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‘I feel honored to have played in an All-Star game in my first year.’ -Ahn Chi-hong
July 27, 2009
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| The Western All-Star team defeated the Eastern team 7-3 to end a five year losing skid and rookie Ahn Chi-hong was named the game’s most valuable player. Ahn, the Gwangju-based Kia Tigers’ second baseman, made history by becoming the first rookie out of high school to be put into the starting lineup for the All-Star game. With the Western All-Stars up by a run in the fifth inning, Ahn hit a two-run homer to put his team up by three runs. Hwang Jae-gyun of the Seoul Heroes added another two-run homer in the seventh inning and the West dominated the East to win. The win takes the Western team out of a five-year losing skid. In the post-game voting for most valuable player, Ahn received 36 of 67 media member votes to win the MVP title over teammate Lee Jong-beom. Lee, a veteran outfielder, went three for four at the plate and came in second with 27 votes. Ahn, who is 19 years and 23 days old, is the youngest person to hit a home run at an All-Star game. Former Samsung Lion Lee Seung-yeop, the previous record holder, was 20 years, 10 months and 20 days old when hit his record-breaking home run. As MVP, Ahn received a trophy, a cash prize of 25 million won ($ 20,075) and a Kia Forte coupe. Although Ahn had posted a less than impressive batting record of .248 leading up to the All-Star game, he had managed to hit 12 home runs. “I feel honored to have played in an All-Star game in my first year. I want to continue to improve my game so that I can participate in the All-Star game on a consistent basis,” said Ahn. Pitcher Yoon Suk-min of Kia got the win, defeating pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun of SK. Lee Dae-ho of the Lotte Giants won the home run derby, besting Choi Hee-seop with five home runs to Choi’s one. The Korea Baseball Organization All-Star game made its return to Gwangju Stadium in Gwangju, South Jeolla, for the first time in 11 years on Saturday. The stadium, which has a capacity of 13,400, filled up early and fans who were trying to get their hands on last-minute tickets caused a bit a chaos prior to the start of the game. Inside, the situation wasn’t much better for the visiting Eastern All-Star squad, who weren’t provided with adequate locker rooms for the players to change in. This was the first time since the 2003 All-Star game in Daejeon that the KBO held an All-Star game in a regional city at a stadium with a seating capacity of less than 30,000. By Jason Kim [jason@joongang.co.kr] |
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