Son Ah-seop (36, NC Dinos) has received many honors in the 17 years since becoming a professional player, but has not yet resolved his lifelong dream. Will Son Ah-seop, who blamed heaven, succeed in his ‘presidential challenge’ this year?
Son Ah-seop met with reporters at Changwon NC Park on the 8th and confessed, "As a baseball player, my only complex is not having a (championship) ring," and "I feel very complex about myself."
At NC's New Year's party held on this day, Son Ah-seop was appointed captain for the 2024 season. A team official said, "Because A-seop Son had a positive influence on the team as captain in the 2023 season, the team recommended A-seop Son as captain for the 2024 season. The coaching staff and A-seop Son accepted this and he will serve as captain again this season. “He said.
NC coach Kang In-kwon (52) said, "When I became a coach, I selected the captain through voting to give the players rights, but I thought the one-year captain would have little influence on the players, so I set the term at two years. This year, the role will also be held. “I think there will be,” he said. Next, referring to Son Ah-seop's leadership, he said, "There are many young players on the team, and he took the initiative to help them have more goals. He seemed to be leading the juniors while playing the role of a senior. It appears that Son Ah-seop has a role to play in becoming more solid in the future." He expressed his expectations.
Son Ah-seop said, "I think it means that the players and the coach believed in me. I will take more responsibility and create an environment in which NC can go to a higher place this season as well."
Last year, Son Ah-seop succeeded in rebounding in his second season at NC. He signed a four-year, 6.4 billion won free agent contract at the end of 2021 and moved to NC, and had a somewhat sluggish season in the 2022 season with a batting average of 0.277, 4 home runs, and 48 RBIs. He was so desperate about this that he went to the United States and started to improve his batting with former major leaguer Kang Jeong-ho (37). And it worked. He appeared in 140 regular season games, recording 187 hits in 551 at-bats, posting a batting average of 0.339, 5 home runs, 65 RBIs, 97 runs, 14 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.836. He ranked first in batting average and most hits, and third in runs scored. He faltered until mid-April, with a batting average in the .230s, but has since gotten back on track. In particular, he contributed to a team struggling for rankings by recording a high batting average of 0.373 in August and 0.407 in September. Accordingly, Son Ah-seop became the Golden Glove winner in the designated hitter category after the season.
This is the fourth time in his career that Son Ah-seop has ranked first with the most hits. He won his first individual title in 2012 with 158 hits, followed by 172 hits in 2013 and 193 hits in 2017 to claim the trophy. However, the batting champion is a different story. Until last year, he had suffered bad luck, only rising to second place in batting twice. In 2013, he failed to win the award despite recording a high batting average of 0.345, behind LG Lee Byung-gyu (0.348). Then, in 2020 (0.352), he finished the season in second place, following KIA Choi Hyeong-woo (0.354), with a two-lead difference. However, it was his first batting title in 17 years as a professional.
Son Ah-seop had such a great season, but he was unable to wear the championship ring this time. NC, which was considered the lowest candidate before the season, continued to perform well and ranked 4th overall in the season with 75 wins, 67 losses, and 2 draws (0.528 winning percentage). They then created a sensation by winning the wild card match against the Doosan Bears and the semi-playoff match against the SSG Landers with sweep wins. However, even though they won both the first and second games in the playoffs against KT Wiz, they suffered three consecutive losses and were ultimately unable to advance to the Korean Series. Son Ah-seop, who had no experience in the Korean Series, once again lost his bid to win the championship. Immediately after being eliminated, he said, "Because the final goal (Korean Series) still remains, I think it will be motivation to work hard and not become lazy or left behind. I blame heaven, but I am motivated because that goal remains."
Son Ah-seop confessed, "I was treated well as a FA, and I think I have achieved personal honors such as Golden Gloves, titles, and national teams," but added, "The most important thing is that I do not have a championship ring. I feel very complex about myself." I put it. At the same time, he said, "If that happens, I think he will be able to say that he was perfect when he looks back on his baseball life."
Son Ah-seop, born in 1988, the Year of the Dragon, has had a good start to this year's Year of the Dragon. He said, “After finding out that it is the Year of the Dragon, I somehow feel like things will go well.” He went on to express his earnest wish, saying, "Unfortunately, I couldn't go to the Korean Series last year, but I want to finish it last."
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