He’s so excited to come up to bat and hit his first career home run. The ‘bat flip’, as it’s known, is sure to double the fun this season.

Choi Ha-eun is a reporter.

[Reporter]

[Man-roo home run! Man-roo home run!]스포츠토토

< Samsung 5:10 Hanwha｜Daejeon Stadium (Yesterday) >

Trailing Samsung by one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hanwha fans’ hopes were realised.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Lee Jin-young came to the plate and launched a 125 metre home run over the left field fence.

It was Lee’s first home run in seven years, and the one that broke the losing streak, but as cool as the home run was, the aftermath was even more exciting for the sold-out crowd.

Without even looking at the pitch, he threw his bat high and raised a fiery fist.

[Lee Jin-young/Han Hwa: I couldn’t feel it in my hand, it was a really good hit, but I was thinking, what if it doesn’t go over…]

The so-called “sucking” ceremony, where the bat is thrown after a big hit, adds to the thrill of a home run.

Sometimes it’s thrown high into the air, sometimes it’s dropped nonchalantly, and cheers erupt.

Sometimes, in the midst of the celebration, the ball is caught in front of the fence for an out, and you find yourself racing to second base in a panic.

Though increasingly common, bat flips in the major leagues are still read as a gesture to provoke the pitcher, and foreign players do it with a boldness that would be clumsy on our baseball field.