Korea's home run celebration has players dreaming of a trip to Miami

When Tokyo's Pool C ends, two teams will head to Haneda Airport and fly to Miami for the quarterfinals. For Korea, which hasn't advanced out of the first round since reaching the championship in 2009, the mission begins there.

So, during this past week's two exhibition games in Osaka, there was only one way to celebrate a home run or a big play: The team's players started by making an "M" shape with their hands for Miami, before waving their arms like the wings on a Brett Phillips airplane.

When young power-speed sensation Do Yeong Kim -- the youngest player to go 30/30 in KBO history -- hit his second home run in as many days on Tuesday afternoon against the Orix Buffaloes, he busted out the wings as he rounded third base. Naturally, his teammates in the dugout joined in on the fun.

You can thank infielder Si Hwan Roh for coming up with the move.

"He was the one who first brought this up when some of our veteran guys asked us to come up with something," Kim said through interpreter Eugene Koo. "In the first [exhibition] game, we had an option to do either one of those. So some guys did the 'M,' some guys did [the airplane]. Before the second game, we had to make a decision on what we're gonna stick with. So, it's thanks to Roh for that."

A few innings later, when Korea's other noted young slugger, Hyun Min Ahn, blasted an absolute moonshot to left field, he busted out the same move as he rounded the bases.

The celebration has the full support of manager Ji-Hyun Ryu, too. With the team combining MLB players and KBO stars -- along with players born in Korea and those from the U.S. of Korean descent -- Ryu knows the importance of the club gelling quickly in the tournament.

"As a manager, I am very pleased that I am watching my roster get together and are bonding as one team, one unit," Ryu said.

The move has stuck. On Thursday night in Tokyo, Bo Gyeong Moon hit a grand slam to give Korea an early 4-0 lead against Czechia. Naturally, Moon went for a flight around the bases.

While the hitters get to have all the fun when they go deep, there aren't any plans for the pitchers to have their own celebration.

"We try to have fun with the hitters, but we don't have anything we're preparing for ourselves," veteran starter Hyun Jin Ryu said. "We're in the dugout, though, so when they're doing it, we just try to give our best as well."