NC Dinos ace Peddy set another record in his first appearance in the KBO League postseason.
Peddie appeared as a starting pitcher in the first game against KT in the 2023 KBO League Playoffs held at KT Wiz Park in Suwon on the 30th, and became the winning pitcher with 12 strikeouts in 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk, and 1 run. NC wins 9-5.
The 12 strikeouts in one game is the all-time playoff record. The previous record was 11 (Son Dong-yeol in 1989, Flexen in 2020). Peddie achieved a record surpassing ‘national treasure pitcher’ Sun Dong-yeol.
In the regular season, Peddie set the record of ’20 wins + 200 strikeouts’, the fifth in KBO history. It was a major record 37 years after the 1986 Seong-yeol riots. He once again set Seon Dong-yeol’s record by demonstrating his strikeout power in the playoffs.
Peddie suffered an injury after being hit by a hit on the forearm of his right arm during the Gwangju KIA game on the 16th, his last appearance in the regular season. Because it took a long time for him to recover, he did not pitch until the semi-playoff series. He pitched in the first game of the playoffs 14 days after his injury, and set a record without suffering any side effects.
On this day, in the 4th inning, Peddy turned KT’s 3rd to 5th central batting lineup of Alford, Park Byeong-ho, and Jang Seong-woo to KKK, and showed off his powerful pitching by striking out 5 batters in a row from the 2nd out in the 3rd to the 5th out. He overwhelmed the KT batting lineup with a fastball of up to 155 km and a sweeper as his main weapon.
However, there was another scene that made Peddie the most excited on the mound that day. Peddie met Moon Sang-cheol, who allowed a solo home run in the 3rd inning, again after one out in the 5th inning, and allowed a walk on a full count. The main weapon, the sweeper, went into the high strike zone border line on the outside, but umpire Lee Min-ho ruled it a ball and resulted in a walk.
Then, Peddie stretched out his hands towards pitcher Lee Min-ho and protested harshly. He could not hide his excitement rather than a single word of regret. This was the scene that Peddie was most excited about. His appearance was 180 degrees different from when he went on the mound at the bottom of the first inning, took off his hat towards the umpire, and bowed 90 degrees at the waist to politely bow. NC had a large lead of 8-1, but the referee’s decision to call the ball was too hasty.
When referee Lee Min-ho tried to approach Peddy, coach Kang In-kwon quickly ran out of the dugout and stopped the referee. Fearing that Peddie might be kicked out for protesting the decision, he quickly took steps to extinguish the situation. Coach Kang tried to resolve the situation by talking to the referee, and in the meantime, the NC players calmed down Peddie.
After that, it was over, and when the game was about to resume, pitching coach Kim Soo-kyung visited the mound and comforted Peddie once again. When Coach Kim tried to come up to the mound, Feddy made a gesture saying ‘It’s okay’ and they exchanged a few words with each other on the mound.
This time, KT coach Lee Kang-cheol came out and appealed to the referee. He protested that since coach Kang In-kwon and then coach Kim Soo-kyung crossed the foul line twice, the pitcher (pedi) should be replaced by visiting the mound twice in one inning.
The umpires did not accept Manager Lee Kang-cheol’s appeal, judging that Manager Kang In-kwon’s appearance was not a visit to the mound to replace a pitcher, but rather an action to stop a decision protest. Coach Lee continued to appeal for a while despite the referee’s explanation.굿모닝토토
As the appeal grew longer, KT fans continued to chant ‘Lee Kang-cheol’ and support coach Lee. After the game, Manager Lee said, “Coach (Kang In-kwon) crossed the line, and the pitching coach also crossed the line. I appealed to him that (the pitcher) should be replaced.”
After everything was resolved, Peddie continued pitching. With one out and one on first base, Bae Jeong-dae hit a fly ball to center field for two outs. Then, pinch hitter Lee Ho-yeon hit a left-handed hit, putting him in danger with 2 outs and runners on first and second base, but he struck out Sang-soo Kim and roared toward the KT dugout on first base. It was the hottest ceremony of the day.
After the game, Peddie commented on the walk decision protest. He said, “I thought it was a game where I had to be combative because it was the first game. That’s why I was excited too. The coach came out and calmed me down. I always know that the job of being a referee is difficult. I think I found my composure right away after thinking like that. “he said.
Peddie smiled brightly as he was selected as Daily MVP in the first round of the playoffs and received a prize of 1 million won.