casinositeguide's Blog
:
January 2024
"Hak-joo, let's quit baseball"
POSTED ON
01/17/24
"My grandmother said, 'Hak-joo, let's stop playing baseball,' and I couldn't help but cry."
This is Lee's sixth year in the KBO. Lee Hak-joo, the "genius shortstop," is now 34 years old.
The reality is not easy. The quartet of 90-year-old infielders (Kim Sang-soo, Ahn Chi-hong, Oh Ji-hwan, and Heo Kyung-min) who led Korea to the U-18 Baseball World Cup title in 2008 are still dominating the league in their respective positions. They are also the main characters of billion-dollar free agent contracts.
On the other hand, Lee Hak-joo, who was left out of the national team due to his move to the United States, has a narrow spot. With the arrival of new coach Kim Tae-hyung, the team will have to go all out in February's spring training, starting from zero.
Lee was born in Jeju, but attended Yangcheonjoong-Chungam High School. His grandparents also live in Seoul, so he is psychologically closer to Seoul than Busan.
But Lee has been in Busan this winter, sweating it out at Sajik Stadium every day. "I feel like Busan is my home now," he smiles.
This is his third year playing for Lotte. "Last year, I spent a lot of time in the dugout," Lee says. I observed the behavior of the players on both teams and their mental management. It was a year that I felt a lot," he said, looking back on the past year with confidence. As for himself, he says, "I was too strong. I was too individualistic," he reflected.
"The dugout is not your own space. There are seniors and juniors looking at you. I didn't realize that I needed to communicate with other players and work as a team. 온라인카지노 When things weren't going well, instead of getting angry, I should have looked at the bigger picture, calmed down and adjusted to the team, but I didn't."
He's now at an age where he doesn't have many older brothers in the squad. In the infield, it's just Jung-hoon, Noh Jin-hyuk, and Oh Sun-jin. Now Lee Hak-joo has to step up and take care of the younger players. "I think about how I can contribute more to Lotte," he said.
In 2019, Lee indirectly helped Doosan win the title with a game-winning home run against SK. He was also responsible for the creation of the first-place deciding game. There was also an unforgettable day last year. On June 2 against KIA, Lotte scored nine runs in the second inning against Yang Hyun-jong, including a grand slam by Lee Hak-joo, and cruised to a 14-2 victory. Although it has faded a bit, it was a stellar performance that showed the 'clutch' star power that he has been known for since his days at Samsung.
He also suffered an unexpected injury. On August 18 against Kiwoom, Lee Hak-joo, playing third base, collided with Lee Joo-hyung, a runner who was running back and forth to third base while dashing to handle a ground ball. Lee suffered a huge impact on his neck and collapsed.
It was expected that he would be removed from the first team, or at least rested for a few days. However, Lee was back in the lineup the next day. The seemingly foolish move had a story behind it.
"I was in the hospital in Guro, and my grandmother came to visit. She grabbed me and started sobbing. She said, 'You should stop playing baseball, why do you have to do this?' I couldn't help but cry. I got right back up and told her it's okay, don't cry."
This is a sweet grandson who talks to his grandmother at least once a week. Injury is the only thing that stops him. He must have felt the pain of his grandson, who had returned to Korea with great determination, but was unable to perform as well as he had hoped.
It was a big crash. It can't be painless. "My grandmother kept asking me, 'Is your head okay,'" Lee recalls.
"If I stayed down, I would definitely go to the second team, and I wouldn't be able to come back to the first team," Lee recalls, "but I kept my head up. The next day, they asked me, 'Can you play today?' So I went out and played," he recalled.
For the third year in a row, Lee's batting average was barely above 2. "When I played as a backup, my vision became narrower and my mind became more urgent," Lee said. "In the future, I want to show safe and comfortable defense without making mistakes rather than fancy defense. As a hitter, I want to hit double-digit home runs," he said.
