Samsung finished the first half of the professional baseball race in the highest place. LG, who was competing for the lead, played the last game of the first half in Daegu on the 9th and took the lead by winning 6-5, by one point. Samsung (0.614 winning percentage) is 2 leagues ahead of 2nd place LG (0.612) in winning percentage. In the first half of the year, Samsung ranked second in the team's ERA (4.11) and third in batting average (0.275), showing stable performance in both pitches. It has been 11 years since 2015 that Samsung, which has won the Korean Series a total of eight times, reached first place. Samsung eventually finished the regular season in first place that year. Samsung has never taken first place in the regular season since then. Since 2015, when the 10-team system was established, 81.8% (9 out of 11) of the teams ranked first in the first half of the season went straight to the Korean Series as first place in the regular season. Samsung’s upward trend cannot be explained without mentioning the effect of ‘veteran’ Choi Hyeong-woo (43), who moved to KIA and returned after 10 years. Choi Hyung-woo's title as the league's oldest player is in 4th place in on-base percentage (0.42).