There is a truth in the words of a 40-year-old KIA legend.
KIA’s performance has been up and down this year. Long winning streaks and long losing streaks are not contradictory, but the ups and downs of their performance are. When the bats don’t find their groove early on, they struggle throughout the game, sometimes for an entire week. On the other hand, when the batting lineup gets going early, they can easily produce big innings.
One of the most consistent players is Choi Hyung-woo, the 40-year-old legend. The KIA legend surpassed Doosan’s Lee Seung-yeop in career doubles this year. He also became the No. 1 RBI hitter this season.
In 22 games in April, Choi hit .316 with three home runs, 12 RBIs, 13 doubles, and 14 strikeouts, and in 17 games in May, he hit .333 with one home run, 13 RBIs, 11 doubles, and 11 strikeouts. You can see that Avery is consistent. His batting pace is similar. They even have similar strikeout-to-walk ratios.
He has his own strike zone. He proves with class that snow baseball is forever, even as he ages. His .423 on-base percentage this season is third in the league. Only LG tablesetters Moon Sung-joo (0.432) and Hong Chang-ki (0.429) are hitting better than Choi in the league this year.
It’s basically a matter of being able to distinguish between strikes and balls, as well as recognizing and responding to subtle differences in umpire tendencies. In the case of LG Electronics in Gwangju on the 26th, Choi Hyung-woo went 2-for-5 with no walks and one RBI, but he stayed in his zone by calmly responding to the umpire’s somewhat dizzying calls.
KBSN Sports commentator Park Yong-taek, who broadcast the game, said, “A hitter who sees the ball well doesn’t touch pitches that cross the borderline,” and that’s exactly what Choi did. His strikeout in the seventh inning was a low, outside fastball from LG’s left-handed bullpen, Ham Deok-ju. It looked like it was out of play on the broadcast screen, but since it was near the borderline, Choi opted to watch, and it ended up being a strikeout. There was nothing he could do about it. It also extended his hitting streak to 36 games, dating back to April 8 against the Gwangju Doosan.먹튀검증
The shift was exquisite. In both the fifth and ninth innings, LG’s infield was deep in the right field grass, but Choi was able to break through the shift with a harder hit, a near-truth. In the ninth inning, he even made an error with his best throw to the plate, keeping LG on their toes until the very end.
KIA struggles in the middle of the pack. There are players who do their best with unreliable power and exceed expectations. Choi Hyung-woo is one of them. The 2023 season is proving why he’s a legend. A run-scoring machine, an RBI machine, a double-scoring machine. He’s got plenty of nicknames to go around.