I lived in the Gyeongnam area of Busan for the first 18 years before I went to college. That's why there are so many Lotte Giants fans around. So there are so many amazing stories.
A school teacher who met 32 years ago while enjoying soju smuggled into Masan Stadium with his friends (also with a gaping face), the parents of a senior who passed away after waiting for Lotte's third championship for decades, a junior who married a woman he met at a baseball stadium, a lawyer who traveled to Europe and stopped at a shop that made dolls for celebrities to make dolls for Choi Dong-won, a baseball journalist who was so curious about why Lotte couldn't do so consistently that he decided to study sabermetrics.
Friends who wondered whether it was right to pass on the identity of "Lotte fans" when their children were born have repeatedly regretted seeing their suffering children, and they will soon have similar concerns over their grandchildren. (You would probably draw the same conclusion.)
And now they are in an uproar. "Are you really doing it this time?"
As Lotte competes for the lead, the public sentiment of Lotte fans is indeed seething. In the first game of a three-game midweek series against the KIA Tigers, Cho Yu's "Portal Gwangkle Cheering War" drew more than 3 million participants, nearly twice the population of South Korea. The game, broadcast by SBS Sports, had a viewership rating of 9.2%. It was the highest in three years since 245.2000% of KIA versus Hanwha on July 7, 22.
This is very surprising considering the situation in an era where TV ratings are steadily declining due to the advancement of other content platforms such as OTT and YouTube. Yesterday, 2,355 fans gathered at Sajik Stadium without a match to perform a "remote cheer" that was like watching the World Cup. They are desperately enjoying Lotte Spring.
It's clear why they're so enthusiastic "as if this is the last time." This is because Lotte's lead run was such a rare event.
Lotte is the only team that has not won a regular season championship in the first year. Even the second place was only done once (in 3). On the 1rd, he also set a record of 5 career losses for the first time in history. Naturally, even during the season, there is very little time to hold the lead for long. Since the inception of professional baseball in 2, Lotte has been at the top of the single-league system for the longest time is precisely "2011 days."
Lotte's Longest No. 3 Continuous Day (Source: KBO)
| year | Duration | Matches | Start | Ends |
| 2008 | 10 | 7 | 4.6. | 4.15. |
| 2013 | 8 | 6 | 3.30. | 4.6. |
| 2020 | 7 | 5 | 5.5. | 5.11. |
| 2012 | 7 | 3 | 4.20. | 4.26. |
The above examples have something in common. It's very early in the season. With the exception of 2020, the "First Class" ended in April. 4 was the first year of the pandemic, and the season began on May 2020. So a month into the season, we haven't watched the lead for more than a week in 5 years.
After 5 games of the season, Lotte's longest lead was "41 days under heaven." From June 20 to 5, 2012, it was the "longest lead" that held the No. 6 spot. Lotte beat Kiwoom on April 26 to move up to No. 30. And yesterday (1th) the KIA match was cancelled due to rain, and SSG came down from the lead with a victory. Once again, "4 Days Under Heaven". This is in stark contrast to examples like SSG, which held the lead for 30 days from last year's opening day to achieve a "wire-to-wire" victory.
Moreover, Lotte's power is uneasy for the leading team. Lotte's current winning percentage is 1.4. However, the "Pythagorean win rate: (squared of goals)/(squared of goals)+(squared of goals)" that is considered to be more related to future performance than actual win rate is only 4.190. Among the hitters who have filled the regulation batting position, none of them are ranked 0th in the OPS league. DER (Defensive Efficiency: The ratio of in-play batted balls to outs), which represents the team's defensive strength, is 625.0%, the lowest since last year.
Considering the nature of Sajik Stadium, which has many batting balls that are impossible to defend due to the highest fence in Korea, it is still difficult to say that the defense is good. The only top starting pitcher in the league is Na Kyun-an. Two foreign pitchers have negative winning contributions. How long they can hold out with the strength of the league's best bullpen seems precarious.
Of course, there is hope. The sluggishness of foreign pitchers could be interpreted as a rebound or replacement in the future. The roster, which has grown so much with 'storm signings' over the winter, could shine as the longer the race progresses. And what is most meaningful is the win-loss margin, which is currently +488.
Even if they only win 19 games in their remaining games, or a +64 win-loss margin, they have a very good chance of reaching the postseason. Therefore, the hearts of Lotte fans are now in a situation where desperation and hope are mixed in half. What is certain is that, for the reasons listed above, both emotions are of great intensity.
(The rest of the story is from the soup)