SSG Landers fixer Choi Jeong-jeong hits a home run to win the game for her team. It’s good to win. But he doesn’t want to get carried away. There are still a lot of games left this season.
SSG won the fifth game of the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium on Tuesday, 6-1, thanks to Choi’s walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
SSG took the lead in the top of the sixth inning after Choi Jeong-jeong hit a single to left field, but after the score was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the game remained tense until the ninth inning.
The game ended in extra innings. Choi finished it off. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, Choi took an 11-pitch slider from Lee Young-ha for a grand slam over the left field fence.
“I wasn’t hitting badly from the first at-bat, but I wasn’t getting the timing right,” Choi said after the game, adding, “In my last at-bat against Lee Young-ha, I took one bad swing (at the first pitch) and didn’t seem to have an answer, but then I got through it.”
Choi’s grand slam was his 17th of the season, 1032nd of his career, and 13th of his career. Choi’s 15th home run of the season. Choi is also tied with Kang Min-ho (Samsung) for second place on the career home run list with 13, behind Lee Bum-ho (KIA) with 17.
After the game, teammate Park Sung-il marveled, “Choi Jung is still Choi Jung.” Coach Kim Won-hyung also praised Choi, saying, “He hit a grand slam like a star. She is the best.”
Choi Jung, the hero of the victory, said, “I’m not really humble, but I’m not greedy for home run records. I only thought about hitting double-digit home runs every season and wondered, ‘Is it possible this year? After that, I think it’s a bonus,” he said honestly.
Regarding the competition for the team rankings, Choi said, “I’m just looking at taking one win and one point from each team I meet. I don’t even think about the competition with LG,” he said. “On the contrary, it was harder last year because it was ‘wire-to-wire’,” he added.스포츠토토
Still, Choi said, “I wish we could dominate the ranking battle. Some players think it’s fun, but I don’t like the tension. It’s hard to enjoy it. I think you have to just think ‘LG is the stronger team’ so you can play more comfortably.”