I didn't know I was happy because I took it for granted Worst F.A. Season, Desperate Reflection and Awakening
Jun 05, 2025
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KIA Tigers outfielder Choi Won-joon (28) had his worst season since his professional debut in 2016. In 41 games, the batting average was only 0.204 (28 hits in 137 at-bats), four home runs, 15 RBIs, and OPS 0.587, so it was difficult to see the batting average rise. As the bat did not fit, he made a futile mistake while thinking about what he was disappointed about at-bat even when he went out of defense. This is why KIA manager Lee Bum-ho notified Choi Won-joon of his second military trip twice last month alone.
It was a season where the motivation for being the first FA in his life was clear. KIA had to prepare to defend itself in consideration of the case of Choi Won-joon, a young national outfielder, being transferred, and raised its annual salary to 400 million won this year. The club has increased the burden of compensation to the extent possible. Choi Won-joon would have had a flower road as usual in the season, but he couldn't get out of the swamp of sluggishness to the point where there were voices saying that he should re-take the FA.
Director Lee harshly reprimanded Choi Won-joon, who was unable to get his act together. Choi Won-joon started in right field against Suwon KT Wiz on the 21st of last month and made a ridiculous error in missing an ordinary fly ball in the first inning. Coach Lee immediately replaced Choi Won-joon with a reprimand, and notified him of his trip to the second division. It was a decision with the desire to think about what to do on the ground for both the team and the individual and come back to find answers.
Choi Won-jun said "I don't think it was just a mistake that the coach sent me down (to the second division). I'm too tied to that because I keep not hitting. I think he wanted to give me a message in that sense because he seems to keep thinking about other things in defense. So I'm trying my best not to do that"I fully understood the director's meaning.
When Park Jung-woo and Kim Do-young left at the end of last month with hamstring injuries in succession and had a big hole in their power, head coach Lee was reported to be "Choi Won-joon doing sincerely well in the second division."I wanted him to return to Choi Won-jun as we knew him.
Choi Won-jun said "I don't think I've ever played baseball sincerely. I think I always do it sincerely. I played a lot of games in the first team with my juniors in the second team, but the coach wouldn't like it, and the juniors thought there was nothing to learn, so I worked harder, but I think they watched it a little sincerely," he said, looking back on the 20th he spent in the second division last month.
Choi Won-joon, who was familiar with the main player in the first division, rather needed this year's ordeal. It was a precious time to realize the earnestness and original intention for baseball again.
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Choi Won-joon contributed to an 8-3 victory against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 4th by playing in offense and defense for the first time in a long time. In the bottom of the eighth inning with a 6-3 lead, Kim In-tae's long-shot hit hit by hitting the fence, and then scored a two-run shot in his last at-bat in the top of the ninth inning to seal the victory.
Regarding the long-awaited rain, Choi Won-jun said, `I was a little anxious because I kept making mistakes. But I have to play baseball. I think I gained confidence because I defended harder. I think it definitely helps a lot in that regard because the director created the environment to make it comfortable."
Coach Lee always says that Choi Won-joon is a player who must survive for the team anyway. KIA remains in seventh place with 29 wins, 28 losses and 1 draw for the season, but is only one game away from the fifth-place Samsung Lions. It is also two games behind the fourth-place SSG Landers. Sooner or later, Na Sung-beom will return from injury, and if Kim Do-young and Kim Sun-bin join in the second half, they will have enough power to push again. Now, Choi Won-joon has to take the center stage with Choi Hyung-woo and Park Chan-ho.
Choi Won-jun knows "(that I have to do it) too well, but it's not as easy as I feel. I think it's hard. I know what the director wants and what he wants to lean on me, but I can't. I think it was hard. I try to organize my thoughts as much as I can."
When Choi Won-joon was registered in the first team on the 1st, he wrote 'First, Happiness, Let's Smile, Enjoyably' on the inside of his hat.
Choi Won-jun wrote "I talked to my wife and came up to the first team. I thought the reason was technical, so I tried everything, but it didn't work. Now, mentally, I wonder if I'm holding myself back too much. That's what I thought, so I shouldn't damage the team with the thought of doing something mentally as much as possible. That's why I hope there will be nothing to laugh about in the future.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
