Hanwha third baseman Noh Si-hwan (23) hit a home run in his final game before joining the Hangzhou Asian Games. He is one away from his first 100 RBIs. He is on the verge of a 30-homer, 100-RBI season that even his idol Kim Tae-kyun (41)온라인카지노 failed to achieve.

Noh started at third base against Kiwoom in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Daejeon’s Hanwha Life Eagles Park on April 22 and went 2-for-5 with a home run, his 31st of the season, and two RBIs. Hanwha committed four errors in the 6-11 loss, but Noh’s presence stood out.

After reaching the 30-homer plateau for the first time in his career on April 2 against Jamsil LG, Noh failed to add another home run in his next 15 games. His batting average during that stretch wasn’t too bad, going 2-for-7 with 16 RBI in 58 at-bats. He also drew 12 walks and had an on-base percentage in the high teens (.408), but he struggled with the lack of home runs.

Due to the normalization of the KBO during the Asian Games, Noh was forced to miss 13 games. In the meantime, he was worried that he might be overtaken by SSG’s Choi Jung, who is also an excellent home run hitter. In the fourth inning of the Literature Lotte game, Choi hit his 26th home run of the season to cut the deficit to four runs.

Noh responded with his long-awaited home run. With two outs in the seventh inning, he lifted a 143-kilometer fastball from Kiwoom right-hander Moon Sung-hyun over the center field fence. It was the 31st home run of the season with a distance of 125 meters. It was his first home run in 20 days and 16 games since his 30th home run on Feb. 2, widening the gap between him and Choi to five.

Noh’s 31 home runs tied his “idol” Kim Tae-gyun’s single-season record. The Hanwha legend, whose number 52 is permanently retired, hit 31 home runs in 2003 and 2008. In 2008, he won the home run title. If Noh holds onto the top spot, he will be the first Hanwha player to win the home run title in 15 years.

Furthermore, Noh is one RBI shy of his first 100 RBI with 99. Only three players in history have ever hit 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in the same season at the age of 23 or younger. Only Jang Jong-hoon of Binggrae in 1991 (35 homers and 114 RBIs), Park Jae-hong of Hyundai in 1996 (30 homers and 108 RBIs), and Lee Seung-yeop of Samsung in 1997-1999 (32 homers and 114 RBIs, 38 homers and 102 RBIs, 54 homers and 123 RBIs) have accomplished the feat.

If all goes well for the Asian Games team, they will return home on March 8. They can return to the league as early as September 9-10 against the Changwon NC. Add to that the three games against Lotte in Daejeon that were canceled due to rain, and Noh has five games left after the Asian Games. He needs just one more RBI to complete a 30-homer, 100-RBI season that even his idol Kim Tae-gyun couldn’t do.

Kim had four 100-plus RBI seasons, but he didn’t have back-to-back 31-homer seasons until 2003 and 2008, when he hit 95 and 92 RBIs, respectively.