Choo Shin-soo (SSG Landers) of the “Choo Choo Train” has postponed his retirement ceremony to next year, not this year. This reflects the intention of the player who does not want to cause any inconvenience to the team, which is continuing fierce competition to advance to the post season at the end of the 2024 regular season.안전놀이터
The SSG club said on the afternoon of the 20th, “Choo Shin-soo’s retirement ceremony will be held next season. As a result of consultation between the player and the club, we have decided to postpone the retirement ceremony to next season so that the team can focus on the game first at a time when the team is currently in a very important period of competition for entering autumn baseball.”
“The club will prepare for Choo to hold the retirement ceremony with many fans next season. We will inform him as soon as the schedule for the retirement ceremony is confirmed,” he added.
Born in 1982, Choo graduated from Busan High School in 2001 and signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners of the U.S. Major League Baseball. He challenged himself to the dream stage by crossing the Pacific Ocean, instead of courting his hometown team, the Lotte Giants of the KBO League.
After gaining experience step by step in the minor leagues, Choo succeeded in making his dream major league debut in 2005. However, Seattle’s outfielders were thick at the time, and right field, the main position, did not get many opportunities because Ichiro Suzuki, the best hitter in Japanese baseball history, was holding out.
Choo’s baseball career marked a turning point when he was traded to the Cleveland Guardians in the 2006 season. After changing his uniform, Choo had a batting average of 0.295 and 43 hits, three homers, 22 RBIs, five steals, and an OPS of 0.846 in 45 games.
Choo suffered the biggest crisis in his career as he went to the operating table due to an elbow injury in the 2007 season, but he did not collapse. He recovered to post a batting average of 0.309, 98 hits, 14 homers, 66 RBIs, 4 steals, and 0.946 OPS in 94 games in the 2008 season.
Choo Shin-soo, who gained momentum, hit 156 games with a batting average of 0.300, 20 homers, 86 RBIs, 21 steals, and 0.883 OPS in the 2009 season. He became the first Asian big leaguer to hit 20 homers and 20 steals.
Choo’s performance in the 2009 season was no coincidence. In the 2010 season, he continued to display a batting average of 0.300, 165 hits, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, and 0.885 OPS in 144 games. He had 20 homers and 20 steals for two consecutive years. He stood out as one of the best outfielders in the Major League.
After being traded to the Cincinnati Reds after the end of the 2012 season, Choo has overcome his limits. In the 2013 season, he had 154 games, a batting average of 0.285, 21 homers, 107 points, 20 steals, and 0.885 OPS. Notably, he gained ground as the No. 1 leadoff in the big league by garnering an on-base percentage of 0.423 and 112 walks.
Since then, Choo has had a seven-year contract period with a total of 130 million U.S. dollars. After playing in the Texas Rangers from 2014 to 2020, he has decided to return to the KBO League ahead of the 2021 season.
Choo Shin-soo’s 1,652 games, batting average of 0.275, 1,671 hits, 218 home runs, 782 RBIs, 961 runs, and OPS of 0.824 left him with 16 major league seasons were a successful career not only in Asia but also in the entire big league.
Choo had outstanding performance even after his peak season. In addition to achieving the 20th homerun and 20th steal in the KBO in the 2021 season, he contributed to SSG’s overall victory in the 2022 season. He enjoyed the joy of getting his first career championship ring.
At the age of 42, Choo did not display a downward spiral in his performance. Despite the bad luck of being left out of the main league entry due to two injuries, he had a batting average of 0.282, 71 hits, five homers, 37 RBIs, five steals, and an OPS of 0.780 in 77 games.
The “player” Choo Shin-soo’s move will end with the 2024 season. Choo Shin-soo has repeatedly expressed no intention of reversing his retirement this year.
Choo Shin-soo’s retirement ceremony is likely to be the opening game of SSG’s 2025 season or the weekend series game against his hometown team Lotte.
Meanwhile, SSG is ranking sixth with 66 wins, 68 losses and two draws in the 2024 season as of Sept. 20. It is trailing fifth-ranked KT Wiz (69 wins, 68 losses and two draws) by 1.5 games. If it secures both away games against KT on Sept. 21-22, it can regain fifth place.