Taiwan, where cheerleaders are more famous than baseball players? But now it’s ‘1 Day 1 Kim Doyoung’ [타이베이 현장]

(Xports News, Taipei Reporter Park Jeong-hyeon) “Cheerleaders are more popular these days.”

Taiwan is a place where people joke that cheerleaders are more famous than baseball players. But in front of this player, the story is different.

This is the story of Kim Do-young (KIA Tigers), an infielder on the national team for the 2024 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12, which Taiwan is focusing on.

Kim Do-young has recently been receiving great attention from Taiwanese local media and fans.

When Kim Do-young entered Taipei, Taiwan on the 8th, Taiwanese fans prepared separate uniforms and logo balls for his team KIA and asked for his autograph. Local media also visited the national team training center and interviewed Kim Do-young. Ahead of the competition, more than one article containing information about Kim Do-young is coming out every day.

A day ago (9th), Taiwan’s local media ‘Yahoo Taiwan’ said, “Kim Do-young not only has explosive slugging power that pitchers around the world cannot ignore, but also has an aggressive side with a stolen base success rate of over 90% (40/44). Also, in the KBO League, “The record-high 10 triples also put pressure on the fielders’ defense,” he wrote.

Kim Do-young said of the interest in him, “I feel good because I never imagined (a lot of interest from Taiwan). I don’t feel pressured to ‘do well’. I feel like it is a bigger competition than the APBC where I participated last year. Because it is such a competition, the media’s expectations are high. “I want to do better than last year,” he said.

He then smiled and said, “Cheerleaders are more popular these days. Even when I go to convenience stores, there are pictures of cheerleaders posted.”

In fact, many Korean cheerleaders, such as Ji-hyun Ahn and Da-hye Lee, have entered the Taiwanese professional baseball league. Although they are more popular than celebrities, they are showing greater interest in Kim Do-young as the international competition approaches.

Kim Do-young had a perfect season that will remain in KBO League history this season. He played in 141 regular season games this year and recorded a batting average of 0.347 (189 hits in 544 at-bats), 38 home runs, 109 RBIs, 40 stolen bases, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.067. He became the youngest player to achieve 30 (home runs) – 30 (stealed bases), and his pace was outstanding enough to become the first Korean player to achieve 40 (home runs) – 40 (stealed bases).

Major League Baseball’s official website ‘MLB.com’ recently mentioned Kim Do-young’s name among the eight players to watch for in the Premier 12 competition and said, “Kim Do-young had an amazing 2024 season and won the Korean Series with the Samsung Lions. Kim Do-young, 20 years old this year, ended the season with 38 home runs and 40 stolen bases, becoming the youngest player in KBO League history to achieve 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases. It highlighted the activities. The WBSC official website also mentioned Kim Do-young’s upward trend. There is a lot of interest in many ways.

Kim Do-young must lead the national team’s attack not only with his hot long shots but also with his quick feet. Attention is focused on whether he can overcome the pressure placed on him and bring vitality to the national team’s attack.

Photo = Taipei, reporter Park Ji-young

Reporter Park Jeong-hyeon [email protected]