“Because it’s the mound where the 2017 championship was won” — Yang Hyeon-jong’s plastic bottle preserves Jamsil’s history

[Financial News] The heart of Korean baseball for 44 years, where countless heroes were born and joy and tears mingled thousands of times. The final night of that old, vast concrete temple faded into history amid the most spectacular celebratory fireworks and the most poignant nostalgia.
Game 3 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League postseason semi-playoffs, a best-of-five series, was held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 20th. Kia Tigers crushed the LG Twins 13-1, clinching a place in the playoffs with three straight wins. The game will forever be remembered as the last professional baseball game played before Jamsil Stadium, which opened in 1982, was demolished. As defending champions LG exited the fall postseason after three consecutive losses, Jamsil’s clock came to a complete stop.
The highlight of this historic farewell game was “genius batter” Kim Do-yeong. With Kia leading 3-0, one out and the bases loaded in the top of the second, Kim sent John Kennedy’s fastball soaring and launched a colossal 145-meter grand slam that landed in the highest section of the left-center-field stands. He tied the record as the youngest player in postseason history to hit a grand slam, while the home run tied the record for the longest distance. Above all, it would remain an indelible mark in Jamsil Stadium’s 44-year history as its “last grand slam.” Na Sung-bum also hit two home runs, adding a flourish to the baseball shrine’s final night.

But the moment that lingered most that day came after the game had ended, on the now-empty field. KIA’s “great pitcher,” Yang Hyeon-jong, walked alone up to the mound and carefully swept dirt from around the pitching rubber into a plastic bottle.
For Yang Hyeon-jong, Jamsil is more than just a baseball stadium. It is where he made his first professional appearance, and the promised land where he took the mound in the bottom of the ninth in Game 5 of the 2017 Korean Series, secured KIA’s 11th championship and earned the first save of his career. “When I thought that today or tomorrow would be the last game at Jamsil Stadium in my baseball career, memories from 20 years ago came flooding back,” Yang said calmly, explaining why he collected the dirt. He added, “When a new dome stadium is built here, I’ll probably be watching baseball from the stands rather than being on the field,” and smiled wryly but broadly.
Manager Lee Bum-ho also offered a gracious farewell. “It’s an honor to have started at Jamsil and to win at Jamsil in its final game. I’m grateful that we got to bring this stadium’s story to a close with the best team, LG,” he said. “I look forward to the day we meet again at an even better ballpark.”

Built for the 1982 World Baseball Championship, Jamsil Stadium, which had reigned as the cradle and shrine of professional baseball, is now set to be demolished.
Starting in 2027, LG and Doosan will renovate the main stadium at Jamsil Sports Complex and use it as their temporary home ground. A state-of-the-art dome stadium is planned for the existing site, with completion targeted for March 2032.
The scoreboard lights went out, and the Tigers headed to Daegu. It was a farewell to a 44-year-old stadium steeped in romance. Its final page was forever enshrined in Korean baseball history with a genius’s 145-meter grand slam and a handful of dirt in the great pitcher’s plastic bottle.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter