Powerful Pitching… Promising for Future

`I am not a rookie. I am a major leaguer.`

This was what Bong Jung-Kun (21. Atlanta Braves) told himself before he stepped onto the mound. His 1-meter 91-tall height made him look majestic on the mound.

Although his `major league-dream` ended in a day, as he received the news of returning to the minor league after the game, Atlanta’s manager Bobby Cox complemented on him highly that “the potentiality he showed tonight was highly impressive”.

As a Korean player, Bong was the 6th to step on the big league mound on the 24th at Atlanta’s Turner Field. Although he went through a harsh initiation with 8 hits, 2 four-balls, 5 loss points during 6 innings, he impressed the teammates by powerful balls that reached 147 kilometers per hour and confident pitching overall.

Crisis came from the 1st inning. Bong, who started the game with a 89 mile-straight ball, let the first hitter, Womack, walk out on a four-ball, and then, got hit by Spivey a two-base hit that crossed the fence on one bound, giving out the 2nd and 3rd bases.

He managed to rid of Gonzalez, the one who made the final hit at last year’s World Series 7th match, by a straight ball-strikeout. He seemed he was making it up for the previous beat-up, but gave Miller a 3-point two base hit. This hit was something Atlanta’s left fielder Chipper Jones could have caught easily, but he missed it as the ball slipped out of his glove. After the game, Jones said that “he was so sorry that he apologized to Bong”.

3 loss points in the 1st inning were too much to take, considering that Arizona’s start-up was one of the best pitchers that MLB has, Curt Schilling. Bong added another loss point in the 4th inning, because of a similar defense mistake by Atlanta’s middle fielder Andrew Jones.

As Bong was told by the corporation to return to the minor league (Double A, Greenvile Braves), he left the major league, recording a loss and 7.50 ERA. He also hit Schilling’s ball towards the left fence in the 3rd inning.

Arizona’s Kim Byung-Hyun (23) came in to finish the game in a great attention. As his team was leading by 5-2 in the 9th inning, Kim stepped in to score the season’s 3rd save with a strikeout and a double play.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com