There’s a bone in the joke. Son is serious.
Up to 5.9 billion won for 4+2 years, 6.4 billion won for 4 years with no option. That’s how much he was worth to both teams when he left his hometown Lotte for NC in 2021.
Son is a Busan native who graduated from Yang Jeong-cho, Gaesung-joong, and Busan National University. He was also a player who continued the lineage of Lotte legends from Busan High School such as Yang Sang-moon, Park Dong-hee, Mahae-young, Yom Jong-seok, Son Min-han, and Joo Hyung-kwang.
Then Son left Busan. After a year of frustration, he made a comeback. Last year, Son appeared in 140 games as a designated hitter, batting .333 with nine doubles, five home runs, 65 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.836. He won his first batting title and fourth most hits (187).
In an interview with Lee Dae-ho on YouTube, Son expressed his love for his hometown of Busan. He said, “This is my hometown. I have never left Busan for 35 years. 카지노사이트 I went to kindergarten in Busan, and my family home is still there.”
The first time Son declared ‘independence’ was when he moved to NC.
It was to renew his mindset. He rented a house in Changwon and moved. In response to Lee Dae-ho’s joke that he “abandoned his hometown,” Son replied, “I moved. I was abandoned.” This is why he replied.
There could be many reasons. As Son directly expressed, it was a difference in money. He said, “There is no need to lie. The difference (between the two teams) was huge. It’s not all about the salary, but it’s an indicator of the player’s value in the KBO.”
The trust between Son and the club was partially broken. Son was confident that he could do better, but Lotte didn’t think so.
“We were trying to rebuild at the time. I was worried that my place in the team would be narrowed,” he said.
“My goal is to play all the games every year. But it seemed like there would be fewer games, and there would be platooning (customizing batters based on the opposing pitcher). I was hitting well against left-handed pitchers, but there were games I missed. I wondered if I could play more and be happy where I was. I wanted to play a lot of games. A player shines when he is on the field.”
Lee Dae-ho also had a shaky time in his later years with Lotte.
In 2021, a combination of side injuries limited him to 114 games. In his final season, he played 143 games again, but only because he made a complete comeback. He batted .881 with 23 home runs, 101 RBIs, and an OPS of .313, which was as good as he’d ever been, and he was on a farewell tour.
“The first thing for a baseball player is a team that believes in you and can keep you in the game,” Lee said. At that time, Lotte was in the mood of raising kids and making changes. He should have left,” he responded.
Of all the players who have left Lotte, Son is the one who would have been a permanent fixture if he had stayed with Kang Min-ho.
He is still fondly remembered in Busan. Not only fans, 카지노사이트 추천 but many Lotte players still look up to him as a role model. He is one of the KBO legends who dreams of reaching 3,000 hits in his career.
“I’m not taking sides,” Lee said. He was the hardest-working junior I’ve ever seen in Lotte, and he really prepared to play all 144 games,” Lee said, emphasizing, “If he thought I wouldn’t be able to play at the time of signing, he was right.”
