Choi Jeong (36, SSG Landers), who was called a ‘boy trader’, set another milestone after 19 years of joining the club.
Choi Jeong-eun stepped on the 2,000 hit mark for the first time in the history of the club at the Samsung Lions match held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 12th. Choi Jeong-eun, who batted fourth that day, hit a double in the third at-bat in the sixth inning, recording his 2000th hit in his personal career. It is the 17th in the history of the KBO League, and the fifth in terms of right-handed hitters after Hong Seong-heun, Jeong Seong-hoon, Kim Tae-gyun and Lee Dae-ho.
Choi Jeong-eun, who received the first nomination in 2005 and joined SK Wyverns (now SSG), hit 12 homers in 2006, his second year, and earned the nickname ‘boy trader’. Starting with this, he became the first player in KBO League history to hit double-digit homers for 17 consecutive years (2nd place Jang Jong-hoon and Yang Jun-hyuk for 15 consecutive years). He became the home run king three times, and is second all-time with 430 career home runs. Lee Seung-yeop (currently coach of the Doosan Bears) and Choi Jeong are the only two players to achieve 400 home runs and 2,000 hits at the same time.
Choi Jung’s combative attitude at bat is a big part of setting a record. He hits close to home plate. He has no choice but to get hit a lot by the pitcher’s pitch. With 313 balls, it is the most in the world, exceeding the highest ever in the KBO League. Even in the US Major League (MLB) and Japanese professional baseball, which has a deeper baseball history than ours, no player has exceeded 300 balls that fit the body. The impact and pain of being hit by a ball with a maximum speed of around 150 km/h is enormous.
Still, the reason Choi Jeong sticks to the plate is to attack the pitcher. For ordinary hitters, the ball in the middle is for Choi Jeong, the ball for the body, and for the outside ball, it is the ball for the middle. In this case, the space for the pitcher to attack the hitter (Choi Jeong) is narrow. Choi Jeong-eun tries to use this to get good results such as home runs and hits. Of course, this entails pain and danger, but I chose to make the most of my strengths in a small space (Batters Box). He does not give in to the risk of injury and has not changed for 19 years. Even if he gets hit by the ball, his strength is that he hasn’t had any major injuries so far.
Effort also played a part. SSG coach Kim Won-hyung, who has been watching Choi Jeong-i from his rookie days, said, “Now you can say, ‘I did that,’ but I remember seeing (Choi) Jeong-i staying behind after the game, swinging, and checking what went wrong in the power analysis room. I think I became the best because of the appearance of swinging because I was pissed off alone. I was crazy about baseball even now, but when I was younger, “he hinted.
In recognition of this kind of performance, Choi Jeong-eun is ranked second in the total number of free agents (FA) in the KBO League. He signed a contract for a total of 8.6 billion won over 4 years in 2015 and 10.6 billion won over 6 years in 2019. LG Twins Kim Hyun-soo (23 billion won) ranks first in FA accumulated total ever.
Choi Jeong’s challenge never stops. He is regarded as the most likely player to break Lee Seung-yeop’s record of 467 home runs in the KBO League. Choi Jeong-eun is currently ranked second in the category with 430 home runs.메이저놀이터 He seems likely to hit the 467 home run later this season at the earliest, or next season at the latest. In addition, Kim Tae-gyun’s record of most hits (2209) by a right-handed hitter can be easily surpassed if there are no injuries.
Choi Jeong-eun said, “I am more proud and honored to have achieved 2,000 hits for the first time as a team. I am personally proud to have set a good record while playing for a long time in the same team. I will try to improve further as I have more time left in my career as a player.” He continued, “Personally, he thinks it’s important to record consecutive double-digit home runs for the season, so I will prepare well for the rest of the season and try my best to achieve it.”
