[Anchor]
Professional baseball player Kim Do-young of the KIA Tigers hit his 39th home run of the season, leaving him just one shy of the milestone 40-home-run record. Controversy had arisen due to the "lunar birthday registration" of former manager Lee Seung-yeop, the previous holder of the youngest 40-home-run record. However, the KBO has decided to recognize Kim Do-young for the youngest record if he achieves 40 home runs by September 6.
Reporter Bae Jeonghun has the details.
[Reporter]
Kim Do-young launched a three-run arch over the right-field wall in the first inning against the Lotte Giants.
With his 39th home run, Kim broke his previous single-season personal best of 38 set two years ago, moving just one away from his 40th home run of the season.
Fans are keenly focused on whether the "youngest-ever 40-home-run record" will be officially recognized.
This is because former manager Lee Seung-yeop, the existing record holder, has his birthday registered on the KBO official records in lunar terms. When converted to the solar calendar, calculations would mean that Kim Do-young—born on October 2, 2003—has already missed out on setting the record.
However, the KBO told SBS today (August 26) that "if Kim Do-young hits 40 home runs before September 6, calculating based on the way former manager Lee Seung-yeop's birthday is registered, we will recognize it as the youngest record."
This is because, with many players in the early days of professional baseball having registered their birthdays according to the lunar calendar, conducting a full-scale investigation of all players' birthdays to convert them to the solar calendar is practically impossible.
Kim Do-young also blasted an RBI single in the third inning, finishing today's game with 2 runs and 4 RBIs, leaving him just 2 runs and 2 RBIs away from reaching the 100-run, 100-RBI plateau.
Austin, Kim Do-young's rival in the home run race who hit a cycle yesterday, also smashed his 34th home run of the season, narrowing the gap with frontrunner Kim to 5 home runs and keeping the home run title race intense.
42-year-old veteran Choi Hyoung-woo of the Samsung Lions also set another major milestone.
In the first inning against the Kiwoom Heroes, he launched his 10th career grand slam, breaking the record for the oldest grand slam set 20 years ago in 2006 by Lotte's Jose, who was 41 at the time.
[Video Editing: Lee Jae-sung]
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