After the Perfect Game
(GIF of Han Doyoon tumbling as he makes the throw)
(GIF of Wonju Flyers players swarming Han Doyoon)
Once the game was over, the communities predictably exploded with news of Han Doyoon's Perfect Game.
It wasn't just the record itself — Korea's first Perfect Game. It was the overwhelming quality of his pitching from start to finish, and that decisive defensive play in the final moment. Praise poured in without end for a pitcher who had shown nearly everything a single outing could hold.
The last defensive sequence, in particular, kept getting brought up again and again.
While the praise for Han Doyoon kept flooding in, another corner of the conversation carried a sharper edge.
That was the surprise bunt the Busan Mariners had chosen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It hadn't broken any rules — not even close. But with a historic Perfect Game on the line, refusing to face it head-on and fishing for a lucky break with a bunt was more than enough to leave a bad taste in people's mouths.
And those reactions only grew fiercer once Han Doyoon's and Choi Seongwon's interviews went public a short while later.
A record that will live in Korean professional baseball history was written on Opening Day of the 2026 season.
The Wonju Flyers defeated the Busan Mariners 6–0 on the 28th at Mariners Field in Busan in the 2026 Opening Day matchup. Starting pitcher Han Doyoon locked down the Busan lineup over nine innings with no hits and no walks, completing the first Perfect Game in the history of Korean professional baseball.
Even under the weight of Opening Day, Han Doyoon's pitching never wavered. Anchored by a fastball that regularly touched and exceeded 160 km/h, he mixed in sliders and cutters to work through hitters, racking up 19 strikeouts. Not a single Busan batter reached base all night.
After the game, Han Doyoon said of the Perfect Game, "Kang Daegeun mentioned it to me in the eighth, so that's when I found out," adding, "From that moment on, of course I couldn't help but be aware of the record." He went on, "Anyone would start thinking about it in a situation like that. I knew that if I pulled it off, it would be the first in Korea, so I focused even harder."
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Busan sent up pinch hitter Han Jiwon and tried to change the script with a bunt. The ball rolled toward first, and Han Doyoon fielded it himself, threw to first, and the out call ended the game. Of that moment, Han Doyoon said evenly, "From the other team's perspective, I thought it was a choice that could absolutely come up. Who wants to be on the wrong end of a Perfect Game? If I were the hitter, I would've done the same."
The outing also reflected a pregame suggestion from the club. Han Doyoon explained, "Before the game, the organization talked about simplifying the location a bit. Instead of working the whole zone wide, the idea was to attack courses that leave hitters with tough choices, and I tried to stick with that all night." He added, "My chemistry with the catcher was good too. I just threw the way we'd prepared, and this is how it turned out."
Korea's first Perfect Game — on Opening Day. From the very first game of the season, Han Doyoon had written his name into history.
In the 2026 Opening Day matchup, the Busan Mariners fell to the Wonju Flyers and allowed the first Perfect Game in the history of Korean professional baseball.
Manager Choi Seongwon's Busan lost 0–6 to the Wonju Flyers on the 28th at Mariners Field. In the first game of the new season, Busan finished without putting a single runner on base.
Unable to find any offensive path forward, Busan remained locked inside a Perfect Game situation through the bottom of the ninth. With two outs in their final at-bat, pinch hitter Han Jiwon attempted a bunt, was retired, and the game ended there.
Wonju starter Han Doyoon threw a flawless nine innings of no-hit, no-walk baseball against the Busan lineup to complete Korea's first Perfect Game. He recorded a staggering 18 strikeouts and never allowed so much as a single crisis all night.
After the game, Manager Choi Seongwon said, "Yes, I ordered the bunt to stop the Perfect Game. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, we had to get a baserunner somehow, and that was simply the choice that fit the purpose." He continued, "I have no intention of playing baseball just to hand the other side a record. Anyone sitting in that chair would have made a judgment that wasn't all that different."
He also drew a clear line against any suggestion that it had been a player's individual decision. Choi emphasized, "The bunt was entirely my instruction. Han Jiwon simply carried out the role he was given."
Of opposing starter Han Doyoon, he said, "What we got was a different picture from the pitching pattern we'd expected. Not adjusting to that change early was a big part of it. There were pieces of our prep where the math just didn't line up."
Two articles hanging side by side on the main page.
One announced the birth of a hero. The other laid out the loser's logic without flinching.
Opinions split — but on one point, everyone agreed.
No one could pick apart the Perfect Game itself.
Arguments about the bunt, about the manager's attitude — all of them lost their force the moment they ran into the clause even so. The simple fact that not a single runner had reached base across nine innings, and that the pitcher himself had recorded the final out — that scene had been too perfect.
"Ugh. I still reek of booze."
Even after a shower, the smell of alcohol seemed to cling to me. The second I'd walked back into the locker room, I'd been swallowed whole by a champagne shower from bottles I still didn't know anyone had even found. There was no fighting it.
On the way back to the hotel, every person I passed had a word for me.
"Good work out there."
"You really threw a hell of a game."
"Congratulations."
Short lines — but they were enough. I already felt like I'd taken in every congratulations the day had to give, and more than that, with another game tomorrow, nobody was in a position to throw a real party.
Only after I got back to the room and shut the door did I finally find myself alone. The noise of the locker room still rang in my ears, and a faint champagne smell still clung to my skin.
"Ha…… maybe I'll check the reactions a bit tonight."
Ordinarily I barely looked at communities or social media. But tonight, I just couldn't hold out. I stretched out comfortably on the bed, turned on my phone, and started reading the reactions.
"Hell yeah……!"
Praise poured down with every scroll. Reading them one by one, the corner of my mouth kept tugging upward on its own.
(Back-to-back edited clips of every 160+ km/h pitch)
"Mmm."
I only got to sit in the glow of posts about myself for so long. A little further down, posts with a completely different atmosphere started catching my eye.
"Oof…… they're tearing him apart."
Reactions aimed at Manager Choi Seongwon — today's opponent — that sat somewhere past criticism and deep into outright condemnation.
Seeing him take that much heat made me feel a little sorry for him, and at the same time, a little smug. I'd played it cool in the interview, but honestly? Leaving the nine-hole hitter in and bunting was one thing. Pulling a pinch hitter just to grit your teeth and refuse a Perfect Game at all costs was hard to look at kindly.
I'd almost actually lost the Perfect Game, too.
"Hoo…… time to sleep."
Figuring I'd seen enough, I turned off the phone screen and let myself sink into the bed.
And then—
Ding!
◈ Allows the user to change one pitch type
The Status Window had prepared a gift for me.