Seo Geon-chang's sudden comeback → Fans give enthusiastic applause to the Kiwoom team

*This content was translated by AI.

Seo Geon-chang (37), one of the living legends of Korean baseball, has finally returned to his former team Kiwoom Heroes. Heroes fans are applauding the club, saying they felt a beautiful romance. Seo Geon-chang strengthened his determination through an interview.

Kiwoom officially announced on the 16th that it signed a player contract with infielder Seo Geon-chang for an annual salary of 120 million won. Due to this contract, Seo Geon-chang will wear the Heroes' uniform again five years after the 2020 season. Seo Geon-chang will join Goyang National Baseball Training Center from the 25th and begin training.

Kiwoom club said, "We welcome Seo Geon-chang's return to his home team. He is a player who understands the culture and system of the Heroes as well as rich experience, he said. "As he is a player with thorough self-management, I expect he will be able to show enough competitiveness if he prepares well for this winter." Kiwoom fans are giving a generous round of applause to the club that provided such romance as Park Byung-ho's recent return to the coach and Seo Geon-chang's return to the player.

Seo Geon-chang said in an interview with Kiwoom's official social networking service (SNS) channel, "I think I cried a lot when I left (Kium) at the end. I feel like it was only yesterday when I was interviewed, but I'm really happy to be able to call you back and be with you. I feel like something is boiling in my heart. I'm very excited to meet the fans," he said.

Seo Geon-chang then said, "I was constantly working out and preparing. I worked out only looking at Kiwoom (Heroes), and I came at a good time this time," he said.

Kiwoom is definitely a unique team for Seo Geon-chang. He said, "It was a precious team that was with me in my 20s and always had a place in my heart. When I met coach Park Byung-ho, I often talked about old memories. I thought our hearts were all similar," he recalled.

Seo Geon-chang said, "I was young (in Kiwoom in the past), but I had an image of a scary senior. Even now, when juniors meet, they talk about that. "There was a lot of rumors among my juniors, really," he said, laughing and adding, "I won't say much." I hope you don't have a hard time and come up to me. I will also try to be friendly. I'll lead by example. I think it was because I was a little quiet and less playful, but now I have to change with the times," he said with emphasis.

Finally, he said, "I say hello to the Heroes fans after a long time. The love I received before is still in my heart. I don't think I've been able to express it well since I've only been receiving it, but I'll think about what I can do for the team at the ballpark with all my heart and entertain the fans. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the ballpark, he said. "As a player, I won't forget my duty and do my best. I think the body remembers the atmosphere and system when it was good. I'll show you with actions rather than words. The juniors will find it difficult for me, but I want to approach first and lead well," he said again.

Meanwhile, Seo Geon-chang dominated the era as a second baseman representing the KBO league. He won the second baseman's Golden Glove three times (2012, 2014 and 2016). After joining the LG Twins as a nurturing player in 2008 and being released, he showed his full-fledged skills with the Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom). He received the Rookie of the Year award in 2012 and was named MVP of the season in 2014.

In particular, in 2014, he wrote a new history of 200 hits (201) for the first time in the KBO league. He had a batting average of 0.370. In the 2016 season, he had a batting average of 0.325, 182 hits, seven homers, 63 RBIs, and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of 0.847.

It was in July 2021 that the change came to Seo Geon-chang. At that time, he left the Kiwoom Heroes and wore the LG Twins uniform through a 1:1 trade with pitcher Jung Chan-heon. However, the number of business trips began to decrease. In the 2022 season, he marked a batting average of 0.224 with two home runs, 18 RBIs, and 39 points with an OPS of 0.605 in 77 games. Seo Geon-chang, who also received an A grade in the free agent (FA) in the 2022 season, gave up his right to apply for the FA again.

Seo Geon-chang faced the 2023 season with the determination of being the third FA player. He got off to a good start, ranking first in batting average (0.362) in exhibition games. He was in charge of the starting second baseman from the opening game, but left the team after requesting release after the end of the season as he played only 44 games. Ahead of the 2024 season, Seo Geon-chang continued to train and build his body in his hometown of Gwangju. The team that reached out to him was the 'hometown team' KIA Tigers. He was a four-time FA.

In the 2024 season, Seo Geon-chang played in 94 games and succeeded in a perfect rebound with a batting average of 0.310 (63 hits in 203 at-bats), one homer, two doubles, one triple, 26 RBIs, 40 runs and three steals (1 failure) with a ball of 31 strikeouts and a slugging percentage of 0.416 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.820, a scoring batting average of 0.344, and a pinch-hit batting average of 0.346. However, he left the team after only 10 games last season, and returned to Kiwoom this time. Seo Geon-chang has played in 1,360 games in 15 seasons in the KBO League and has a batting average of 0.297 with 1,431 hits, 41 homers, 854 runs, 519 RBIs, and 233 steals.

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*This content was translated by AI.