“I’ve been here since I was young and dreamed of becoming a baseball player. As a player, I feel like I’m leaving home because I don’t think I can play anymore.”
SSG Landers Choo Shin-soo will end his career as a “player” with the 2024 season. He announced his retirement early last winter, and prepared for the pennant race by sweating more than anyone else in order to achieve a successful finish with his juniors this year.
Choo has gritted his teeth despite the bad luck of getting injured twice since the opening of the regular season in March. With the determination to play as many games as possible, he has devoted his energy to rehabilitation. Since June 7, he has maintained his position in the first team, leading the team’s batting lineup.
Choo has displayed outstanding performance in the 2024 season, which is unbelievable that he is 42 years old this year. He showed competitive edge with a batting average of 0.289 (70 hits in 242 times at bat) and five homers, 36 RBIs and five steals in 75 games. He is regarded as the best ever in Korean baseball history. His on-base percentage (0.384), which is almost 100 percent higher than his batting average, is a good example of this.
“I didn’t give up under any circumstances one of the reasons I was able to play in the U.S. Major League for a long time,” Choo said before the game against Lotte Giants on Sunday. “He often says I look like a duck. When I fell, I got up faster and stronger than anyone else. I have pride in this area.”
Choo is a native of Busan who graduated from Suyeong Elementary School, Busan Middle School, and Busan High School. After graduating from high school in 2001, he signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners of the U.S. Major League Baseball and never left Busan until he crossed the Pacific Ocean.
After five years as a minor league player with the Seattle Mariners, Choo made his big league debut in 2005. After playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 2012, he joined the Texas Rangers from 2013 to 2020.
The footsteps that Choo has left for the past 16 seasons in the Major League are remarkable. He had 1,652 games, a batting average of 0.275, 1671 hits, 218 homers, 782 RBIs, 961 runs scored, 157 steals, 868 walks and an OPS of 0.824.
After agonizing over whether to stay in the Major League and return to the KBO after his contract with the Texas Rangers expired in the 2020 season, Choo accepted SSG’s offer of love. Before retirement, he took on a new challenge with determination to show his best performance in front of fans back home.
Choo played his part in SSG. Notably, he helped SSG achieve a combined “wire to wire” title for the first time in the KBO league in the 2022 season. It was also Choo’s first career championship.
However, there is not much time to see the “player” Choo Shin-soo. Choo holds fan signing events for fans who are selected through a lottery every away game and holds various events, doing his best to serve his fans. 스포츠토토
“I’m so grateful that you applied for the fan signing event to see me and came all the way to see me,” Choo said. “I’m so touched whenever I hear ‘Thank you for playing in Korea. I’m glad I came to Korea.”
As SSG is in fierce competition to advance to the top five teams, Choo has no time to get soaked in appreciation for his retirement. Until the game against Lotte on Sunday, SSG had 60 wins, 67 losses and two draws for the season, ranking seventh, three games behind fifth-ranked KT Wiz (64 wins, 65 losses and two draws).
However, Choo had special feelings ahead of his final game at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, his hometown where he was born and raised. SSG’s away game in Sajik in the 2024 season will be held on Tuesday last week.
Coincidentally, the first place where Choo Shin-soo joined the SSG squad was Sajik Baseball Stadium. On March 11, 2021, after completing self-quarantine after entering Korea amid the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, he greeted the players for the first time at Sajik Baseball Stadium, where SSG played a practice game.
“Sajik Baseball Stadium definitely feels different from other away games. This is the place that gave me motivation to play baseball,” Choo said. “My uncle (Park Jung-tae) also played here and played games with many seniors and juniors. If I play games here today and tomorrow, I feel like I’m leaving home because I can’t come back to Sajik Baseball Stadium as a player.”
“No player in uniform tries to lose at a baseball stadium. We cannot make a result, but the process is different,” he said. “We should never give up considering the fans who come to see us. What’s worse, I think it’s my attitude as a player to win the last game and do my best even if a bad scenario comes out.”
