SSG Landers veteran infielder Choi Jeong (36), who led his team to victory with a multi-homer game against the Samsung Lions, revealed his affection for his teammates.
Choi started at third base for the Samsung Lions in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on March 23.
Choi had the best performance of the day, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored, and one walk.
In particular, he hit back-to-back home runs in the first and second innings to move past Park Byung-ho (24) and into second place (25) in the category. The leader is Lee Seung-yeop (28).
He also became the fourth and youngest player in KBO history (36 years, 4 months, 4 days) to reach 3,800 career hits. Only Yang Jun-hyuk, Lee Seung-yeop, and Choi Hyung-woo hold this record, and Choi is the first right-handed hitter to achieve it.
Choi’s joy was doubled when the team won with a final score of 6-0.
“I had bad memories of the opposing starter Baek Jung-hyun, so I focused more on him. I felt like I was late with my fastball, so I hit it with the mindset of not being late with my changeup, and I’m glad the result was good,” Choi laughed.
“My first home run in the first inning was a little bit lucky, and I think the momentum from that time carried over to the second inning,” he said.토토사이트 “I heard that I set a new career record, and I’m really honored. But I don’t play baseball for records. I’m proud of myself today, but I have to prepare as usual from tomorrow.”
Kim Kwang-hyun, who started the game, pitched seven shutout innings to earn the win.
Kwang-hyun, who was suspended from the first-team roster on March 1 after he was caught drinking off the field during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), hadn’t won a game since returning to the team on March 11, but he added a win to his resume more than a month ago against the Lotte Giants on March 20.
Choi said he was eager to give the team’s ace a win. “In every game, I’m naturally focused, but when the ace is on the mound, I try to stay more focused in both offense and defense,” he said.
“We haven’t had a win since (Kim) Kwang-hyun came back, so we wanted to help him today. I think it was a good result that I was more focused than usual.”
With the win, Kwang-hyun earned his 153rd career victory and moved into fourth place (153) on the all-time wins list, surpassing KT Wiz manager Lee Kang-chul (152).
“From the first inning, the batters scored a lot of runs on offense, so I was able to throw the ball in a good mood,” Kim said through the club. “I think trusting the lead of catcher (Lee) Jae-won-hyung and focusing on battling with each batter led to good results until the seventh inning.”
“We’ve had some good catchers on the team, and the bullpen and fielders have helped us get to this point. I’m thankful for my teammates.”
