(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
   Roger Bernadina hits for-the-cycle in South Korea
Nederlands
 GWANGJU (South Korea) -
Roger Bernadina has hit for-the-cycle on Thursday-evening (August 3) for the Kia Tigers in a 9-3 victory against KT Wiz in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
The game was played at home on Gwangju-Kia Champions Field.
Bernadina, who is playing in his first season in the South Korean professional competition, became only the third foreign player in history to hit for-the-cycle.
The first professional KBO-season was 1982.
...Roger Bernadina hitting for the Netherlands Kingdom Team...
...during the 2013 World Baseball Classic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Roger Bernadina hit a triple down the rightfield-line in the first inning, then added a double with two outs in the third at bat.
It appeared that this hit was to become a single, but Bernadina showed he still has speed and stretched it into a double.
In the fifth inning, Bernadina hit a single in short centerfield and this time, he stayed at first base.
With that, he only needed a homerun to complete the cycle.
That came in the eighth inning after he had been hit by a pitch in the sixth inning.
With the Tigers leading 8-3, he hit a delivery of reliever Moon-geun Jo over the right-centerfield wall for a solo homerun!
This was the 19th homerun of the season for Bernadina, who hits .320.
The cycle was the 24th in the history of the KBO and the fourth hit by a foreign player.
In 2001, Manny Martinez was the first, while playing for Samsung Lions.
Eric Thames accomplished the feat twice, playing for NC Dinos in 2015.
The 33-year old Bernadina was signed at age 17 by the Montreal Expos in 2001.
Bernadina made his Major League-debut in June 2008 and hit a single in his first Major League-at bat.
Bernadina, who is nicknamed 'The Shark', played in the Major League for Washington Nationals (2008-2013), Philadelphia Phillies (2013), Cincinnati Reds (2014) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2014).
In August 2013, Bernadina was released by the Nationals, then signed two days later with the Phillies.
In January 2014, he signed with the Reds.
In June of that year, he was released again and became a Free Agent.
Just over a week later, he signed a Minor League-contract with the Dodgers, played in Triple-A and was called up to the big league in September.
In December 2014, the outfielder signed a Minor League-contract with the Colorado Rockies and in February 2016, he signed a similar contract with the New York Mets.
Bernadina played in Triple-A in 2015 and 2016.
In the winterseasons 2014-2016, he also played in Venezuela (2014-2015) and Mexico (2015-2016).
Between 2008 and 2014, Bernadina played in 548 Major League-games, hitting 312 basehits, including 28 homeruns.
In November 2016, Bernadina signed with Kia Tigers, which currently lead the KBO with a 65-35 record.
In 2007, Bernadina made his debut in the Netherlands National Baseball Team and then captured the title at the European Championship in Spain.
The event also had the status of Olympic Qualifying Tournament and with that, the Orange squad qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (China).
With the Netherlands, he reached the Semi-Final of the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
Last year, Bernadina opened the European Championship with the Netherlands in Hoofddorp, but left the team halfway the event.
Go here to watch Bernadina's cycle
(August 7)
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