SEOUL-- The Doosan Bears are in the midst of a remarkable postseason streak in South Korean baseball. They will make their seventh consecutive Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason appearance later Monday in a wild card game against the Kiwoom Heroes, all of them with the same manager, Kim Tae-hyoung, in charge.
They had never finished below third in the regular season until this year, when they ended up in fourth and got into the wild card game for the first time.
That means a maximum two additional postseason games the Bears wouldn't have had to play with a better regular season performance, but Kim said Monday his mindset hasn't changed from previous falls.
"We've gone through so much to even get to this point, and we'll continue to take one game at a time," Kim said in his pregame press conference at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. "Then we'll see where we stand in the end."
Following departures of some key veterans during the last offseason, pundits didn't give the Bears much of a chance to contend for a title this year. And their prediction appeared to be playing out until the Bears caught fire in September to jump from seventh to fourth in the standings.
They stayed there the rest of the way to set up the wild card game. As the higher seed, the Bears only need at least a tie on Monday to advance to the next round, and they will have two cracks at it. If the Heroes win Monday, the two teams will meet again Tuesday, back at Jamsil.
Given the Bears' decimated pitching staff, the shorter the series, the better it is for Kim.
He has lost his two foreign starters, Ariel Miranda and Walker Lockett, to injuries. Lockett went back to the United States for season-ending elbow surgery. Miranda, the regular season ERA champion and strikeout leader, is dealing with shoulder fatigue.
Kim said he didn't have an update on Miranda's condition. Right-hander Gwak Been will start Monday's game, and if the Bears have to play again Tuesday, Kim Min-gyu will get the nod -- not exactly an ideal situation as Kim pitched to a 6.07 ERA in the regular season.
Gwak, 22, doesn't inspire much confidence, either. He is making his postseason debut Monday.
"I am sure he's feeling the pressure," the manager said. "But he's pitched well of late. I hope he goes out there thinking he has nothing to lose."
Kim's counterpart, Hong Won-ki, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Hong is managing in his first postseason -- this is his first season as a manager, period -- but he said in his pregame session that he had no butterflies in his stomach.
"We played some high-stress games right up until Saturday (in the regular season finale), and I think that sort of experience should help us in the postseason," said Hong, whose club had to win that final game to squeeze into the wild card game.
Hong also said the absence of foreign pitchers for the Bears won't alter his club's focus.
"We have to stick to our own game, and not think about pitchers that the other team has or doesn't have," Hong said. "In baseball, sometimes the other team can beat us, or we can beat ourselves. We just have to play the way we're capable of playing."
Hong has some accomplished hitters at the top of his lineup but he also wants to see some surprise performances from others.
"In a big game like this, we may see someone play out of his mind," Hong said. "If that player comes from the bottom of the order, then it can energize the whole team."
Source: Yonhap News Agency