“The 4-ball is always right, well. It’s dangerous, but I tried to show it for the team.”
Choi Jae-hun (34, Hanwha Eagles), who was hit by a ball from Doosan Bears pitcher Kim Dong-joo, was furious. It was a tense situation that seemed like a bench clearing would happen. Even in the midst of feeling threatened by the ball toward his head, Choi Jae-hoon wanted to throw an unspoken message for the team.
Choi Jae-hoon started as the 6th hitter catcher in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League away match against Doosan held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on the 3rd, and led the team to a 8-3 victory with 2 hits, 3 hits and 1 RBI in 2 at-bats.
On this day, Hanwha finally broke the chain of 6 consecutive losses. There were Kim Min-woo, who won the starter by pitching well with 1 run in 6 innings, and Jung Eun-won, who scored 3 hits and a timely hit to tie the score, but Choi Jae-hoon’s contribution was indispensable.
The seasoned pitching lead stood out. Kim Min-woo, who only suffered 2 losses in 5 games this season, started off happily with KKK from the 1st inning. It was the result 메이저놀이터 of properly combining the curve in the center of the existing fastball and forkball. He gave up two walks in the second inning and allowed runs due to overlapping defensive errors, but he soon found stability and was able to deliver the best pitches this season.
Choi Jae-hoon met with Star News after the game and said, “(Kim) Min-woo and breathing were good.” “I think I did a good job with the hitters,” he said. It was also a great strength for Kim Min-woo to stop Lee Yoo-chan from stealing with his strong shoulder.
His performance at the plate also stood out. Choi Jae-hoon, who walked out in the second inning, also hit a timely hit with a wedge in the seventh. However, the scene that stood out the most on the day was when he went on base with a ball that hit his body in the 4th inning. Kim Dong-joo’s fastball failed to control and hit Choi Jae-hoon’s left shoulder. Choi Jae-hoon moved his steps towards the mound in a fit of fuss. Doosan catcher Jang Seung-hyeon stopped it and it ended, but Choi Jae-hoon showed dissatisfaction for a while. Kim Dong-ju took off his hat and bowed his head toward Choi Jae-hoon.
Choi Jae-hoon, who reached base with a hit ball in the 6th inning, has already become the victim of 8 dunes this season. 1st overall in the league. He said, “The sand dune is always right,” and “(I’m angry) it’s dangerous, but I tried to show it once for the team.” He was desperate for victory and wanted to have a positive impact on the team in some way.
Was this Choi Jae-hoon’s earnestness and fighting spirit conveyed? Hanwha, who was trailing 0-1, broke the scoreless silence of 16 innings at the beginning of the 7th inning and scored a whopping 8 points while batting around. In the end, I was able to break a six-game losing streak. From the moment the tie came out, Jamsil Stadium felt as if it had become the home stadium of Hanwha, not Doosan.
Choi Chae-hoon raised his batting average to 0.241 for the season. What is more surprising is the on-base percentage of 0.405 and the scoring position batting average pointed out by manager Carlos Subero. He is recording 0.313 by concentrating on the game. Choi Jae-hoon said, “I don’t know the feeling of hitting yet, but I think it’s helpful to try to catch the feeling while going on base every time.”
When I brought up the story of the fans, he shook his head. “To be honest, there were so many things I’m sorry for. You cheered me this far, but we were so poor, so after hearing this cheer, I thought a lot that we should work harder.”
That’s why he didn’t hold back his criticism against his colleagues. “There are things that are improving, but we talked a lot about the regrettable points. Fans came to us so many times, but we were in last place for three years,” he said. I said I was sorry to the players, but (Jeong) Woo-ram hyung gave me a lot of strength as a captain, saying, “It’s okay,” and saying, “We have to get through it, who will get through it.” It seems to be,” he said.
Lastly, Choi Jae-hoon said, “As much as I broke the losing streak, I think that if I reset with a new mind and work hard, there will be good results.” However, I will not give up until the end and I will work really hard with the support of the fans, so I hope you will see it favorably.”