Austin Dean, a 31-year-old foreign hitter of the LG Twins in the Korean pro baseball league, said he wants to play for LG until he retires. This is not an empty promise. Is it because he succeeded in achieving his “Korean dream?” He seems to have no desire to return to the Major League.
Austin attended the “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Golden Glove Awards” held on the 13th. It was a rare foreign player to attend the award ceremony. Early this season, he promised his fans that he would attend if he was nominated for the Golden Glove, which was not an empty promise. Austin came to Korea for two nights and three days after resting in the U.S. during the off-season.
The result was good, too. Austin, who said before the ceremony that he has a 50-50 chance of winning the Golden Glove, beat home run king Matt Davidson of the NC Dinosaurs in the first baseman category. He was happy to win the honor for the second consecutive year since last year.
Asked about his future goals in an interview with reporters, Austin said, “My biggest goal now is to finish my (baseball) career with the LG Twins. I want to finish my career at LG by playing hard until I break my leg and perform well.”
Austin, who entered the KBO League in 2023 wearing an LG uniform, played as a center hitter for two years and had a good personal performance. 토토사이트
Last year, he played in 139 games with a batting average of 313 (63 hits in 520 at-bats), 23 home runs, 95 RBIs, 87 runs, seven steals, 53 walks, 75 strikeouts, and an on-base percentage of .376, a slugging percentage of .517 and an OPS of .893, leading LG to an overall win. In the Korean Series, he also had a batting average of .350 (7 hits in 20 at-bats), one home run, five RBIs, and an OPS of .931 in five games, playing his role as the cleanup hitter.
This year, he posted a batting average of 319 (168 hits in 527 times at bat), 32 homers, 132 RBIs, 99 runs, 12 steals, 61 walks, 82 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of .384, and an OPS of .957 in 140 games. He became the first LG batter to post the highest number of RBIs in a season. He also became the first LG batter to post 30 homers to 100 RBIs.
Austin also made a lot of money after coming to Korea. He played 126 games during five seasons in the U.S. Major League from 2018 to 2022 and went back and forth to the Minor League, earning just over $1 million in cumulative salary.
Austin signed a contract for 700,000 dollars (down payment of 100,000 dollars, annual salary of 400,000 dollars, incentive 200,000 dollars) in the first year of 2023 when he played for LG, and received 1.3 million dollars (down payment of 300,000 dollars, annual salary of 800,000 dollars, incentive of 200,000 dollars) this year. He renewed his contract on the condition that he receive 1.7 million dollars (down payment of 300,000 dollars, annual salary of 1.2 million dollars, incentive of 200,000 dollars) next year. He will receive 3.7 million dollars (about 5.3 billion won) for three years until next year.
Born in October 1993, Austin is still young. Nevertheless, saying that his goal is to end his career at LG does not constitute lip service to fans.
It was early this year. “I was playing baseball only in the U.S., but I encountered Asian baseball for the first time last year, and I was nervous and nervous as I was adapting to the new team,” Austin said in his speech on his second season at LG. “This year, I feel better. Now my team members take me well, and I feel much better. With this kind of experience, I thought to myself that I would like to continue my baseball career (at LG). I am happy to be with this member, and I will dedicate myself more to the team,” he said. “If LG continues to sign contracts, I will continue to play at LG.”
When asked about his thoughts on returning to the Major League in the future, Austin preferred a stable life at LG rather than an unstable environment. Austin said, “I still like Korean baseball so much, it’s fresh and it’s so good. Not only I but also my wife feel the same way. I really like the baseball environment at LG.”
“I want to continue playing in Korea, but if I get the chance to return to the Major League, I have to meet the requirements. I had a hard time living in and out of the Major League and Minor League in the past. I want to live a stable life,” he said.
