Hanwha asks, Chae Eun-seong answers… “The Eagles seen from the outside? It was an effortless team, and we must do better than last year.”
“Thank you for choosing me.”
On November 22 last year, Park Chan-hyeok (51), CEO of the Hanwha Eagles, shook hands with Chae Eun-seong (33), who visited the Daejeon Baseball Stadium to sign a contract. Really, thank you for choosing me. It was a scene that showed how much Hanwha wanted to recruit a central hitter and how precious Chae Eun-seong was to Hanwha.
He became a player on a team that finished last three years in a row. It hit the jackpot with a total of 9 billion won in 6 years. It is difficult for him to change his team power alone, but Chae Eun-seong’s clutch ability seems to make a big difference.
“In terms of scoring opportunities, the hitter is burdened, but the pitcher is even more burdened. It is not possible to score only with hits. I am confident in hitting (the ball) to some extent. It’s fun to be in that situation. RBI is fun.”
Chae Eun-seong, whom we met on the 13th at a baseball practice near Seokchon Lake in Jamsil, Seoul, said something the people of Hanwha really wanted to hear.
We gathered the questions from the people of Hanwha, who have now become members of the Korean family, and went to visit them. Chae Eun-seong has been sweating since the morning at this training ground run by Seong-min Choi, a classmate of LG.
-What kind of image was Hanwha from LG? (Pitcher Nam Ji-min, 22)
▶ Looking at it calmly, there was no burden. If you go into 3 games in a row, I thought you were doing a winning series. However, there are many good young players including you, so I thought there was a lot of potential. It looked unstable and messy because it was a process for young players to settle down, but I thought it would be a good team as they gained experience. This year is going to be really fun. There are many good pitchers like you and they are full of young energy. Not just anyone throws a 150km/h fastball. Your pitch last year was really good. -If you become the captain, how
would you like to lead the team? (Catcher Choi Jae-hoon, 34)
. (The coaching staff) will do it if you decide, but it’s true that it’s a bit difficult to take on the role right away. You don’t know the team’s atmosphere and the player’s tendencies. Even if I make a claim, I think it would be good for the team to face each other for about a year.
-You know the owner of uniform number 22 was originally me, right? It’s like I gave in, but I have no intention of buying an Apple Watch in return
. When you signed the contract and chose your uniform number, it wasn’t even decided that you would come to Hanwha. In Hanwha, (Kang) Jaemin was wearing number 55. It’s a meaningful number that Jaemin has been using ever since he joined. I liked the overlapping number, so I looked for it, but the number 22 was empty. Actually, I didn’t even write number 55 from scratch. I put on a three-digit number and changed it, but it didn’t work out. At the time, the front desk said he had good energy, so he picked number 55 and got it.
I was wearing a nice watch, but if you really want it, I’ll buy it for you. (Laughs) (Last year, number 22 was worn by foreign pitcher Jefri Ramirez.) (Pitcher Jang Min-jae, 33)
▶You’ve been watching closely. I just think it would be better to be neat when interviewing, so I got used to it. I tried to avoid using it as much as possible. Of course, when I meet friends, I use a lot of dialect. (Chae Eun-seong, who attended Suncheon High School, is 1 year senior to Jang Min-jae, who graduated from Gwangju First High School. Chae Eun-seong said that Jang Min-jae was very good at baseball from a young age and was a famous player.
) We have something in common in being from birth, but I wonder how you spent that time and how you overcame it. (Infielder Kim In-hwan, 29)메이저사이트
▶When we met at first base, we used to talk. It was good to see you doing well. After a long period of obscurity, we showed last year, and we must continue to show an improved and improved image in the future. You know that pro players don’t have their own place, right? If you do well, you can secure a stable position. This is the real start. I believe that if I work hard with the mindset I have so far, I will continue to have good results.
– I heard that you are moving to the apartment where I live.
Do you have any thoughts about talking about baseball while commuting together? (Laughs) (Lee) Taeyang recommended that apartment. Neither I nor my wife had connections in Daejeon, so I asked them to find an apartment with good amenities nearby. It’s nice to talk about baseball while commuting, but the general manager won’t be uncomfortable. He has moved teams several times, but this is his first time with his wife. I want to ask you what to do in this situation, and since you are a former pitcher, what pitchers think depending on the situation.
-Last year, he had a batting average of over 50% against me. I remember struggling every time. How was my ball at bat? (Pitcher Kim Min-woo, 28)
▶I don’t remember hitting well… . I’ve never been able to look at it lightly and go to bat. It’s Hanwha Ace. It was embarrassing every time we faced each other. He wasn’t an easy pitcher. However, due to luck, I got a hit thanks to the defensive shift. Your ball is difficult because the angle of the arm and the pitching line are good. It is difficult because the trajectories of the fastball and forkball falling from top to bottom are the same. In fact, I don’t think the relative record has much meaning. Starting pitcher and hitter meet several times a year. (Last year, Chae Eun-seong went 8 at-bats, 7 at-bats, 4 hits, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs against Min-woo Kim. All 4 hits were singles.
) . What is the goal for this season? (Head coach Lee Dae-jin, 49)
▶Everyone thinks I will transfer and start with a lot of pressure in my new team. That’s normal. However, I always started with a burden even in my original team. Let’s put down the burden, let’s do this order alone. Just playing baseball is the same, just like we prepared every year, let’s keep doing what we’ve been preparing for years, like this. It’s not like you can hit 30% or 40 home runs, which you couldn’t do suddenly. However, as the season begins, I promise to do better than last year. I have to do better than last season at LG. (Chae Eun-seong played 126 games last year and recorded a batting average of .296, 138 hits, 12 homers, 83 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.791)
-You will be doing many interviews in the future. Have you ever thought, ‘I definitely want to do an interview like this’? (Kim Yong-dong, PR Team Leader, 46)
▶I wanted to do an interview like today. Interviews are inherently a bit hard. I wanted to do an interview like this where the Hanwha people and third parties who will be with me ask me questions. It’s a process of getting to know each other. I have to interview even when my grades are bad (during the season), but I haven’t always done well, so I’m used to it. Of course, when you’re not doing well, you’ll be under pressure to do better.
-When you meet at the baseball field, you said not to wear jar pants with rubber bands. Do you have any plans to wear them with me this year? (Noh Si-hwan, 23)
▶No, I have no intention of doing that at all. It’s not my style to stand out, and I have to wear clothes that suit me. I was wearing a bottom with a barrel, but one day I saw it and came out wearing pants like that. So when I met him at first base, I advised him that he looked like a player who couldn’t play baseball, and that those pants should only be worn by someone who suits him. (Laughs) You are a player with great potential. It must have been a bit disappointing last year, but I think it was a good experience. I believe we will show you a lot this year.