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| After self-isolation, SSG Landers Choo Shin-soo is entering for a press conference after a practice match between the Lotte Giants and SSG Landers held at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the afternoon of the 11th. 2021.3.11/News1 © News1 Reporter Kim Jin-hwan |
“I came to win.”
After joining SSG Landers, Choo Shin-soo, 39, repeatedly emphasized this word whenever he stood in front of the microphone.
This was the case when he stepped on the Korean ground as the 1st SSG player on February 25, and when he joined the squad two weeks later, he expressed his strong desire for the championship. He is determined to relieve the KBO league of the championship that was not achieved in the major leagues.
After the quarantine was lifted, Choo Shin-soo moved to the Busan Sajik Stadium on the 11th and had the first meeting with the SSG team. Wearing a uniform with his uniform number 17, he said, “After a lot of thought, I came to SSG, but I came to win.”
The victory that Shin-soo Choo said means winning. After graduating from Busan High School, Shin-soo Choo went to the United States in 2001 and became a major leaguer in 2005. Until 2020, he played for four teams: the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers, but never won the cup.
Although they participated in the 2013 National League Wildcard Game and the 2015 and 2016 American League Division Series, their team did not even pass the first gate. During that period, the only time he reached the top was the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, which he participated in as the’national team’.
Winning as a professional player was the last task for Choo Shin-soo. The reason why I wasn’t able to easily decide even after receiving an offer from eight major league teams last winter is because I wanted to play for a team with the power to win.
Choo Shin-soo returned to Korea on February 25, saying, “I wanted something to be helpful for the people and professional baseball who are struggling with the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19).”
While living in quarantine for two weeks in Changwon, I exercised personally and watched the KBO League video, increasing my desire to win.
Shin-soo Choo explained, “Any athlete wants the best position. Winning is my last homework. I decided to come to Korea because I saw the possibility of SSG winning.”
“Some acquaintances said,’Isn’t it better to win the major leagues’, but I thought it could be better to do things in Korea that I couldn’t do in the United States,” he said, and that he would achieve his dream of winning as an SSG player.
Choo Shin-soo’s first championship, which will burn the last spark, could soon become SSG’s first championship. Although it has just taken its first step in the baseball world, SSG is also a club with a lot of greedy to win. Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Jeong Yong-jin of’Novice Professional Baseball Owner’ said, “I took over the baseball team because I wanted to wear a championship ring.”
SK, which was acquired by SSG, remained in the 9th place last year, but was the’strong team’ that won the Korean Series in 2018. Even though’Ace’ Kim Gwang-hyun (St. Louis) left, the winning members such as Choi Jeong, Jamie Romac, Park Jong-hoon, and Hanyu Island remain. With the addition of Shin-soo Cho, Joo-hwan Choi, and Sang-soo Kim, the power has grown even stronger.
In the previous KBO league, LG in 1990 was the only team that reached the top in the first season of acquiring the baseball team. In 1996, the first season of Hyundai, Hanwha and both sides were defeated and advanced to the Korean series, but it was pushed back to the Korean series with a 2-4 loss in Haitai, finishing runner-up.
KIA, which acquired the baseball team before SSG, finished the first season in fifth place. It was half a game against Hanwha, who placed fourth in the semi-playoffs.
You have to open the lid, but all baseball players are saying that SSG’s attack power is at the top level due to the’Choo Shin-soo effect’. Furthermore, it was expected that the possibility of advancing into the postseason was sufficient.
Choo Shin-soo said, “Baseball is not a sport that wins just because one or two players are good. You have to play the game with good teamwork. I will lead and push my juniors well, so I will create a good atmosphere.”