Choi Jeong “I really want to do well this time”
“I really want to do well.”
SSG Choi Jeong (35), who is about to participate in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) to be held next month, is thinking these days. When we met on the 10th (local time) at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida, USA, where the SSG spring camp was in full swing, he repeatedly said, “I want to do well.”
Considering that he is in his mid-30s, this will be his last time playing for the national team. However, Choi Jeong-eun does not attach much importance to the fact that it is the end. He said, “Since this is the last time, I have a strong thought that I have to repay what I was selected for. He really wants to play well,” he said. Choi Jeong-eun even wrote the expression “I risked my life and death.”
In 2009, when he was in his 5th year as a professional, he was the first to wear the Taegeuk mark as a WBC national representative and tasted the joy of second place. Choi Jeong-eun said, “I only have good memories of going to the finals with the national team for the first time. He remembers it as a fun, exciting and uplifting tournament,” he said. He also competed in the WBC in 2013, but suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the preliminary round. 바카라사이트
He steps on the WBC stage again after just 10 years. Choi Jeong is the only professional third baseman in the final 30-man roster of the national team. He was with Hwang Jae-gyun (KT) and Heo Gyeong-min (Doosan), who were in the same position in the 2019 Premier 12, the most recent international competition, but now he is alone. Choi Jeong-eun said, “They say that (Kim) Ha-seong can be turned into third base, but since I am the only professional third baseman, I want to do well.”
The news that Choi Ji-hoon, a junior SSG fielder, was selected as a substitute for the WBC relieved Choi Jeong’s stress. Choi Jeong-eun said, “Isn’t it lonely if you go to an international competition alone? (Kim) Kwang-hyeon also goes, but I rarely see pitchers and fielders because they have different schedules.” I kept saying, ‘Now go with me every day’” and laughed.
If you finish the WBC safely, the KBO League awaits. Choi Jeong-eun won his 8th KBO Golden Glove last year. The goal is to add 2 more of his golden gloves to top 10. With the current KBO League total of 429 home runs, Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop’s record for most home runs in the KBO league (467 home runs) remains at 38. Choi Jeong-eun said, “This year will not be easy, and next year I will have to wake up.” He added, “Director Lee Seung-yeop’s record is a number that excludes the period of overseas expansion, so it is ‘over the top’. I always think of second place.”
What Choi Jeong, the ‘synonymous with consistency’, is more greedy for is the ‘consecutive double-digit home run record’. Choi Jeong-eun has been recording double-digit home runs for 17 consecutive years since 2006, the year after his debut. He set a record for 16 consecutive years in 2021, surpassing Jang Jong-hoon and Yang Jun-hyuk’s record of 15 consecutive years. Now he is writing his own record. Choi Jeong-eun said, “I want to break my record, break it, break it, and continue until I retire.”