Son Ah-seop's first home run was touching. "I really wanted to play baseball" [the scene of Incheon]

*This content was translated by AI.

"I really wanted to play baseball."

This is how Son Ah-seop (38) of the Doosan Bears feels after the first game of his transfer.

After the trade from Hanwha Eagles to Doosan was announced on the morning of the 14th, Son Ah-seop moved directly from Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, where the Hanwha Futures team is located, to SSG Landers in Incheon to start the away game. As the second designated hitter, he made his perfect debut by walking in the first and third innings and hitting a two-run home run over right-center in the fourth inning.

After the game, Son Ah-seop received a touching answer, saying, "What did you think as soon as the ball crossed the fence?"

"I felt relieved. I really wanted to play baseball, and I really wanted to play on the stage of the first team, but I think those emotions came up in a short time. So I felt really good."

He holds the record for the most hits (2,619) in the KBO League history. His overall batting average is 0.319, ranking sixth all-time.

Nevertheless, the last few months have had to be spent "really so desperate to play baseball." After passing through the Lotte Giants and the NC Dinos, he moved to Hanwha through a trade in July last year. After the end of last year's season, he exercised his free agent (FA) rights again, but he stayed at Hanwha for 100 million won a year only in February this year after spending the winter in the "Mia." And after 9 months, I had to pack again and put on my new uniform.

But he had no time to be soaked in appreciation.

"It's already my fourth team, and I'm a little excited every time I get a call (to move the team). The thought I kept thinking was how to show that Doosan's choice was not wrong. In fact, I admit that I'm old and it's hard to produce performances like when I was young, but I really want to do well in my greed."

Doosan's recruitment of Son Ah-seop is not just because of his experience and skills. An official from Doosan said, "We needed a change in the team's atmosphere." Doosan manager Kim Won-hyung also expected, "I'm not a little old, but I hope I can be a vitality to the team and lead the atmosphere well."

Son Ah-seop is also well aware of this.

"Because Doosan has a lot of young friends, I think he definitely wants to play a role as a good senior and dugout leader. I want to put a lot of weight on that part as well. Even on the first day of the game, juniors such as Kim Min-seok and Ahn Jae-seok asked a lot of questions during the game, and they also talked about hitting with Yang Seok-hwan. If even 1% can really help my juniors, I would like to have a lot of conversations."

Now they have played just one game, but there are signs of a change in the atmosphere. Doosan, which suffered from a severe batting slump at the beginning of the season, won 11-3 against SSG on the same day as Yang Eui-ji and Park Chan-ho hit their first home runs of the season.

When asked to score the first game, Son Ah-seop replied, "99 points." In the fourth and fifth at-bat, he struck out and grounded out to second base, and said he was sorry. However, players, clubs, and fans hope that Son's score will exceed the "100 points perfect" in the future, adding to the impact on not only his individual performance but also the team's atmosphere.

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*This content was translated by AI.