Kim Ha-seong makes two hits including home run

In Milwaukee, which is 3,400 kilometers apart from Korea, as soon as people yelled “ready!” Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres kicked off the festival by hitting a 120-meter-distance home run.

The San Diego Padres have become the eleventh team to head to the playoffs. The Padres lost to the Chicago White Sox 2-1 in San Diego on Sunday. However, with the Milwaukee Brewers losing to the Miami Marlins 4-3 on the same day, the Padres secured one of three Wild Card berths in the National League.

The news of the Milwaukee Brewers came when the San Diego Padres were working on a scoreless seventh inning with the score 0-2. Josh Bell was just struck out, but the stadium was filled with a festive mood. And at that point, Kim went to the batter’s box and hit his 11th home run, a liner, over the fence. When the 10th Korean player playing in the MLB hit the home run, fireworks went off and 41,407 people in the audience roared.

It’s been 17 years since the Padres clinched a playoff berth in front of home fans. In 2020, it got the ticket for the playoffs at home, but there was no audience due to Covid-19. The team will go on wild card series from Saturday. It will fight against the New York Yankees, the Saint Louis Cardinals, or the Atlanta Braves based on the results of the remaining games.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com