I didn’t know the plate would come back.”
Samsung Lions pitcher David Buchanan was the ‘flower’ of the스포츠토토 2023 KBO League All-Star Game held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 15th. He consistently delighted fans with his splendid performances. In addition to the dance battle with fans, he performed a girl group dance and transformed into Tom Cruise from the movie ‘Top Gun’, receiving applause. Not only that, he served as a running base coach, and at the end of the game, he hit a fastball from Ko Woo-seok, the league’s best closer, and made a hit. Unfortunately, it ended with ‘no relation’, but fans praised Buchanan as a true ‘star among stars’.
SSG coach Kim Won-hyung, who participated as the coach of Dream All-Stars, which includes SSG, Samsung, Lotte, KT, and Doosan, revealed a behind-the-scenes story. Manager Kim said, “It was Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop’s idea for the players to go out as 1st and 3rd base coaches. In the Japan All-Star game, I suggested that we try it, but it seems to have been more fun as the players became coaches.” “Thanks to Buchanan, I really enjoyed the All-Star Game. It was really nice to see him show off his hard performance to the fans,” he said.
The situation was this. Buchanan pitched 9 innings and 1 complete inning against KIA on the 13th, two days before the All-Star game. It wasn’t easy for him to throw the ball as a pitcher in the All-Star Game because he was fatigued. So Buchanan asked director Kim Won-hyung for his understanding in advance. However, he had a desire (?) to play as a fielder. Manager Kim Won-hyung explained the situation at the time, saying, “Coach Jin-man Park said later in the game that it would be okay to let Buchanan go once because he played right field defense when he was in school.”
And the dream came true. In a situation where Dream All-Stars were losing to Nanum All-Stars, Buchanan was put in right field defense. This is because the pitcher becomes a spectacle by digesting the outfield defense. However, an unexpected situation occurred. Director Kim Won-hyeong laughed, saying, “Originally, I had no intention of putting Buchanan in the at-bat. So I removed Kim Hyun-joon, who seemed like he would never return, and put Buchanan in his place. Buchanan hit Go Woo-seok’s 150km fastball proudly and scored one RBI in a timely manner. The splendid ceremony was a bonus.
Director Kim Won-hyung confessed that he had worries in his heart. Director Kim laughed, saying, “Actually, from the manager’s point of view, the pitcher might get injured while doing that, so he would have been very worried. Fortunately, there won’t be any major problems, but I watched nervously.”