The batting champion has resolved the issue of “no championship complex” after six years, causing fall baseball to grit its teeth.
You’ve finally won the batting title, the one thing left in your career. But now he’s going for one last thing, maybe even more than the batting title: the postseason, and a championship. NC Dinos captain Son Ah-seop, 35, is even more eager to return to the postseason after a six-year absence.
Son won the batting title for the first time in his career this season. He had already won the title of Most Valuable Player three times, but the title of batting champion was a far cry from being labeled a “hitting machine. He came close twice before, in 2013 and 2020, but missed out on the title due to a late-season slump.
This year was different. He won his first batting title and his fourth career batting title with a .836 OPS in 140 games (551-for-187) with five home runs, 65 RBIs and 14 doubles.
He signed a four-year, 6.4 billion won contract with the NC last year, moving away from his hometown team Lotte, but was faced with the worst slump of his career, batting just 2-for-7 with 152 hits. But he worked harder than anyone else in the offseason to turn things around and made a complete comeback. He led the team back to fall baseball for the first time in three years.
For Son, it was his first fall baseball in six years since 2017, when he played for Lotte. When he decided to move to NC, he expressed his desire and will to win by saying, “I have a complex about not winning.” For him, fall baseball and winning are two different things. That’s why he’s even more determined to win this year. Last year, he led his team’s fall baseball campaign until the last minute, but failed.
But this year was different. This year, as captain, he was able to guide the team through fall baseball while managing a squad that was still inexperienced and riddled with injuries. It was a win-win situation for the team and his personal performance. He was one of the key players who led the last-place team to the postseason.
“I love fall,” he said, and he’s eager for fall baseball, the postseason, and winning. Indeed, Son has a history of success in fall baseball. He played a role in Lotte’s rise to prominence in the late 2000s and early 2010s, and in his last fall ball game in 2017, he hit a whopping three home runs.
He batted .842 with three home runs, 11 RBIs, and an OPS of .842 in 19 games in the semifinals and .907 with three home runs, 15 RBIs, and an OPS of .907 in 10 games in the playoffs. For Son, the fall was a pretty good one. The 2011 playoffs are still fresh in everyone’s minds, but aside from that, the fall season has been a good one for Son.
However, his recent form hasn’t been great. Despite defending his batting title, he went just 2-for-49 (12 RBI) with a .604 OPS in October. However, fall baseball can be a great way to get back into the swing of things. It’s a time when everyone plays above their abilities. Most notably, he’s been strong against Kwak-Bin this year, 먹튀검증토토사이트 going 3-for-6 with a home run and 5 RBIs. It’s not just a small sample this year. Last year, Son was also strong against Kwak Bin, going 4-for-10 with a 4-for-4 slugging percentage. In the last two years, he’s gone 7-for-16 with a 4.3 WAR. With their nemesis relationship, it’s up to Son to provide the offense from the top of the order.
Now, he has a chance to do just that. It’s a shame that he’ll have to start in the wild card round. However, he has pushed himself to the limit and is ready to bite back.