It is a painful ending. As a result, the fierce battle for rankings at the end of the regular season became toxic. Looking at the results, I am always disappointed with last August and September. This is the story of SSG, the defending champion, who ‘floated’ in the semi-playoffs.

SSG lost 6-7 against NC in the third game of the 2023 KBO semi-playoffs held at Changwon NC Park on the 25th. After losing the first and second games, they lost the third game. The fall baseball season ended with just three games.

It was a mess from the first game. Starter Roenis Elias pitched well, allowing 2 runs in 8 innings, but lost. The batting line was silent, and the bullpen even gave up additional runs. The second game wasn't easy either. Even though they used Kim Gwang-hyun and Moon Seung-won, they still lost. It went from 0-4 to 3-4, but there was no more

In the third game, the batting line exploded. Choi Jeong's grand slam exploded, scoring 5 points in the second inning alone. This time the mound failed to protect. They made a strong move by removing starter Oh Won-seok and bringing up Noh Kyung-eun in the second inning, but it did not go as planned. There was no re-chase.

That’s how SSG’s 2023 season ended. I can't help but feel regret. They aimed to win the Korean Series for the second year in a row, but it seems they were defeated by NC's fiery momentum.

Let's turn back time. Looking at the season as a whole, the first half was definitely good. At the beginning of the season, they formed a 'top three' structure with LG and Lotte, and after that, they were 'two strong teams' with LG. They finished the first half in second place, 2.5 games behind LG. He said he would be able to hit again and climb up.

The problem is August-September. In 23 games in August, he recorded 10 wins, 13 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.435. September had 23 games, 6 wins, 2 draws, 15 losses, and a winning percentage of 0.286. September’s performance was last in the league.

There was a big slip. It fell from 2nd to 3rd on August 19th. It ended August in 3rd place, 6.5 games behind first place LG. Afterwards, it ranked 5th on September 9th, and fell to 6th place on September 17th. When September ended, SSG was in 5th place, 13 games behind first place LG. It was said to be the fall of a champion.