‘Sambong Lee’ ahead of retirement, Seung-Jun Song “I will cheer for the Lotte championship in the audience”
Reporter Park Ji-hoon [email protected]
Input: 2021-02-04 11:13:09Revision: 2021-02-04 11:36:04Published: 2021-02-04 11:31:25 (p. 19)
Lotte Song Seung-joon is training while the spring camp was held at Sajik Baseball Stadium on the 3rd. Yoon Min-ho freelancer yunmino@
To Song Seung-jun, the best pitcher of the Lotte Giants in professional baseball, each day of the 2021 season’s spring camp is exceptionally valuable. When playing Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium, 22 years of professional players come to mind like a panorama. He is also the oldest member of the KBO League, and is expected to retire at an appropriate time after playing as a playing coach this year.
Song Seung-jun, who met at the Lotte Giants’ spring camp on the 4th, said, “I feel different every day because I think it’s the last time. It’s like a countdown.”
After graduating from Gyeongnam High School in Busan, Song Seung-jun signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1999 and moved to the United States. I was hoping to be promoted to the big leagues by becoming an MVP in the minor leagues and winning 56 wins over 8 years, but unfortunately it couldn’t come true.
Song Seung-joon, who made a U-turn to the KBO League in 2007 with a special nomination for an overseas player, continued his career only at the Lotte Giants for 14 seasons. Since 2008, it has enjoyed its heyday with a double-digit multiplier for four consecutive years. As a member of the national team, he also contributed to winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In particular, in 2009, he gained the nickname’Song Sam-bong’ with a great record of winning three consecutive games. After that, in 2017, it again led Lotte’s last fall baseball with 11 wins.
Lotte Song Seung-joon is training while the spring camp was held at Sajik Baseball Stadium on the 3rd. Yoon Min-ho freelancer yunmino@
Song Seung-joon is focusing on body building as in any other year, but this year, he works as a leader at the Sajik Baseball Stadium and the Sangdong 2nd Army Training Ground in Gimhae. He laughed, “I have to teach my juniors while playing a player, so I feel a burden on the mound. If I can’t throw the ball, I worry about how to teach in front of the players.”
Song Seung-joon expressed his determination to do his best at a given position with’intetency’, although his skills were lower than in his heyday. He said, “If you compare my body age with a car, I’m running 150,000 km,” he said. “Even though it’s difficult to keep throwing fast balls like in my prime, I’ll compete with a count fight.”
There is no flashy spotlight as in the past, but he is happy to stand on the mound as the best. Song Seung-joon said, “A while ago, Park Chan-ho encouraged him to throw a ball that was much more valuable than 50 million won per year,” he said. “The time when the salary is pride has passed. It’s the last pitching in my life,” he said.
He emphasized, “When I debuted, I thought that I would like to retire as KBO’s best talent in the future like Song Jin-woo and Lee Jong-beom, but I have achieved that dream. It is like a medal for me.”
It is an honor to prepare for the end of his professional life, but it is the biggest regret that Lotte has not been able to win. He said, “I became a liar for 15 years. Above all, I am most sorry to the fans,” he said. “I always imagined the team’s 7th round of the Korean series, but it was not a reality.”
“Even if Lotte wins this year, I won’t be able to stand there if I retire in the middle of the season,” he said. “I will definitely be in the audience at the moment of winning. I may jump over the net and jump to the ground,” he laughed loudly.
On the other hand, Song Seung-jun, who flew in the regular league but became smaller on the baseball stage in the fall, also asked juniors ahead of the season to’mental management’. He said, “There is nothing I can pass on with my skills. I hope that I always have positive thoughts,” he said.
Song Seung-jun said, “I couldn’t throw it, so it was so hard that I wanted to go down to the ground when the team failed in the fall baseball”. He recalled.
Reporter Park Ji-hoon [email protected]