Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on July 17th.
Choi Hyung-woo of the Kia Tigers hit a towering two-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the third inning to give his team a 1-0 lead. It came at a crucial time when they had the lead, but the gap was not large and they needed a run.
But as Choi rounded the bases and headed for home plate, his expression was different than usual. Unlike his usual dignified manner of running around the bases, he couldn’t hide his smile. It wasn’t a dramatic moment or a special record.
There was a good reason for that.
Choi’s shot landed over the right-field fence and into the home run zone of parent company Kia Motors. In operation since the opening of Kia Champions Field in 2014, the home run zone rewards players who hit a car or structure out of bounds. Choi’s prize for hitting the home run zone was a brand new EV3, an electric car with a minimum starting price of 42 million won. It was a home run that made him smile.
“I thought (the home run zone) had nothing to do with me,” Choi said after the game. I’ve hit a lot of home runs over the past eight years, but I’ve never been able to hit one, so I thought it was over, but it feels really good to hit one this time,” 토토사이트 순위 Choi said after the game. “I promised my mother-in-law that I would give it to her if I won, even though the odds are slim,” he said, adding, ”If I get the car this time, I will definitely give it to her and keep my promise.”
Choi joins a total of eight other “lucky guys” who have won cars at Kia Champions Field. On May 27, 2014, the stadium’s inaugural year, Doosan Bears’ Kim Jae-hwan hit a home run into the home run zone to win a K5, followed by Choi Hee-seop (Kia – April 9, 2015, All-New Sorento), Oh Jae-il (Doosan – October 25, 2017, Stinger), Preston Tucker (Kia, May 17, 2020, Sorento), Kim Hyun-soo (LG – August 4, 2020, Sorento), and Socrates (Kia – June 7, 2023, The 2024 Niro). KIA’s Na Sung-beom became the owner of the K5 with a home run to the home run zone on September 12, 2021, while playing for the NC Dinos, and then again on August 16, 2022, in his first year in a KIA uniform, to become the lucky owner of The New Celtos.