[OSEN=길준영 기자] SSG Landers Choo Shin-soo (41) is preparing for the end of his active career.
SSG announced on the 14th, “Choo Shin-soo has decided to end his professional baseball career after 24 seasons and retire.”
Choo Shin-soo, who graduated from Gyeongnam High School and signed with the Seattle Mariners and immediately moved to the United States, played for Seattle, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Texas, etc., averaging a .275 batting average in 1,652 of games (1,671 in 6,087 at-bats) in 1652 big league seasons (2005-2020. Hits) 218 home runs, 782 RBI, 961 runs, 157 steals, and an OPS of .824. In 2013, his career-high season, he was 12th in National League MVP voting.
Choo Shin-soo, who had a successful Major League career, came to the KBO League by signing with SSG before the 2021 season. Over the three years from 2021 to this year, he recorded a batting average of .261 (325 hits in 1,252 at-bats at bats) in 361 games, 49 home runs, 168 RBI, 226 runs, and 46 stolen bases with an OPS of . 819. In 2022, he led the team to its first Korean Series win since changing the team’s name to SSG.
However, Choo Shin-soo left somewhat of a disappointment this year, recording a .254 batting average (97 hits in 382 at-bats), 12 home runs, 41 RBI, 65 runs, and an OPS of .777 in 112 games this year . SSG were also 3rd in the league with 76 wins, 3 draws, and 65 losses, and in the playoffs, lost 3 losses to 4th place NC (75 wins, 2 draws, 67 losses), coming with an early baseball collapse.
Choo Shin-soo, who was nearing the end of his playing career, decided to retire at the end of next season. He also received an annual salary of 2.7 billion won in the first and second year and won 1.7 billion this year, but the next year, in order to control the team’s salary cap, he decided to receive only the minimum annual salary (30 million won) and enter the total amount.
As Choo Shin-soo declares his final season in active duty, attention is focused on whether a retirement tour will take place. In the history of the KBO League, only two players have officially retired. The main characters are Doosan coach Seung-yeop Lee, who holds the record for the most home runs in the history of the KBO League, and Dae-ho Lee, who managed to advance to the Premier League through the KBO League and Japanese Professional Baseball.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop played for Samsung during his active career and recorded a .302 batting average (2,156 hits in 7,132 at bats), 467 home runs, 1,498 RBI, and an OPS of .960 in 1,906 games in the KBO League. In Japanese professional baseball, he hit 159 home runs while playing for Chiba Lotte, Yomiuri, and Orix, and his combined home runs in Korea and Japan total 626 home runs. Lee Seung-yeop, who broke the Asian record for most home runs at the time by hitting 56 home runs in 2003, created an appetite for sleep throughout the country and was loved as a national home run hitter. In 2017, his final season in active play, he held his first retirement tour in the KBO League and gave his final greetings to his fans.
Lee Dae-ho, who played an active role as the star of the Lotte franchise, also showed an outstanding performance as a member of the national team and was loved by the nickname ‘Joseon’s fourth hitter’. In a total of 1,971 games in the KBO League, he recorded a .309 batting average (2,199 hits in 7,118 at-bats), 374 home runs, 1,425 RBI, and an OPS of .900. Lee Dae-ho, who advanced to the Japanese professional baseball league in 2012 and showed outstanding performance, including winning the Japan Series MVP in 2015, recorded a .293 batting average (622 hits in 2,122 at bats), 98 home runs, and 348 RBIs in 570 games with an OPS of .857. He played in Seattle in 2016. He also managed to advance to the major leagues by signing a split deal with . Although he only played one season in the major leagues, he left his mark with a .253 batting average (74 hits in 292 at-bats), 14 home runs, 49 RBI, and an OPS of .740 in 104 games. Lee Dae-ho, who returned to Korea, ended his active career in 2022 with a retirement tour for the second time in history, with congratulations from fans.
Choo Shin-soo, Lee Seung-yeop, and Lee Dae-ho are all known as ‘Chu Kang Dae-yeop’ and are evaluated as the best hitmen in Korea. Lee Seung-yeop and Lee Dae-ho, except for Kang Jeong-ho, who entered the Chugang Dae-yeop with three other players but retired in disgrace due to being caught drunk driving, to all enjoyed the honor of hosting a retirement trip. Shin-Soo Choo is the last remaining active player among Daeyeop Chu.
Choo Shin-soo is clearly a hitter who has achieved more than Lee Seung-yeop and Lee Dae-ho. No Korean hitter has accomplished more in the major leagues than Choo Shin-soo. If you look at his skills alone, it wouldn’t be surprising if he went on a retirement journey. However, the problem is that he has only played in the KBO league for four years, including next year. Since the KBO League Retirement Tour is an event targeting KBO League fans, performance and popularity in the KBO League is also important. Currently, the possibility of Choo Shin-soo’s retirement trip is not high.
An SSG official said, “As far as I know, the player himself has no intention of going on a retirement tour. It’s not something the club can say they want to do. “In the end, what matters is what the fans think.” The KBO official also said, “There is nothing we can say officially at this time. Nothing is set in stone. “The most important thing is what fans and the media think about Choo Shin-soo’s retirement journey,” he said, sparing his words.
Choo Shin-soo, who left a mark in the Premier League and KBO League, is now preparing for the final chapter of his career. Let’s see how Choo Shin-soo will say his last goodbye to his fans. /fpdlsl72556@osen.co.kr
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