It's been 31 years since we met...KIA-Samsung, Game 1 of the Korean Series today

KIA-Samsung will clash with Korean Series for the first time in 31 years...Today's Game 1

Lee Dong-sung "Ending Game 5"…The tiger? The lion?

KIA 'Wins All' in 11 Korean Series...7 times in Samsung

Who's going to take the lead?KIA Nail and Samsung's Won Tae-in will face off.

[Anchor]
KIA and Samsung, a famous and rival team of professional baseball tradition, will meet in the Korean Series for the first time in 31 years.

Starting with today's first round, the team that won four games first will take the throne this year.

I'm connecting with the reporter, reporter Cho Eun-ji!

It's a showdown between the first and second teams in the regular league, and there will be a fierce match, right?

[Reporter]
Yes, according to the regular league table, the team to meet met.

KIA, the regular league winner, and Samsung, which came through the playoffs as second place, will face off in the Korean Series for the first time in 31 years.

At yesterday's media day, the players and coaches of the two teams spread their five fingers as if they had promised to finish Game 5.

We'll give up about one game, but it was a declaration of war that we would win with 4 wins and 1 loss.

He didn't back down from arguing over whether it was a tiger or a lion or a club mascot.

[Lee Beom-ho / KIA manager: These days, even if you go to the zoo, there are tigers, so I think tigers will win]

[Park Jin-man / Samsung Director: Have you never been to Everland?] There's always a lion on the safari. It seems like the lion is always on top.

KIA is the most winning team that has reached the Korean Series 11 times, and Samsung is the second-most winning team with seven championships.

KIA will have the No. 1 ERA nail and Samsung will have Won Tae-in, the winner of the most wins.

The nail player, who suffered a jaw injury in August, ended the regular league on the operating table, and will take the mound today as an ace for the first time in 58 days.

Won Tae-in won his first autumn baseball victory in the second round of the playoffs against LG by pitching one run in 6 2/3 innings. He tied the KIA slugging line well in the regular league and was selected as a must-win card today.

[Anchor]
Let's point out the players to watch, not the starters.
Both teams
picked Kang Min-ho, the Samsung catcher, as the 'key player'.

[Reporter]
Yes, my eyes are on Kang Min-ho, the master of Samsung, who will be on the Korean Series stage for the first time in 21 years since his debut.

He is a veteran who played in 2,369 games, the most in the KBO league, while playing as a catcher with a lot of physical burden, and this is the first time in the Korean Series.

He hit a winning home run in Game 4 of the playoffs with LG, and he led the pitching staff to no runs with his seasoned ball combination, playing a key role in offense and defense.

[Kang Min-ho / Samsung catcher: There was always this label of a player who had never been to the Korean Series. But as a game yesterday, I was very happy to take off the label. I think I was very excited.]

KIA's star, Kim Do-young, can't be left out,

Kim Do-young, a hot hitter with 38 home runs and 40 stolen bases this season, said he would target the opponent with his fast feet, signaling a "football."

Kim Do-young attempted four stolen bases in 16 games against Samsung this season, and if Kim Do-young's feet work well against Kang Min-ho's "bullet throw," it can be easily solved.

[KIM DO YOUNG / KIA infielder: As for MVP, I don't have much greed and I think I'll be able to have that opportunity if I just do what I want, so I think I'll get everything this year if I have a star quality.]

If KIA's anxiety, which reached the Korean Series early by winning the regular league, is lacking in practical sense,
Samsung, which has been in a tight race in every game until Game 4 of the
playoffs, is worried about its physical strength, especially the physical condition of the starting lineup, which is circulating in a three-man rotation.

Another point to watch is whether Samsung captain and leading hitter Koo Ja-wook can overcome his knee injury.

The weather is also a variable during this Korean Series, and today and tomorrow, there is a rain forecast at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, so the schedule will be flexible.

I'm Cho Eun Ji of YTN in the sports department.


Video editing: Oh HWONSEULGI