His club may be in last place in South Korean baseball with about a month left this season, but Kiwoom Heroes manager Hong Won-ki said Tuesday there is still a lot left to play for: namely, playing spoiler.

The Heroes could have a say on Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason seeding down the stretch, depending on how they fare against teams with title aspirations. And at 53-67, the Heroes are still mathematically alive for a postseason berth. They came into Tuesday’s game against the Samsung Lions six games out of the final postseason spot, held down by the KT Wiz, with 24 games left this year.

The Heroes have gone 9-5 against third-place LG Twins and 6-5 against the Lions, who are in second place.

“We want to beat them all,” Hong said with a wry grin, before the Heroes hosted the Lions at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.

Hong said he was proud of his players, many of them with little professional experience, for giving all they have each and every game.

“We have not abandoned our postseason hopes,” Ho
ng added. “We’ll do our very best for our fans until the end.”

The Heroes are six wins away from setting the record for most victories by a last-place team in KBO history. The 2018 NC Dinos and the 2023 Heroes each finished last after winning 53 games.

In terms of winning percentage for a last-place club, the 2001 Lotte Giants own the record at .457. There were eight teams then, and they each played 133 games. The Giants went 59-70-4 and ended just two games out of the final postseason spot.

The Heroes have a .442 winning percentage.

Source: Yonhap News Agency