pivops.xyz

Hanwha third baseman Noh Shi-hwan (23) had been on a tear through 33 games of the season, batting .359 (47-for-131) with eight home runs, 21 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.055, until his game against the Munhak SSG on March 13. His batting average, home runs, and OPS all led the league and he was on pace for an MVP-caliber performance.

However, no one knew that his hitless streak, which began in the fourth inning of the seventh game, would last 43 at-bats. Until the sixth inning of the 24th game against KIA, Noh hadn’t produced a hit in 43 at-bats. This included eight consecutive games without a hit. He drew seven walks during that span, but went 36 consecutive at-bats without a hit.

Before the game, Hanwha manager Choi Won-ho said, “Yesterday (23rd), he also drew two walks. In the batting department, Si-hwan said he doesn’t have a bad batting balance, so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said, adding, “Commentator Lee Dae-hyung said he was close to breaking his own record.” SPOTV commentator Lee Dae-hyung, who traveled to Daejeon to broadcast the three-game midweek series between KIA and Hanwha, had the same experience during his playing days.

Lee went 43 consecutive at-bats without a hit in 11 games, from his first at-bat against the Doosan in Jamsil on July 21, 2010, to his fifth at-bat in the ninth inning against KIA in Gwangju on August 5, 2010, while playing for LG. In between, he struck out six times with five walks and one hit-by-pitch, but had previously been silent for 35 consecutive at-bats.메이저놀이터

Choi Won-ho, who worked with him during his time in the LG, said, “I asked Lee Dae-hyung, and he said that it’s better for a player to stay in the game even if he keeps going hitless. He told me from experience that if a player is really tired, he will ask to be taken out first. It’s okay to see Sihwan practicing. Just wait a little bit and the hits will come.”

In 2010, then-LG manager Park Jong-hoon started Lee in nine of the 11 games he went hitless. Eventually, Lee’s streak ended at 43 at-bats when he broke the long silence with a double to left-center field in the first inning of the Jamsil Samsung Electronics game on Aug. 6 of that year. Noh Si-hwan also didn’t miss a single game during his hitless streak. Coincidentally, Noh’s hitless streak also ended after 43 at-bats on the same day as Lee’s broadcast.

In the KIA game, Noh struck out on a grounder to shortstop in the first inning and a fly ball to center field in the fourth, but the quality of his at-bats was good. He drew a walk in the sixth inning, and in his final at-bat in the ninth inning, he finished off the long tunnel with a home run. He pulled a 140-kilometer fastball high in the zone from KIA closer Jung Hae-young over the left field fence. It traveled 120 meters and was his ninth home run of the season. A huge smile spread across his face as he was congratulated by his teammates.

Noh’s 43 consecutive hitless at-bats is tied for the fourth-longest in history with Lee Dae-hyung and last year’s Kim Heon-gon (Samsung). First place is the 51 at-bats of current LG manager Yoon Kyung-yup, who played for Pacific-Hyundai from Sept. 5, 1995, to Aug. 23, 1997. Second is NC’s Son Shi-heon’s 48 at-bats from October 6, 2014 to April 11, 2015. In third place are OB’s 47 at-bats from July 12, 1983 to August 6, 1983 against Guduk Lotte.