'Most Appearances' Kang Min-ho Steps onto Korean Series Stage for the First Time in 21 Years Since Debut

Samsung Playoff Game 4: 1-0 Victory Over LG
Kang Min-ho Hits Walk-off Home Run as Leadoff Batter in 8th Inning

Kang Min-ho, the catcher of the Samsung Lions who holds the record for the most career appearances in the KBO League, will step onto the Korean Series stage for the first time in his 21-year career.

On the 19th, Samsung won 1-0 against the LG Twins in Game 4 of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason Playoffs held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. With this victory, Samsung finished the playoff series with a 3-1 record and will compete for the Korean Series championship against the KIA Tigers starting on the 21st.

The hero of Game 4 in the playoffs was Kang Min-ho. Batting seventh as the starting catcher, Kang came up as the leadoff hitter in the top of the 8th inning and hit the only run-scoring home run of the game.

Kang Min-ho of the Samsung Lions in professional baseball is roaring after hitting the go-ahead home run as the leadoff batter in the top of the 8th inning during the 4th game of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason Playoff against the LG Twins held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 19th.
Photo by Yonhap News

Kang Min-ho was drafted by the Lotte Giants as the 17th overall pick in the 3rd round of the 2nd draft in 2004, marking his professional debut. This year marks his 21st season. Up to this year, he has appeared in 2,369 regular-season games, holding the record for the most career appearances. He has played 76 more games than the second-place Choi Jeong (2,293 games).

However, his postseason appearances total only 29 games. The record for the most postseason appearances is held by Hong Sung-heun with 109 games. Over 21 seasons, including this year, Kang has reached the postseason only eight times, which is not many.

He reached the playoffs wearing the Lotte uniform in 2011 and 2012, and again in 2021 wearing the Samsung uniform, but was repeatedly frustrated at the doorstep of the Korean Series.

This year marked his fourth playoff appearance, and after three failures in four attempts, he secured his first trip to the Korean Series.

In the top of the 8th inning with the score tied 0-0, Kang came up as the leadoff hitter and hit the game-winning home run off LG’s second pitcher Son Joo-young. Kang worked the count to 3 balls and 1 strike, then connected with Son’s fifth pitch, a 146 km/h fastball, sending it over the left-center field fence. It was a massive home run with a distance of 130 meters.

Game 4, like Game 3, unfolded as a tight pitching duel.

Samsung’s starter Reyes threw 110 pitches through seven innings, shutting down the LG lineup without allowing a run. He delivered another brilliant performance following Game 1 of the playoffs, pitching 7 innings with 3 hits allowed, no runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

LG’s starter Enns, who struggled in the preliminary playoffs, also showed a different side. He pitched 6 innings, allowing only 1 hit, 2 walks, and striking out 8 batters, throwing 103 pitches. However, due to the silence of his offense and the decisive one swing of the bat, Enns’ strong pitching effort was overshadowed.

Samsung Lions players are celebrating after defeating the LG Twins 1-0 in Game 4 of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Postseason Playoffs held on the 19th at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, securing their advancement to the Korean Series.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Following Reyes, Samsung’s Im Chang-min and Kim Jae-yoon pitched scoreless innings to close out the game.

Im Chang-min hit the leadoff batter Moon Bo-kyung with a pitch in the bottom of the 8th but struck out Park Dong-won and Park Hae-min consecutively, then got pinch hitter Lee Young-bin to ground out to first base.

Kim Jae-yoon retired the side in order in the bottom of the 9th. He got the first batter Hong Chang-gi to ground out to shortstop on the first pitch, induced a ground out to first base from the second batter Shin Min-jae, and struck out the third batter Austin swinging on a full count.