LG Park Dong-won, who was named the KBO League’s MVP for May, expressed his apologies to his teammate Im Chan-kyu.
The KBO announced on the 8th that “LG’s Park Dong-won has been named the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League Monthly MVP for the month of May”.
Before the game at the Gocheok Dome on the 8th, Park Dong-won said, “I’m very grateful to those who voted for me. I think I was able to receive this award because I came to a new team and adapted so well, and the coaching staff and players helped me so much. I’m very grateful to the LG Twins,” he said.안전놀이터
This is the first award for an LG player in four years since 2019. Park Dong-won, who joined LG as a free agent before the season, did it. “LG called me because they needed me so much, and I feel like I lived up to their expectations, so I’m very happy,” Park said. “It’s even more meaningful because I came out after four years in LG. I knew it when I saw the article.”
Competition within the LG team was fierce. Lim Chan-gyu and Hong Chang-gi were also in the running. “Honestly, I thought it was for Changu,” Park said. “I would have liked to see Changi get it, but Changu made the tough choice of not applying for free agency last winter, so I thought it was more meaningful for him to get it,” he added.
“I’m glad I got it, but I actually think it would have been a better picture for Chanyeol,” he laughed.
Park received 16 out of a total of 29 votes (55.2 per cent) from journalists and 178,638 out of 417,900 fan votes (41.4 per cent) for a total score of 48.27, earning him the honour of being named the MVP of the month for the first time in his career.
Im Chan-kyu, who topped his respective categories in May with a 1.13 ERA and four wins, was followed by teammate Park Dong-won with a total of 15.32 points. “Now that Dong-won has won, the MVP in my heart is Im Chan-kyu,” said coach Yeom Kyung-yeop when asked about Park’s MVP award. Referring to the LG players who had been nominated a few days earlier, he said that pitching was important and gave Im a higher score.
In the month of May, Park Dong-won led the league in home runs with nine, and in RBIs and on-base percentage with 25 and a .787 slugging percentage. He was also tied for second in runs scored (14) and fourth in batting average (3-for-3).
He led the league in home runs (14) and is on pace to become the first catcher to lead the league in home runs in 19 years.