Oh Myung-jin (23) talked about his own pledge.
The Doosan Bears defeated the Lotte Giants 13-4 in the 2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Sunday. Doosan escaped from its second straight loss, while Lotte failed to win its fourth straight game.스포츠토토
Oh Myung-jin, who played as sixth batter and second baseman, spearheaded the team's victory. Oh made three hits (one homer) in four times at bat (one walk, six RBIs and two runs scored). Notably, his grand slam that sealed the game in the bottom of the seventh inning was the highlight. It was his first home run in the professional league. He became the 19th player to hit his first home run with a bases-loaded walk in the KBO league. When it comes to the Bears alone, he became the third player following Song Won-guk in 2001 and Choi Joo-hwan in 2012.
Oh Myung-jin's performance on the day also signaled that he is back on track. In the exhibition game, young infielder Oh Myung-jin, born in 2001, recorded a batting average of 0.407 by posting 11 hits from 27 times at bat. He thus became the batting champion at the exhibition game of the 2025 KBO League. However, he showed sluggish performance in the early part of the regular season and returned to the second division. However, he has been hitting hard since the re-callup on the 23rd.
"I thought it was a home run as soon as I got hit," Oh said after the game. "Coach Park Seok-min advised me to glare at the slider. The slider came and hit and moved on."
As for the secret of hitting hard after the re-callup, he said, "I think my mental part has changed rather than technical part. I think I fought with myself during that time. Instead, I decided to fight with the pitcher. I decided to trust myself."
Trust of people around him, including Lee Seung-yeop, also helped the team greatly. Oh Myung-jin said, "I was not hurt even when I was in the second division. Before that, I used to get heartbroken when I was in the second division. However, (Lee Seung-yeop) said, "It's not the end. You have to do it. That's why I'm sending you to the second division now." So I couldn't give up. I could feel the coach's trust. When the coach hears bad things, it hurts me. I can feel your trust and you give me a lot of good words."
"When I was in the second division, the coaching staff of the second division said, 'Why can't you trust yourself when your swing is so good?' Coach Lee Young-soo and coach Lee Do-hyung also believed in me. As I came back up, I said, (I will do well) and never go back to Icheon (where the second division is located)."
He also thanked his teammates. "We relied on each other a lot in the second division. One day, we will work together as a Keystone duo in the first division," Oh said of his best friend Park Ji-hoon, who celebrated by splashing water. "That's what happened in the first game of the series. I want to play it again."
As for Kim Jae-hwan, a senior member of the team, he said, "I made a mistake on the first day and had a meeting for the entire team before the game yesterday. Kim Jae-hwan said, "You guys should be confident because there are older brothers behind you. If you make a mistake, you'll be responsible for it," which was a big help."
Oh also mentioned her younger sister, who has always been supportive of her brother and started serving in the military. "My parents are both parents, but I also want to thank my sister (who made many concessions). Thanks to my sister, I was there. My sister's possibility to throw the first pitch on Memorial Day? First of all, I think (I) should be good at baseball. It is possible only when I do well," Oh said. I'll try to do that," he said.
Lastly, Oh said, "There are not many days like this in a year. I will do my best every day," adding his determination for the rest of the season.