I had to be more supportive as a captain when the coach was having a hard time.”
NC Dinos outfielder Son Ah-seop is back. He expressed his sorry for former coach Kang In-kwon, who left the team while away due to a long-term injury.안전놀이터
Son Ah-seop joined the first team ahead of the 15th match between the team and the “2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League” SSG Landers at Changwon NC Park on the 25th. It has been 80 days since he was excluded from the first team entry on July 8. He collided with Park Min-woo during defense during the match against Changwon SSG on July 4 and left for a long time due to injury to the posterior cruciate ligament of his left knee. At first, he was expected to be out of the season due to the injury, but he returned quickly and came up to the first team at the end of the season.
Acting NC manager Gong Pil-sung said before the game, “(Son Ah-seop) said, ‘He can hit 100 percent, and he runs 70 to 80 percent. He called up because of his strong will.”
Son Ah-seop, who met reporters after joining the first-team entry, said, “I missed baseball. When I got hurt at the end of the season, my team was fighting for the best five teams. I really worked hard to rehabilitate and prepare with the desire to recover my physical condition quickly and help me go to fall baseball. Every day, I only thought about “how to get better faster.” I’m really sad that my team failed the postseason, but I joined the team to finish the game (together) with my juniors, who had a hard time since the spring camp for a year,” he said.
He continued, “It wasn’t a minor injury than I thought. When I first got hurt, I said, ‘I’ll be back in a month,’ and I thought so. A month was a really long time as I got hurt for the first time. I’ve never rested that much. I thought it was easy, but it was a bigger injury than I thought, and the pain lasted for a long time, so I was embarrassed. Still, people around me said, ‘(Recovering) is really fast.’
Veteran Son Ah-seop was selected as the team’s captain before the opening. He expected it to be a great help to NCs team. However, he left the team due to a serious injury right before ending the first half of the season. Son's absence immediately signaled NCs weakening of its capacity. NC was outstanding enough to keep up with the Kia Tigers in the league in the middle of the season, but failed to overcome variables such as Son’s injury and was eliminated from the team. As a result, Kang had to leave the team as his contract with the team was terminated. Son must have felt uncomfortable in many ways.
Son Ah-seop said, “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean we can go to the semifinals. To be cool, I don’t think I couldn’t go to the semifinals because I was out of it. As I say every year, baseball is not a sport that has two or three players at the mercy of me. It was just heartbreaking because when I watched a game on TV, I felt like I was pressed against something during the losing streak. If I were (a veteran), there is a situation where I need to be a veteran, regardless of whether I won or lost. Bench clearing could have happened during the game, and seeing that situation, if I had been there, I could have been more supportive to my juniors as a veteran, and I could have helped them because I had a lot of experience, but that was a pity.”
Regarding coach Kang, he continued, “I don’t think the coach is contacting me now. Of course, I think I have a lot of thoughts. Since I’m the oldest senior in the team, I had to relieve the coach’s burden as a captain. I’m sincerely sorry. There are things the coaches can do, but the team has many roles for seniors. When the coach was having a hard time, I had to be more supportive as a captain, and I had to lead the team well, but I’m sorry that I hurt myself unintentionally and I feel bad that I couldn’t say goodbye.”
Son Ah-seop returned to the ground. Personally, he has set a record of 100 hits in 15 consecutive seasons, the fifth of its kind in the KBO League history. Son, who boasts of sophisticated contact, is a medal-like record of consecutive hits. However, he has given up his ambition to set a personal record. He has returned to the ground to wrap up the 2024 season beautifully with his team.
“It’s not easy (to set a new record). If I really wanted to achieve my goal, I would have returned to the team faster even if I pushed myself,” Son said. “Today (in consecutive seasons) was not a starting game. I was very attached to 150 hits. I was actually sad that I ended up setting a new record due to the injury. I don’t know about 100 hits. If so, that’s a bonus. I didn’t come back to make 100 hits. I have another season to play, and it’s more important to be with younger players who have worked hard. If I have 99 hits as a pinch hitter, I think I would like to make up for 100 hits, but I don’t think it’s an easy number right now.”