Kim has been publically pushing his team to pursue speedy games, a strategy that he believes holds many advantages, as shorter games tend to be less physically demanding for players while spectators tend to prefer games that don’t run too long. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The current strategy of South Korean baseball team KT Wiz’s manager to finish every game in under three hours seems to be bearing fruit, as the team has emerged as one of the strongest contenders in this year’s KBO League after a disappointing past couple of seasons.
The Wiz’s recent rise to the top has come under the leadership of Kim Jin-wook, the former manager of the Doosan Bears, and some critics are paying attention to his unique strategy that many attribute the team’s recent victories to.
Kim has been publically pushing his team to pursue speedy games, a strategy that he believes holds many advantages, as shorter games tend to be less physically demanding for players while spectators tend to prefer games that don’t run too long.
“During the course of this season, I’d like the average game time for our team to be less than three hours,” Kim said yesterday at Suwon’s KT Wiz Park before a match with the Samsung Lions, the team’s latest fixture in this year’s Tire Bank KBO League.
“KT is a telephone company. The faster, the better,” Kim said wittily.
The Wiz have so far participated in seven games, with an average game time of two hours and 49 minutes, making the team the speediest among the ten teams in the KBO League.
Compared to the Doosan Bears, which rank last in terms of game length, the Wiz finishes games an average of 52 minutes earlier.
Kim says the recent success of the team is largely thanks to the pitchers.
“I’ve been training pitchers to reduce the number of balls and focus on getting strikes, which led to shorter games.”
“Without unnecessary tension between pitchers and batters, which can make fielders lose focus, games can end earlier. I’m encouraging the pitchers on my team to avoid pick-off throws.”
As the team enjoys their newly found prominence, KT manager Kim Jin-Wook’s aggressive pitching strategy is setting a new trend for this season’s KBO League.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
