A childhood fan of the LG Twins, Oh Ji-hwan, 33, wore the LG captain’s armband in 2023 and was honored as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Korean Series (KS).
When he joined LG as the first overall pick in 2009 and when he won his first shortstop Golden Glove in 2022, “winning the KS” was on his mind.
And he fulfilled his dream in the most spectacular way.
LG, which finished first in the regular season, defeated the KT Wiz 6-2 in Game 5 of the KBO 2023 KS at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday to complete the combined title (regular season and Korean Series) with a 4-1 series victory.
This is the third time in 29 years that LG has won the KS title, joining 1990 and 1994.
In both 1990 and 1994, pitcher Kim Yong-soo won the KS MVP award.
Oh received an overwhelming 83 out of 90 votes in the journalists’ poll (86 percent of the vote) to become LG’s second KS MVP in history.
Oh became an LG fan in 2002, when the team finished as runners-up.
Even before joining LG, Oh was a “famous LG fan.
In 2008, when he was a junior at Gyeonggi High School, he wrote on the then-current social media, “LG must need me, I can’t wait to go to LG Twins!”
LG needed him and selected him with the first pick in 2009.
In 2023, when Oh was in his 15th year, he and LG got their wish.
After going 0-for-4 in Game 5 of the KS, Oh went 6-for-19 (.316 batting average) with three home runs and eight RBIs in the five-game KS.
He also set a new single-season KS record for most consecutive games with a home run, hitting three in a row from Game 2 to Game 4 on the 8th.
In the third game on the 10th, he also wrote a “drama” in which he hit the game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning with runners on first and second after being down 5-7 due to an error.
Former LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, who passed away in 2018, bought the Rolex watch, which cost about 80 million won at the time, in 1998, saying, “If you win, give it to the KS MVP.
After being locked in a safe for a long time, the Rolex welcomed its “owner” Oh Ji Hwan.
Oh Ji-hwan will also receive the KS MVP prize of 10 million won. 토토사이트