, I have to show that I am also competitive. I think the only way to prove my skills is by preparing well so that I can achieve my team’s performance with the goal of winning an award.”
Along with winning the Korean Series, Oh has been participating in so many events recently. “It’s great to be able to greet people like this,” Oh said. “I’ve already prepared everything in my heart. As soon as I won the combined title, I decided to prepare for the 2024 season. I’ve been taking some time to exercise. It should not end with just one season. I’m continuously progressing. I’m a professional who should keep what I’ve mentioned. I’ll slowly prepare one step at a time for the combined title from next year.”
Oh Ji-hwan said of Park Chan-ho, “Thank you for showing more interest than just a small number of votes. The shortstop position was a position where there was so much competition. It also means that there are so many outstanding players. Park Chan-ho, Park Sung-han, Lee Jae-hyun, and Kim Hye-sung will return to the shortstop position. I think those players are more of a stimulus to me now that they are coming.” 메이저사이트
Regarding Park’s congratulatory message, Park said, “I think he is a really cool guy. Even though he is younger than me, I have respect for him that I should learn from him. He is also a baseball player and a junior, but I think I really need to learn from him.” He also praised Park, saying, “I think it’s cool,” adding, “When I meet him at a baseball stadium, I want to ask many questions. Since he hit .300 again, I will ask him a lot about baseball.” He promised to meet him again next time.