Doosan’s Kim Dong-joo’s ’80th birthday gift’ from his grandmother was a great pitcher, allowing 1 run in 5 innings.
He made his first start in a month against Kiwoom on the 15th and pitched well.

Doosan Bears Kim Dong-ju
Kim Dong-ju’s (22, Doosan Bears) maternal grandmother, who was indifferent to baseball, became a ‘baseball expert’ because of her grandson.
On the day of his grandmother’s 80th birthday party, Kim Dong-ju performed brilliantly in the ‘first-team starting pitcher’s return game.‘
Kim Dong-ju started on the mound in a visiting professional baseball game against the Kiwoom Heroes held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul on the 15th and pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 run.
With the score tied at 1-1, Kim Dong-ju was unable to take over the mound and get the starting win, but he fought closely with Kiwoom foreign pitcher Emmanuel de Jesus (6 hits, 1 run in 6 innings), and Doosan won 4-1.
After the game, Kim Dong-ju said, “Today is my grandmother’s 80th birthday, so my family is gathered together. If I had performed poorly today, the atmosphere might have been gloomy,” and laughed, “I didn’t throw extremely well today, but I’m glad I did better than usual.”
Kim Dong-ju did not give himself a high score, but Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop praised him, saying, “Even though Kim Dong-ju did not get the starting win, he did his job well by taking charge of 5 innings with 69 balls.”
Kim Dong-ju, who made 17 starts last year and started the regular season as a first-team starting pitcher again this year, performed poorly at the beginning of the season and was moved down to the second-team at the end of April.
After returning to the first team in early May, he played as a bullpen, but on May 16th, he started against the KIA Tigers and struggled, allowing 5 hits and 5 runs in 2⅔ innings, and was sent back to the second team.
Kim Dong-ju, who had been looking for an opportunity by starting in the Futures (2nd team) league, returned to the 1st team on the 9th and made a relief appearance in the game against KIA, pitching 5 innings (4 hits and 4 runs).
Choi Jun-ho, who was established as the 4th starter, took a short break, and as the competition for the 5th starter continued, Kim Dong-ju was given the opportunity to start against Kiwoom on the 15th.
It has been a month since Kim Dong-ju started a first-team game against KIA on May 16.
On this day, Kim Dong-ju pitched without allowing a run until the 4th inning, and after giving up 1 run on a timely hit to right by Yong-gyu Lee in the 5th inning with 2 outs and runners on second base, he completed his mission by striking out Lee Joo-hyung. He did not give up a single walk and struck out six.
Kim Dong-ju, whom we met after the game, said, “I learned how to use my body again in the second team. I think it had some effect today.”
4th starter Choi Jun-ho, who missed the 1st team entry due to a break, will soon return to the 1st team, but the competition for Doosan’s 5th starter continues.
Kim Dong-ju also maintained his status as a ‘5th starter candidate’ with a good pitch that day.
He smiled and said, “When I was in the second team, I prepared hard with the thought, ‘Someday the opportunity will come, so I will show it then.’” He added, “If I get another opportunity to start, I will be grateful and prepare hard again.” 스포츠토토