KIA 41-year-old batting manager and SSG 37-year-old big gun third baseman
Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop’s cumulative hitting record has almost been broken. Choi Hyung-woo (41, Kia Tigers) hit 468 home runs this year, following last year’s RBI (1,577), a double (502), and Choi Jeong (37, SSG Landers) scored 1,393 last year.
Surprisingly, however, even after seven years of retirement and eight years of absence from the Japanese pro baseball, Lee still tops the list in only one category. He is still No. 1 with 4077 hits. Choi and Choi came in second. 4041 hits and 4,000 hits, respectively.
Choi Jeong-ui’s 4,000-base hit was made with a solo shot that was superior to the final against KIA in Gwangju on Wednesday. It is true that the batting average has not been good lately. He had a batting average of 0.229 in the recent 10 games. Nevertheless, he became the first right-handed batter to hit 4,000 hits, and became the youngest player to hit 4,000 hits in the history of the game.
In the case of manager Lee Seung-yeop, he surpassed 4,000 hits in the match against the Gocheok Nexen Heroes on April 29, 2017. It was 40 years, 11 months, and 11 days at the time. Choi Hyung-woo achieved 4,000 hits in 40 years, 4 months, and 1 day against the Incheon SSG Landers on April 17.
Immediately after Choi achieved 4,000 hits, he said through his club, “As I did not have a good sense of hitting, I had a habit of checking the ball before hitting the batter’s box. At the batter’s box where the batter hit a home run, I swung without hesitation thinking that I should swing boldly even if the batter swung and missed. I gave up the first game, and I felt sorry for the team because my hitting sense was not good. I wanted to contribute to it somehow, but the final home run helped me a lot. Since I have been on the field steadily, I was able to play in 2,200 games and record 4,000 hits.”
Chances are high that Choi Hyung-woo will become the first player in Ruta’s career beyond manager Lee Seung-yeop. Choi had seen his batting performance drop a lot since mid-April, but has increased his batting performance again in May. It is the opposite cycle to Choi. He has a batting average of 0.438 with three homers and 10 RBIs in the recent 10 games. He added eight more Ruta to his five hits, including three doubles, in the three consecutive weekend games against the SSG.
Choi will tie with Lee if he adds just 36 rutas. He will likely surpass Lee by June at the latest. Of course, in the long run, Choi is highly likely to surpass both Lee and Choi. Choi is four years younger than Choi.
For reference, Choi Jeong-eun’s six-year 10.6 billion won FA contract with SSG will be completed this season. It is expected that he will win a two- to three-year contract this winter. Choi Hyung-woo’s one-plus-one-year non-FA contract of 2.2 billion won is due next year. Choi Jung is expected to have time to confirm that he is a legend by surpassing Lee Seung-yeop and Choi Hyung-woo in various batting records.
BY: 사설토토