‘First hit’ Shin-soo Choo “Pace seems to be fast… It’s hard to say’good’ or’bad’” [현장인터뷰]

Maekyung.com MK Sports (Busan) Reporter Ahn Joon-cheol
“There was something strange about hitting and receiving cheers, but I felt good.”
Choo Shin-soo (39, SSG Landers) smiled wide.
Choo Shin-soo started as the second nominated batter in a demonstration game against Lotte Giants in the 2021 KBO League held at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 22nd and scored two at-bats, one hit, one walk, and one goal. However, in this match, SSG lost 3-10 to Lotte.

↑ Choo Shin-soo wears SSG uniform and enters the plate. Photo = courtesy of SSG Landers

Choo Shin-soo, who started playing the game the day before (21st), hit his first hit after six at-bats. In the first at-bat in the first inning, he picked a walk and stepped on to the groove. Compared to the fact that the previous day, he struck out only 2 and 1 floating ball, he is gaining a sense of speed.
Of course, there was a scene that seemed to be having a hard time figuring out the strike zone. When choosing the first at-bat walk, the fifth ball from the ball count 2-2 went into the strike zone, and Choo Shin-soo thought it was a strike and stepped out to the SSG Dougout on the third base side. However, there was no strike call, and in the end, he picked the ball for the 6th pitch and walked to first base.
After the game, Shin-soo Choo, who met with the reporters, laughed brilliantly, saying, “It was a suspicious walk.” Then he blamed himself. Shin-soo Choo said, “I thought it was a strike, but after looking at the chart, it was a ball that I could call a strike or judge with a ball.” “(Trying to walk into Dougout) is something I did wrong. There is also a referee, and before the decision was made, it was unintentionally. You shouldn’t do that in the first place.”

↑ SSG Choo Shin-soo is conducting an interview with the Lotte Giants at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 22nd. Photo (Busan) = Reporter Ahn Joon-cheol

Although he hit a hit, Shin-soo Choo wasn’t satisfied. To be precise, he doesn’t know his situation well yet. Choo Shin-soo is a player who has been in the major league routine for about 20 years. The Major League Spring Camp starts around the second week of February, and will have more than 20 demonstration games until the end of March. Shin-soo Choo said, “If you follow the routine, you are at the stage of live betting. In live betting, I just watch the ball, and even in the demonstration game, I watch a lot of balls without swinging at the beginning, but now I am compressing various processes. I think I can see it. The pace is faster than I thought.”
Still, the cheers of my colleagues were pleasant. The SSG team clapped and encouraged Shin-soo Choo when he hit the 5th inning and went out to doug-out. Shinsoo Choo responded with a bright smile. Shin-soo Choo said, “In fact, in my career, I walked a lot and hit a lot, but it was strange to get hits and cheers in the demonstration game. Of course I was in a good mood.”
He also shared his thoughts on playing baseball at the Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, his hometown after a long time. Shin-soo Choo said, “I played games when I was young and came to see a lot of baseball.” Still, Choo Shin-soo, who remembered the Sajik Baseball Stadium, which was filled with many spectators, said, “When I was a child, I experienced the support of Lotte fans myself, so I knew the passion well, and I grew up watching it. It is difficult to enter 100% due to Corona 19, but I want to see the Sajik Stadium where the crowd came in.” [email protected][ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]