Park Gun-woo (33) of the NC Dinosaurs resolved his "han" six years ago. He confidently became the hero of the golden glove. He must have been nervous. I will become a more reliable player." Park Chan-ho (28) of the Kia Tigers also took care of his younger teammate. He even expressed his strong love of his family.
Park Kun-woo was selected as the outfielder at the 2023 KBO Golden Glove Awards held at the COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 11th.
In the outfield section, three outfielders are selected regardless of their positions. Out of a total of 291 votes, Hong Chang-ki won 258 votes (88.7 percent), while Koo Ja-wook received 185 votes (63.6 percent). Then, Park Kun-woo won the award with 139 votes (47.8 percent).
In the 2023 season, Park has posted 130 games, a batting average of 0.319, 12 homers and 85 RBIs, an on-base percentage of 0.397, a slugging percentage of 0.480 and an OPS of 0.877. He is second to none.
Based on Statistics, the team ranks fourth overall in terms of WAR (contribution to victory compared to substitute players). The wRC+ (coordinated scoring capacity), an indicator of offense, is 148.0. It ranks third overall in terms of outfielders. With Park Kun-woo, NC was able to make it to the playoffs, breaking the assessment that it was also the lowest-ranked candidate.
The Golden Glove award seemed pretty easy. However, Park Kun-woo smiled awkwardly, saying, "I didn't come with high expectations. I went back six years ago feeling disappointed."
It was so in 2017. At that time, he had 131 games, a batting average of 0.366, 20 homers and 78 RBIs, an on-base percentage of 0.424, a slugging percentage of 0.582, and an OPS of 1.006. He was ranked second overall among outfielders with a WAR of 7.01, and second overall with a wRC+ of 163.8.
However, he went empty-handed at the Golden Glove Awards. Controversy erupted. Park Kun-woo said, "I really wanted to receive the Golden Glove. I'm so happy to receive it. Honestly, I knew I would receive it six years ago. I got it this time, and it looks really cool."
There was another player at the awards ceremony who just went back and forth like himself six years ago. It was Park Chan-ho. The position of shortstop was called "a battleground," and Oh Ji-hwan became the winner. Oh Ji-hwan had 154 votes, and Park Chan-ho had 120. The margin was only 34 votes.
"I didn't intend to come, but I think it would be okay to come. I came here to preserve the dignity of the second place. I know it's not easy. I feel great just to hear your constant mention of your idol," Park said with a smile.
In 2023, Park Chan-ho recorded 130 games, a batting average of 0.301, three homers, 52 RBIs and 30 steals, and an OPS of 0.734. Oh Ji-hwan recorded 126 games, a batting average of 0.268, eight homers, 62 RBIs and 16 steals, and an OPS of 0.767.
Oh Ji-hwan ranks first with 3.89, and Park Chan-ho ranks second with 3.69. In wRC+, Oh Ji-hwan produced 121.9 and Park Chan-ho produced 108.4. Oh Ji-hwan produced better indicators, but Park Chan-ho also qualified.
Park Kun-woo said, "I made good results this year. I will have another chance next time." (Park) Chan-ho is still young. I certainly have an opportunity. I hope he can use it as a stimulus. I hope he does a much better job and becomes a player who unanimously wins the prize. I hope he will become a player who comes thinking, 'Of course, I will be the winner.'"
"The same goes for me. I won't say 'competition' and I will do my best to make sure that Park Gun-woo gets it in my position. I want to get it next year as well," he said.
On the same day, Park Kun-woo said, "Please make sure to use it." It was his parents. "I had more than 1,300 hits in total, and my parents must have seen all of them. I'm so grateful. I've expressed my gratitude during interviews, but I really wanted to say it on a big stage." 먹튀검증
"I saved my words a lot. I really wanted to say that I want to play baseball for my parents for the rest of my life. I love you so much, and I respect you so much. My parents are special. I always think of them the most, and they are the ones that I can lean on the most. I just love them so much," he stressed.
