Hanwha Jang Si-Hwan, Who Ended a Grueling 19 - Game Losing Streak, "I hope my Juniors Walk Only the Good Path"
A whopping 1,036 days and 93 wins... “Thank you to my wife and Shim Soo-chang.”
It took 1,036 days for the terrible misfortune to end.
Hanwha Eagles veteran pitcher Jang Si-hwan broke the all-time record of 19 consecutive losses with a victory in 3 years and 1 month at the Kiwoom Heroes game held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 25th.
The most recent victory was against the 먹튀검증 Doosan Bears on September 22, 2020, and since then, he has never been a winning pitcher in 92 games.
It's not just his pitching problem.
Although in 2021, when he played as a starter, he was sluggish with an average ERA of 7.04 in 19 matches, 1 hold and 11 losses.
Hanwha also appreciated Jang Si-hwan's ability and signed a free agent (FA) contract worth 930 million won over three years after the end of last season.
However, despite the team's trust and encouragement, Jang Si-hwan's misfortune did not end easily.
Jang Si-hwan broke the record of Shim Soo-chang (retired, 18 consecutive losses) by losing his 19th game in a row after getting a timely hit in the bottom of the 10th inning against Gocheok Kiwoom, the opening game of this season.
Was that a big shock?
Jang Si-hwan, who suffered from poor physical condition, went down to the second group from April 9 and had time to reorganize for a while.
At the beginning of this month, he returned to the first team after 3 months, and after 3 weeks,
He broke the chain of misfortune at Gocheok Dome, where he lost the opening game on the 25th.
Jang Si-hwan took the mound at the bottom of the 7th inning with a score of 3-6 on the day and blocked Kiwoom’s main batting line,
Kim Hye-seong, Ronnie Dawson, and Lee Won-seok, with a tripartite retreat.
Afterwards, Hanwha made the beginning of the 8th inning a super-large inning and gave Jang Si-hwan the victory.
Hanwha scored 10 hits (1 home run), 13 RBIs, and 13 runs in 2 laps in the batting order for 68 minutes.
Jang Si-hwan, who we met after the game, tried to control his emotions throughout the interview as if a difficult moment was coming at once.
Jang Si-hwan, who said, “Three years pass like a real kaleidoscope,” confessed, “I was always anxious during my 19-game losing streak.
One day, I was afraid to go on the mound and even thought about retirement.”
He said, “But the reason I was able to persevere like that is because I have a family. I feel most sorry for my wife,
Who must have been having a hard time by her side, and (at the same time) thank you for supporting me when I was having a hard time and telling me that I can do it.”
He also expressed his gratitude to his senior Shim Soo-chang, who sympathized with the pain of the losing streak and encouraged him.
Jang Si-hwan joked, “I wanted to play baseball for a long time, so I used Soo-chang as my role model, but was it wrong from the beginning?” and said,
“The only person who knew that I was really struggling was Soo-chang.
He said, “I cried once while on the phone with Soo-chang hyung, and he told me,
‘The reason why I can keep playing even after losing a streak is that the coach and the people around me believe in you that much.’” “I thought about it,” he looked back.
Hanwha, which was at the bottom of the league during the 19-game losing streak, is also different this year.
It is a position where the 5th place team and the ride can look at fall baseball enough with 2.5 games.
Jang Si-hwan said, "I took all the bad things and I'm used to it, so I hope my juniors take only the good things and walk only the good roads."