“It was a promise I made to myself.”
NC Dinos’ Son As-seob has suffered a shocking injury this season. On July 4 against the Changwon SSG Landers, he collided with second baseman Park Min-woo while playing outfield defense and left the game on the sidelines after being helped off the field, and after multiple medical examinations, the diagnosis came as a surprise: a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
When the results came back, I was effectively out for the season. It was shocking. “It was the biggest injury of my professional life,” Son recalls. NC replaced him as captain and assigned Park Min-woo as interim captain. The season-ending injury came as a shock, as Son had just passed Park Yong-taek (2504 hits) for the KBO’s all-time hit record (2505 hits) just two weeks prior to his injury.
However, it looked like he was going to be out for the season, but Son proved to be indomitable and made a comeback before the end of the season. Son returned on September 25 and played five games as a pinch-hitter and substitute. He went 0-for-7 at the plate. Unfortunately, there were no hits. It was hard to expect anything from him because he was still not 100%, but it was great to see him back at the plate in a healthy state.
There were some who wondered if his return was motivated by a desire to hit 100 hits in consecutive seasons.
Until last season, Son had hit 100 hits in 14 consecutive seasons, and the league record is 16 consecutive years held by Park Han-yi and Yang Jun-hyuk. In addition, Son also holds the record of 150 hits for eight consecutive years.
However, when he met with the press at the Changwon NC Park recently, he drew a firm line in the sand. “I have a great attachment to 150 hits. I’m number one in the 150-hit record, and there are many players who can’t hit 150 hits even if they play full-time for a year. But 100 hits is a record that, to be honest, you should hit more than 90 percent of the time when you’re a starter. I don’t think I’ve ever been very conscious about it or felt like I wanted to keep it,” he said. 토토사이트 However, “I was very attached to the 150-hit mark, and it’s a shame it’s gone. From the moment I hurt my knee, I knew it was a no-go. For me, 150 hits every year was basically what I wanted to achieve, so I’m disappointed about that.”
“I had a promise to myself, and there’s next year, so I wanted to finish somehow with my teammates who struggled for a year. I thought that after the season was over, after showing my comeback in front of the fans, I would be more motivated to prepare in the winter. I thought it would be motivating. I got hurt at the beginning of July, and if the season ends there, it’s a long time until the end of March next year. I wanted to show that I’m healthy and ready for one at-bat, and that was the biggest motivation for my rehabilitation,” he explained.
During his rehabilitation, he felt even worse.
NC’s performance slumped as the team suffered a series of losses, and the fact that he was not at the forefront of the bench clearing with other teams weighed heavily on his mind. “I felt sorry and regretted that I couldn’t be there for the juniors in their time of need,” he said. ”Baseball always gives you something good, and then it gives you something bad. This season was the season I set the record for the most hits, but it was also the season I suffered my first major injury. I think it will be the most memorable in my professional life,” he laughs.
Now he’s back to normal and ready for next year. “It’s been a long time since I’ve run this much since I was in my 20s. I’m running normally, and my body is in great shape. I think I will be able to prepare at 100% next year,” he said, expressing hope.