There are players coming up from below, and they’re getting older…”
He has long forgotten the past when he was called a genius shortstop. He is 34 years old. Lee Hak-joo, an infielder with the Lotte Giants in the professional baseball league, is taking the field more seriously and carefully. He recalls “Calm down” every day and every game.안전놀이터
Lee Hak-joo led his team to a 10-6 victory by hitting two home runs against the KIA Tigers at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 24th. Lee Hak-joo completed his second career multi-homer game in five years and 1885 days on the date since the multi-homer game against Sajik Lotte on March 27, 2019, when he was a member of Samsung.
In the bottom of the fourth inning when his team was leading 4-2, Lee hit a solo shot over the fence by hitting the first pitch of Kia’s Yoon Joong-hyun at 139 kilometers with one out and no runner at the center. Lee garnered a 5-2 score this season by hitting his first homerun.
Then, he hit a golden home run in the bottom of the eighth inning while being chased 8-4. He appeared in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out and no runner, and hit a 145-km fastball for the fifth pitch in the count of three balls and one strike to hit the right fence. He widened the gap to 9-4 to seal the victory.
For Lee Hak-joo, Lotte has only one thing to want. It has stable and solid defense. He has the widest defensive range and the strongest shoulder in the team’s infield. His defensive talent itself was outstanding. However, scenes of losing concentration or rushing were also the reasons why Lee’s defense performance was depreciated.
He is now changing along with coach Kim Min-ho. Coach Kim Min-ho consistently asked Lee for stable defense and Lee, who received the order, has been selected as the starting player for his stable defense and is playing every game. Lee has been on the starting lineup for 10 consecutive games since the game against Sajik LG on the 11th. Except for one game, he is playing shortstop in all games.
In fact, Lee Hak-joo was not included in the opening entry, and even though he came to the first team late and hit the .500 range hard, he was not trusted by manager Kim Tae-hyung. Before being removed from the first team again on April 21, he was excluded from the first team as he recorded no hits in 12 at-bats in seven games, but his batting average was still 366 percent at the time.
He showed off his power in the second division. After the cancellation of the first division, he went through reorganization and swung eight hits in 13 at-bats, a batting average of 61.5 percent, one home run and seven RBIs for four games. On May 11, he was called to the first division again.
He has not displayed as strong batting performance as before. However, he is now displaying stable defense capability that he expected from Lee.
First of all, Lee Hak-joo said, “I was under a lot of stress. I didn’t even know it was a home run, and I ran hard, but I felt so good to go over the fence,” adding, “I was stressed out before the game, so I went to coach Lim Hoon and told him to take a lesson, so I felt comfortable going into the batter’s box today.”
He thanked coach Kim Tae-hyung as well. “The coach cares too much for me. I always practice batting with a new mind, but the coach kept asking me how to get to the ball concisely, rather than leg kicks, and I couldn’t do it at once, but I kept trying and concentrating, and today I think I got a good result.”
To Lee Hak-joo, home runs are like a bonus. He is under stress from hitting, but he never forgot his duty as a defense. He pointed out that he showed regrets in defense on the day. “Rather than hitting two homers, I want to become a player who helps our team’s pitchers,” he said. “I am also sorry to (Kim) Min-sung for making a mistake in the call play today. I am sorry to have increased the number of pitches for Wilkerson as well. When I was defending, I had to become a player who helps by meticulously doing small things.” In the top of the third inning, he collided with third baseman Kim Min-sung when Na Sung-bum hit an infield single with one out. Kim called to catch the ball, but they collided with each other and lost the out count.
[OSEN = Busan, Reporter Lee Seok-woo] The 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League match between Lotte Giants and KIA Tigers was held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 23rd.