“I want to play better”, number one created by Son Ah-seop
Son Ah-seop (35, NC Dinos), a 17-year professional veteran, has finally stood tall as the number one batting player.
Son Ah-seop's batting average this season is 0.339 (187 hits in 551 at-bats). Ranked 1st among 50 batters who filled the required at-bats. The players ranked 2nd to 4th in the division (Koo Ja-wook, Kim Hye-seong, and Hong Chang-ki) completed the regular season schedule in advance and won the batting champion title regardless of the results on the final day (17th). This is the first time that Son Ah-seop, who debuted in 2007, has won the batting title.
Son Ah-seop's career batting average exceeds 0.320. Based on 3,000 at-bats, he is a self-proclaimed 'batting machine', ranking 4th in batting of all time. But it had nothing to do with the title. He ranked 3rd in batting in 2012 and 2014, and 2nd in 2013 and 2020, which is his best personal performance. He was the 'second best player' behind Kim Tae-gyun (formerly Hanwha Eagles), Choi Hyeong-woo (KIA Tigers), and Lee Jeong-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes), but this season was different. Son Ah-seop is the third NC player to win the batting title, following foreign hitter Eric Thames in 2015 and Yang Eui-ji (now Doosan) in 2019.
Son Ah-seop signed a free agent (FA) contract with NC in December 2021 for up to 6.4 billion won (down payment 2.6 billion won, total annual salary 3 billion won, incentive 800 million won). When his batting average fell to 0.277 last year, the first season after his transfer (0.319 in the 2021 season), a cold evaluation followed, saying, “Isn’t it overpay?” He is quite old, in his mid 30s. Concerns about the ‘aging curve’ (a phenomenon in which athletic ability declines at a certain age, leading to a decline in skills) have also raised their heads. Son Ah-seop prepared for the season of fierce pride in the United States throughout the winter. He worked hard to restore his broken hitting mechanism.
His performance this season is the result of perseverance. After going 0-for-5 in the game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil last June, Son Ah-seop returned to his dorm and took 50 swings. After reflecting on himself to the point where he said, “I had a hard time sleeping,” he bounced back with multiple hits in two consecutive games. NC batting coach Song Ji-man said, "(Son Ah-seop) always thinks about baseball and only focuses on baseball when on the field. I think those things come together to create consistency (at bats)." In July, when he rose to second place on the KBO League's all-time hits list, Son Ah-seop firmly said, "I don't want to worry about any records." As the team's captain and veteran, he spent the year with extraordinary determination.
Batting king Son Ah-seop even won the title for most hits. Now his eyes turn to the postseason (PS). Son Ah-seop's last PS appearance was in 2017 when he was with the Lotte Giants. Unlike his brilliant personal career, his fall baseball report card is ordinary. That's how much attention is being paid to the results of this PS. Son Ah-seop, who says, “I want to hit better,” will lead the NC batting lineup.