Daejeon: While his teammates were smiling ear to ear after securing a big comeback win in the Korean Series on Thursday, LG Twins captain Park Hae-min was crying.
According to Yonhap News Agency, it may have seemed random that the outfielder was shedding tears in that particular moment -- even with their 7-4 win, the Twins hadn't yet clinched the title and had only taken a 3-1 series lead over the Hanwha Eagles. Park explained Friday that the weight of responsibility as captain had gotten to him.
"Even before the series, I was putting some pressure on myself. This is my first Korean Series as captain," Park told reporters before the potential title clincher at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark in the central city of Daejeon. "And it forced me to take on a different mindset. And that pressure affected me at that moment last night."
Park had hit into an inning-ending double play in the fifth inning with the Twins down 1-0, when anything in the outfield would have tied the score at 1-1. "That double play stayed with me the whole game," Park admitted. "And if we'd lost the game, I would have thought it was all because of me. And then my teammates came through with the big rally and bailed me out. That made me so emotional."
Park said he was trying to hold back tears even as he was taking the field for the bottom of the ninth inning, after the Twins had scored six times in the top half of that inning. It also took Park back in time to the 2023 Korean Series, when shortstop Oh Ji-hwan was team captain.
"I thought about how hard it must have been for Ji-hwan to serve as captain and do all the things he did on the field," Park said of Oh, who won the Korean Series MVP award that year. "This year I've been getting so much support from other veterans. But in 2023, I didn't give Ji-hwan any help. And he still played an incredible series. He is just cut from a different cloth."
Park said the one positive aspect of his crying incident is that it brought the team even closer. "It just came out of nowhere, and I think I caught my teammates off guard," Park said with a smile. "Their reaction was like, 'What's wrong with him?' Some of the guys started teasing me, and it lightened the mood in the clubhouse, too."
The Twins are a win away from winning the Korean Series title, but Park said he wasn't sure whether more tears would flow if that happens. "I've figured I would probably shed a few tears if I won a title as captain," Park said. "But I probably cried myself out last night, so I am not sure how I will react if we win the trophy tonight."