Life and death bet on the WBC (World Baseball Classic), which will be the last national championship. Choi Jeong (36, SSG Landers), the KBO league’s signature third baseman, took on a heavy responsibility.
On the 12th (Korean time), Choi Jeong-ui’s glove, which we met in Vero Beach, Florida, USA, has a star representing the number of Golden Glove awards. Last year, it was received and increased to 8. Together with Han Dae-hwa, he is tied for first place at third base. Choi Jung-eun laughed and said, “There are two more spaces. I want to fill 10 more.”
As the Golden Glove says, Choi Jeong-eun is the best third baseman in the KBO league in name and reality. He was the only third baseman to be selected for the WBC, which opens next month. Choi Jeong-eun said with a serious expression, “I really want to do well. It’s not an event game, but I try to do my best with a sense of responsibility. I have a great desire to do well. I will risk my life and death.”
I feel the weight because the third baseman Choi Jeong is alone. Choi Jeong-eun said, “Before that, there were Heo Gyeong-min (Doosan Bears) and Hwang Jae-gyun (KT Wiz), so players in good condition could go out. Kim Ha-seong can also defend third base, but I am the only professional third baseman.” He continued, “In the past, we said to each other, ‘You do well and go out’. Now I want to do well and play as a third baseman until the end of the tournament.”
Choi Jeong-eun felt sorry for Heo Gyeong-min, who was missing due to an injury. He joked, “I resent Kyung-min,” and said, “When I saw the strongest baseball game (which was played after new manager Lee Seung-yeop took office), he swinged and even sprinted. I wondered, ‘Is this a kid with a backache?’ It’s a part, but when I saw the video, I thought that way,” he laughed.
Choi Jeong-eun was selected as a national representative five times after coming to the professional league. Among them, the WBC is a tournament that presents both joy and pain. Choi Jeong-eun said, “It’s an exciting tournament. The first time I went to the national team was the 2nd WBC (runner-up) in 2009. I have only good memories. In 2013, I was eliminated from the preliminaries, so I don’t even remember. The WBC is a tournament where you can have a really great experience if you get good results.” said.
Unfortunately, the current condition is not the best. Choi Jeong-eun said, “You have to be good at batting, base running, and defense. Originally, I was on the sluggish side in demonstration games and spring camp온라인바카라, but I’m still not in good condition. My hand (which suffered from an injury last year) is still bad. The place where it hurt continues to hurt. The stress is There is. Originally, the pain started during the second training, but this time it came quickly.”
Considering his age, there is a high probability that this will be his last match wearing the Taegeuk mark. Choi Jeong-eun explained, “Rather than thinking ‘I want to do well because it’s the last time’, I just want to do well. It feels like the season opener is just around the corner. I’m grateful for being selected and want to play an active part.”
In SSG, a total of three players, including Kim Gwang-hyun and Choi Ji-hoon, joined the final 30-man roster. In particular, at the last minute, Choi Ji-hoon was selected instead of Choi Ji-man. Choi Jung-eun welcomed Choi Ji-hoon’s selection and said, “If you go alone, it’s lonely. It’s good that Ji-hoon was selected because he left seniors and juniors. There is Gwang-hyeon, but the pitching team has a different schedule. As soon as he heard the news, he said to Ji-hoon, ‘Go with me. Take care of me.’ At last year’s Golden Glove ceremony, I was alone and the Kiwoom players were sitting around.”
Choi Jeong-eun is the best in SSG and national team. However, he talked about ‘trust’ rather than ‘discipline’. Choi Jeong-eun said, “Of course, I would lead the team, but the national team players worked hard on their own even without a senior. Because they are good players, they will do their part well.
Choi Jeong-eun, who entered the professional league in 2005, played in 2036 games and hit 429 homers. He approached the KBO League career home run record (467) held by manager Lee Seung-yeop by 39. Choi Jeong-eun said, “It’s not easy to surpass this year. Next year, we have to break. It’s a number that we can’t break.”
However, there is no player who can follow Choi Jeong in terms of his persistence. In the regular season last year, he hit 26 home runs despite struggling with an injury, and in the Korean Series, he contributed to the championship with a batting average of 0.476 (10 hits in 21 bats), 2 home runs and 9 RBIs. He hit double-digit home runs for a whopping 17 years. It’s something no one has ever done, and I’m proud of it. Choi Jeong-eun promised to show good performance at SSG, saying, “My goal is to maintain a double-digit home run every year. I think it is meaningful because I am breaking my record every year.”
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