“Korea made baseball fun again, I want to come back”
Austin Dean (30-USA) broke the LG Twins’ “foreign-baseball atrocity” in style.
After his stellar performance in the Korean Series, he has promised to play for LG next year.
LG has struggled with foreign hitters in recent years.
It was almost an annual ritual for the team to bring in replacements during the season due to poor performance.
This year, however, things are different.
Austin, a right-handed hitter from the United States, has been a steady presence in the No. 4 spot.
He played in 139 regular-season games, batting .313 with 23 home runs and 95 RBIs.
His 5.57 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranked third in the KBO and second on the team behind Hong Chang-ki.
Austin, a right-handed hitter, adds texture to an LG lineup that is dominated by left-handed hitters.
Austin was especially strong at the plate, leading the KBO with 15 extra-base hits.
He is also a favorite to win the Golden Glove (first baseman), the first foreign player to do so for LG.
With the help of his interpreter, Ji Seung-jae, he intensively studied opposing pitchers’ styles and pitch mixes.
His salary this year was $400,000 (about 500 million won), the lowest among foreign hitters, but his performance was by far the best.
In the Korean Series, Austin was on fire. He batted .350 (7-for-20) with one home run and five RBIs.
At the plate, he swung the bat hard, while in the dugout he encouraged his teammates to “stay calm” in Korean.
LG had two foreign players in the Korean Series, Casey Kelly and Austin, after foreign pitcher Adam Plutko went down with an injury, but both players did their part. 먹튀검증
The series between LG and KT was intense.
It was a back-and-forth affair.
“It was a roller coaster ride,” says Austin.
We were winning, then we were losing, then we were winning again.
KT is very strong, so it was a tough game except for the fourth game, but it was great to win.”
Austin has never been a big hitter in fall baseball, and he did his job well.
Trailing 5-7 in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2, he drew a walk with two outs.
He followed it up with a three-run blast to give LG a dramatic 8-7 win. Austin said, “I tried to stay calm at the plate.
Whether it was a walk or a hit, I was trying to connect with Oh.
I was successful in my mission and was very surprised when Oh hit the home run.”
During the Korean Series, LG fans braved the cold weather to show their support.
Austin says, “The support from our fans was, in a word, crazy.
I can’t put it into words.
The players wanted to win, but the fans who waited 29 years for us to win exceeded our expectations.
