A professional baseball player is a private business owner. It is natural to repay fans with good performances, but it is painful because players themselves cannot build wealth and honor if they fail to produce good results.스포츠토토
If a player with a FA contract of more than 10 billion won does not meet expectations, it would be right to say sorry to fans, but it seems unfortunate that a player who receives 40 million won a year makes a decision that can change his baseball life and repeats “I’m sorry.”
Jang Jae-young of the Kiwoom Heroes decided to give up pitching and try to hit the batter’s box. A promising player who received the first nomination in 2021. Not only Kiwoom but also Major League teams salivated by throwing fastballs over 155 kilometers. The carrot to keep him in Korea was the down payment. 900 million won. It was the second-highest down payment ever, following former KIA Tigers Han Ki-joo’s 1 billion won. This means Kiwoom had high expectations.
However, the past three years have been a nightmare for Jang, his Kiwoom team, and his fans. The 155-km fastball did not go away. However, the fastball was powerful only when it entered the strike zone. He couldn’t cure his chronic lack of control. “As a pitcher, I could see his weaknesses. It was really hard. I practiced a lot but the result didn’t come out at the ballpark. It was really hard,” he said, expressing his emotion.
After choosing a full-time hitter, when asked about his future determination, he said, “First of all, I’m really sorry that I didn’t show good performance as a pitcher. As much as I want to say sorry more than 100 times, I’m sorry. I’ll try hard to repay you as a fielder and not living up to your expectations.”
There are many players who are bad at baseball, so what should I be so sorry for? Wasn’t the down payment of 900 million won a pressure on a young player? Jang Jae-young has been nicknamed ‘900 million won’ since he made his professional debut. Jang Jae-young responded, “I thought it was all about me that you said that. I was grateful. Instead, I think I wanted to repay you a lot. I think that led to my impatience. If I had managed to overcome it maturely, I would have done well, but when I tried to do well without hesitation, it continued to be difficult. I wanted to do well, and I think the fans also told me that they wanted me to do well.” Even if it wasn’t said, it seemed like a pain to him.
Kiwoom paid a lot of money to Jang Jae-young, a 155km fastball pitcher, so some people may think that Jang’s full-time batting style is not good. However, since a young player has made a difficult decision in his lifetime, it seems that it is time for support and encouragement. It is time for Jang Jae-young to blow away the bad memories of ‘900 million dollars’ and bite him with the mindset of competing on the same line with countless players who want to join the first team. You may have felt it while pitching, but the professional world is by no means easygoing.