In the end, Kia Tigers pitcher Kim Do-young (21) will challenge for the first time as a Korean batter with 40 home runs and 40 steals (40-40) in the KBO League in the final game of the 2024 season.

Kim Do-young will face the NC Dinos in the final game of the Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League regular season at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field located in Buk-gu, Gwangju on the 30th.안전놀이터

The 40-40 challenge was originally scheduled to end in Busan on the 28th. However, as the match against NC Dinosaurs in Gwangju was canceled due to rain on the 22nd, Kim Do-young also had another chance. In his third year as a professional, Kim had an MVP-class season. He hit .348 (188 hits in 540 at-bats) in 140 games with 38 homers, 108 RBIs, 142 runs and 40 steals, and an on-base percentage of .420 with a slugging percentage of .650 OPS of 1.070 and broke numerous KBO league records.

On the 15th of last month, he reached the youngest and least 30 home runs and 30 steals (30-30) in KBO league history against the Gocheok Kiwoom Heroes, and later challenged 40-40 games. In the 43-year KBO league history, Eric Thames, who marked 47 home runs and 40 steals in 2015 when he was in NC, was the only player who succeeded in a single season.

To Kim Do-young, who boasts the fastest speed in the league, stealing 40 bases was easy. He stole 40 bases for this season in the match against the Samsung Lions in Gwangju on Sunday. On the same day, he drew his 38th arch of this season, but the problem was that the homeruns did not come out afterwards. KIA manager Lee Bum-ho excluded a large number of its main players from the first team entry to prepare for the Korean Series, but continued to give Kim a chance as the No. 1 hitter. He meant to hit as many home runs as possible.

However, he has hit only one triple in four games since his 38th game, and has yet to garner any hits including homeruns. Still, his batting average is not necessarily bad. From Friday to Sunday's game, Kim had a weekly batting average of 0.474 (nine hits in 19 times at bat). He had no hits due to good quality of his batting, but he also had several large outfield flying balls that would become home runs in some stadiums. A typical case was a hit that was caught right in front of the central fence with no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Gwangju Samsung Lions on Monday.

On the contrary, some analysts say that home runs are too good to hit. According to Lee Bum-ho, as a batting coach, Kim learned how to apply strength to batting from Kim Do-young again. He asked Kim Do-young, who did not consider himself a home run hitter, to intentionally float the ball and swing it 100 percent using his waist so that his back foot would turn 90 degrees. It is a way to produce many home runs, but it was possible only when there was fast bat speed, and Kim had qualities.

In addition, Kim Do-young was a player who could watch the ball for a long time with fast batting speed and turn motion. Usually, if long hitters turn their bat as soon as the ball enters the home plate to produce a big hit, Kim Do-young was able to make a big hit even with the ball entering the home plate to some extent. However, as a result, rather than putting the heating point in front, there was inevitably a loss from a distance, and many outfield floating balls came out.

You can't change what you've been doing for a home run. Kim takes the usual hit and plays in the final game. Fortunately, the opponent has no intention of avoiding a head-to-head match.

Recently, NC`s acting manager Gong Pil-sung said to Kim Do-young, "Why do we have to walk him? Our pitchers should also play against good players. That way, we can have confidence. If not, we will try harder," adding, "It would be much more valuable for players who are challenging to record to stand tall and set a new record."

The next pitcher that NC will play is right-handed Son Joo-hwan. After graduating from Yeongcheon Elementary School, Shinjeong Middle School, Mulgeum High School, and Dong-A University, Son joined NC in the sixth round of the KBO Rookie Draft in 2024 as the 55th overall pick. In the Futures League, he had five wins and three unbeaten holds, an earned run average of 0.36 and 23 strikeouts in 25 ⅓ innings in 24 games, while in the top team, he played two innings for three games and did not lose a point. With the ninth place confirmed, NC, which is close to next year, is likely to deploy various pitchers starting with Son to gauge its future. Therefore, chances are high that Kim will face different pitchers at bat every time.

What Kim has to rely on is his past self. At the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, his home stadium, Kim had a strong batting average of 0.340 (85 hits in 250 at-bats) in 69 games with 16 home runs and a slugging percentage of 0.596. He also had a strong batting average of 0.434 (23 hits in 53 at-bats) in 15 games with a slugging percentage of 0.774.

He has also posted few multi-homer records in a single game. The same happened between the Incheon SSG Landers on April 17 and the Suwon KT Wiz on April 16. However, he has never recorded multiple home runs at home.

Even if she failed 40-40 games, she had a historic season. No player has hit more home runs than her in a season with more than 30 steals. The 21-year-old makes us look forward to the future even more. Kim said, "I want to set any record in front of my home stadium or in front of my home fans. Will I be able to fulfill that dream at my last home game.