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Winning the batting title for the first time in his life Golden Glove Award for the first time in 6 years

 

This season was a meaningful year for NC Dinos veteran hitter Son Ah-seop (35).

 

Son Ah-seop, who became a free agent after the 2021 season, left Lotte Giants, where he had played for a long time, and signed a four-year contract with NC for a total of 6.4 billion won.

 

Son Ah-seop, who had somewhat disappointing results in his first year playing in NC with a batting average of 0.277 and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.714, performed well up to expectations this year. He appeared in 140 games and had a batting average of 0.339, 5 home runs, 65 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 97 runs, and an OPS of 0.836.

 

Son Ah-seop was crowned batting champion for the first time in his career, shaking off the disappointment of narrowly finishing in second place in batting average twice.

 

Son Ah-seop, who recorded a batting average of 0.345 in 2013 while playing for Lotte, fell behind by 3 leagues and lost the top spot in batting average to Lee Byeong-gyu (LG Twins at the time, 0.348). In 2020, he posted a high batting average of 0.352, but fell into second place, only two leagues behind Choi Hyung-woo (KIA Tigers), who recorded 0.354.

 

Son Ah-seop, who hit 187 hits, was also ranked first with the most hits. He won his fourth most hits title, following 2012, 2013, and 2017.

 

Son Ah-seop, who achieved "rejuvenation", was busy attending various award ceremonies this winter. The Korean Professional Baseball Retired Players Association (Korea Association) selected Son Ah-seop as the best player of the year. At the "2023 Professional Baseball of the Year Award" ceremony, he was selected as "Batter of the Year", and at the Joa Pharmaceutical Professional Baseball Awards, he became the protagonist of a comeback.

 

The peak of the awards ceremony was the Golden Glove Awards ceremony on the 11th. Son Ah-seop, who was nominated in the designated hitter category, succeeded in winning the award by receiving 255 votes out of 291 total valid votes.

 

Son Ah-seop, who won the Golden Glove in the outfield category in 2011-2014 and 2017 while playing for Lotte, received his 6th Golden Glove in his career.

 

Son Ah-seop said, “I have been playing baseball for 17 years since his professional debut, and this year is the most memorable year. Personally, I want to praise myself for being able to become the batting champion for the last time.” “I want to say thank you to myself for overcoming difficult training and mentally difficult situations without getting tired,” he said, looking back on the season.

 

The result was even more meaningful because he worked hard to achieve it after a disappointing season last year. In January of this year, Son Ah-seop visited former major leaguer Kang Jeong-ho, who runs a baseball academy in Los Angeles, California, and worked hard for a month.

 

Son Ah-seop said, “When I was young, even if I had a bad season, I thought it was temporary and that I had another chance. But I am not old anymore. “I felt a sense of crisis as I got older and performed poorly in one season,” he said. “I thought I should come back to my senses and show it again this season.” “(Kang) Jeong-ho and I prepared with a desperate heart,” he explained.

 

Son Ah-seop, who saw the results, plans to train with Kang Jung-ho next year as well. “As the captain of the team, I have a schedule to fulfill. So, he said, “I think I will go to the United States a little later than this year,” and “The training period will be shorter than this year, but I plan to prepare two or three times as much.”

 

Although he called this year his best year, Son Ah-seop has bigger dreams. It is the Korean Series victory.

 

Although he is now a veteran, Son Ah-seop has yet to stand on the Korean Series stage.

 

Son Ah-seop played for Lotte from 2007 to 2021, and the last time Lotte advanced to the Korean Series was in 1999. In 2022, when the team moved to NC, they finished in 6th place and were unable to play fall baseball, and were eliminated from the playoffs this season.

 

Son Ah-seop expressed his grand dream, saying, “This year is the best year so far, but that will change if we win the Korean Series.”

 

I have a desire to win a spot in the outfield again, but since winning the championship is my biggest goal, I plan to adapt to the team"s circumstances.

 

Son Ah-seop said, “I don’t think I’m old enough to receive the Golden Glove as a designated hitter yet. “Personally, I would like to receive another Golden Glove as an outfielder,” he said, “but we must go in a direction that will allow the team to achieve good results.” “He played as a designated hitter this year and was also the batting champion, so I will think positively,” he emphasized.

 

Son Ah-seop also dreams of becoming number one with the most hits in the KBO League.

 

Son Ah-seop is ranked second in career hits with 2,416 hits in his personal career. The first place was retired Park Yong-taek, who recorded 2,504 hits. He will surpass Park Yong-taek if he hits 89 more hits.

 

Son Ah-seop said, “I am motivated by the opportunity to put my name at the top in KBO League history next year. “I want to rise to first place as I have come this far,” he expressed his motivation.