카지노SSG Landers’ Choi Jeong-jeong hit a grand slam to set the stage for the team’s victory and set a new career-high.
SSG won its seventh game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Samsung Lions 6-0 at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Wednesday, extending its winning streak to four games and improving its record to 42-1, 24 (.636) on the season.
Choi, who started at third base and batted third, went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs, his 17th and 18th of the season, to maintain his lead in the home run category. He extended his lead over second-place Park Dong-won (LG Twins) to four.
After the game, Choi said, “I didn’t perform well on the day Baek Jung-hyun pitched, and my fastball timing has been a little late since the Jamsil Doosan Bears game,” adding, “Today, I came to the plate determined not to be late with Baek Jung-hyun’s changeup, and it worked out well.”
“In my first at-bat, I honestly thought the ball wasn’t going to go over, but the fact that it turned into a home run made me feel like my timing was better and gave me more confidence,” he added.
There was also the added focus of having Kim Kwang-hyun on the mound after failing to secure a win in his first two outings since returning to the first team.
“I’m sure (Kim) wasn’t happy with his pitches, and we weren’t hitting well either, so something wasn’t quite right,” Choi said. “I think if the team’s ace goes down, the team is going to be shaky, so I try to focus a little more on his days, and there are a lot of things I pay attention to.”
However, Choi doesn’t think much of the 3800-run milestone. “I always say that whenever I get a record like this, I’m grateful to the coaches who gave me a lot of opportunities from a young age, and I think I got the record because I played without any major injuries even though there were a lot of balls that hit me in the body,” Choi said.
“It’s a really honorable record, and when I go home and see articles and things like that, I’m really happy and proud, but that’s it,” he said. “I’m not the type of person to play baseball thinking about that, and I’m not going to do that. I think it’s just a matter of not getting hurt and working hard.”
Even Choi has his problems. When she practices, her thoughts become complicated. “I’m rarely satisfied when I’m practicing. Even now, I can’t believe I keep hitting home runs, and my timing isn’t right and it’s weird, but since I keep getting good grades, I feel like it’s become a routine, and if I don’t hit it on purpose, I have the illusion that I’ll hit it well in the game. The weather is hot, and I feel a lot of stress when I practice,” she lamented.
Choi, who was born in 1987, is getting closer and closer to the age of immortality, but he’s not letting it get to him. “In the past, when I did something, my tension would go up immediately, but now I have to work on it,” he said, “I deliberately move my legs quickly when I’m defending and run fast in short distances so that I don’t lose my quickness.”
Her body has also gotten lighter. “I started losing weight last year, and if I think I’m going to lose more, I’m going to keep it off,” Choi said. When I was younger, I weighed nearly 100 kilograms, and now I weigh about 92 to 93 kilograms. Even if I lose that much, I feel very light. My stolen bases have increased,” he smiled.