Sanders 40, broken after 27 years...Kim Do-young's 41st home run, yet KIA loses in extra innings

Kim Do-young hit his 41st home run of the season in his first at-bat upon returning from the Asian Games gold medal, setting a new single-season record for the Tigers. KT won the game 8-5 in the 10th inning.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Summary

Kim Do-young hit his 41st season home run with a two-run homer in the 1st inning against KT on September 29, surpassing Tracy Sanders' team record of 40 from 1999.
In the home run standings, Kim Do-young has 41, while Austin and Hilliard are tied with 39, a difference of 2 (as of 2026.09.29 23:00).
KT tied the game in the 9th inning and scored 3 runs in the 10th to win 8-5, reducing their magic number for the regular season championship to 7.

41. The Tigers' single-season home run record, which had been stuck at 40 for 27 years, changed in just one at-bat on the 29th. Kim Do-young (22, KIA) faced his first at-bat upon returning to the league in the bottom of the 1st inning against KT in Gwangju with one out and a runner on first, and hit a go-ahead two-run home run off Logan Allen's 147 km/h fastball on the outside. His statistics at the Asian Games were a .250 batting average with 0 home runs. One day after returning home with the gold medal, he cleared the fence.

Kim Do-young's 41st home run surpasses Tracy Sanders' 40 from 1999

News1According to [News1], the previous record belonged to Tracy Sanders of 1999 Haitai40Kim Do-young is the first Tigers player to exceed 40 home runs in a single season, including records from the Haitai era. Star News reported the hit distance at 125m and exit velocity at 172 km/h. Kim Do-young had 3 hits including a double and an infield hit. 0 home runs at the Asian Games, 1 home run in his first at-bat upon returning.

Kim Do-young's home run race, 2 ahead of 2nd place

2026 KBO home run standings top rankings (as of 2026.09.29 23:00)

Rank	Player	Team	Home Runs
1	Kim Do-young	KIA Tigers	41
Tied 2nd	Austin Dean	LG Twins	39
Tied 2nd	Sam Hilliard	KT Wiz	39

Sports KyunghyangAccording to [Sports Kyunghyang's] tally, Kim Do-young is in sole first place in home runs, and Financial News and News1 also report the same figures. He is 2 aheadof the two tied for 2nd place. In 2024, when he won the MVP award, he had 38 home runs. This year, he already has 3 more than that. This season, he also achieved 40 home runs-100 RBIs-100 runs as the youngest in KBO history. Since the season hasn't ended, the home run leader hasn't been decided yet.

KIA loses in extra innings, allows tie on bases-loaded walk in 9th with 2 outs

Score progression by inning (based on SBS reporting)

Inning	Scoring details	Score (KIA-KT)
Bottom 1st	Kim Do-young two-run	2-0
Top 2nd	Kim Hyun-soo bases-loaded home run	2-4
Bottom 3rd	Castro two-run, Na Sung-bum solo	5-4
Top 9th	Kim Sang-soo bases-loaded walk	5-5
Top 10th	Ahn Hyun-min 2-RBI triple, Hilliard sacrifice fly	5-8

SBSThis is the flow reported by SBS. Kim Hyun-soo (38), who hit the bases-loaded home run in the 2nd inning, signed a 3-year, 5 billion won (fully guaranteed) contract with KT before this season. According to SBS, News1, and others, KIA maintained a 1-run lead through 2 outs in the 9th inning but gave up a bases-loaded walk to Kim Sang-soo. Ahn Hyun-min (23), who hit the winning run in the 10th inning, was the 2025 Rookie of the Year. His salary this year increased from 33 million won to 180 million won, a 445.5% increase, setting KT's all-time highest raise rate. The final score was 8-5.

Kim Do-young's salary 250 million won, 41 home runs in a halved-salary year

Kim Do-young was born on October 2, 2003, and is 22 years old as of the game date. Some media reported him as 23, but he will turn 23 in four days. He joined KIA in 2022, and in 2024, he recorded a .347 batting average with 38 home runs and 40 stolen bases, winning the regular season MVP (95 of 101 votes) and the Golden Glove. He was also part of that year's championship. His career statistics through the 2025 season are a .311 batting average, 55 home runs, and 202 RBIs.

Gwangju DreamAccording to [Gwangju Dream's] team announcement, his 2026 season salary is 250 million wonThis represents a 50% reduction from 500 million won in 2025. He played only 30 games due to hamstring injuries suffered three times. In a year when his salary was cut in half, he hit 41 in a single season. That's approximately 75% (41÷55) of the 55 home runs he accumulated over 4 seasons since his debut.

With this victory, KT is 3 games ahead of 2nd-place Samsung and has reduced the magic number for the regular season championship to 7 (as of 2026.09.29 23:00).

Related official sites

KBO official website — Check home run rankings and game records in the official record room
KIA Tigers schedule/results — Check KIA's remaining regular season schedule
KIA Tigers official X — KIA Tigers official team SNS account

Featured image · archival photo · not a photo from the current game in the article · Photo=Wikimedia Commons(Kastrot), CC BY-SA 4.0