It’s 3:55 p.m.. Doosan pitcher Jang Won-jun enters Jamsil Stadium in plain clothes.
His first call-up of the season. And his first start in 958 days.
It was a day full of tension. The pressure was on after 1844 days without a win. Even a pitcher with 129 career wins couldn’t avoid trembling. His head was white. I felt like a high school rookie making his debut. The tension had been building since the previous weekend when he joined the first team. An unfamiliar feeling that I hadn’t felt in countless victories. He wondered why.
“In the past, I had a chance after every start. If I don’t do it this time, I don’t have a chance anymore,” he said, “so I think that’s why I was more nervous.”
The 2023 KBO League game between the Doosan Bears and Samsung Lions was held at Jamsil Stadium on March 23. Doosan’s Jang Won-jun celebrates his 130th career victory after winning the game. Jamsil=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.05.23/
Jang Won-jun didn’t see the 130-win rice wine that Yang Yang-ji placed in the dugout before the game.
A stormy second inning with a 1-0 lead passed. Jang gave up four runs on five hits and an infield error to fall behind 1-4. He was shaken up.
“I had some bad hits, and I figured if I’m giving up runs, it’s better to get into a fastball count and get a result anyway than to pitch anxiously and make it harder, so I went as aggressive as I could.”
In the fourth inning, with the count over 50 pitches, the bullpen came in.
It was one of those situations where you’d think, “Is this another early exit? Is 130 wins next?
But as the left-hander set up in the dugout on the first base side, he couldn’t see the bullpen.
“I didn’t see any pitchers (warming up in the bullpen). I was just thinking, ‘I can get ready in the bullpen from the fourth inning on,’ and I didn’t think I had to be more stubborn and throw more pitches here.”
A game between the Doosan Bears and Samsung Lions of the 2023 KBO League was held at Jamsil Stadium on March 23. Doosan=Jang Won-jun. Jamsil=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.05.23/
The 2023 KBO League game between the Doosan Bears and Samsung Lions was held at Jamsil Stadium on Nov. 23. Doosan’s Jang Won-jun. Jamsil=Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.05.23/
I hadn’t seen the number 140 kilometers on the scoreboard in a long time.
A two-seam that dug into the left-hander’s body and outside the right-hander’s was the key to Jang’s resurgence. “When I went down to the second team in the exhibition game, coach Kwon Myung-cheol asked me to try throwing a two-seam, and I had thought about it before, but I didn’t, and then he recommended it again, so I threw it as a starter in the second team, and it worked well, and it gave me confidence.”
When he came out of the fifth inning with a 6-4 lead and four runs on seven hits, the fans applauded the returning starter. But Jang didn’t even see it. “I didn’t see it,” he says, “I just thought they were cheering a little loud.”
The invisibility continued after the game.
The 2023 KBO League game between the Doosan Bears and Samsung Lions was held at Jamsil Stadium on March 23. Doosan’s Jang Won-jun and Yang Ji. Jamsil = Park Jae-man 기자pjm@sportschosun.com/2023.05.23/
After his on-air interview, Jang Won-jun was baptized with water by the younger pitchers. Behind the interview board, the juniors gathered one by one with buckets of water in their hands. Some of them even prepared bad water. Even they didn’t see it.메이저사이트
“I didn’t see it. I didn’t think anything of it.”
So many scenes that would have stayed in my memory for a long time if I had seen them. Even though I missed it, I could clearly see the first win after waiting 1844 days. The 11th player in history to reach 130 wins. The veteran left-hander is 37 years, 9 months, and 22 days old.