Wow, the 38-year-old hit king is about to make history, and how did he regain his pride of 27.7 billion won…I kept trying even when I got older
Sep 05, 2025
|
He's already 38 years old. Although he is old enough to be nicknamed 'old man', Yang Eui-ji (Doosan Bears)' class remains. He is preparing to write his second history in KBO history by competing with his juniors for the batting champion.
Yang Eui-ji started as the fourth batter catcher against the Changwon NC Dinos on the 4th and led the team to a 12-3 victory by swinging four hits in five at-bats (one home run) and three RBIs.
Yang Eui-ji's batting average for the season rose from 0.327 to 0.333 to rank third. KT Ahn Hyun-min and Lotte Victor Reyes, who are tied for first in the batting average, also have a batting average of 0.333, while Yang Eui-ji rounded up from 0.3325 to fall to third at 0.333.
It is a precious history to become the batting king at the age of 38. The oldest batting champion in KBO history is 38 years and 11 months, set by current LG Twins second-tier coach Lee Byung-kyu in 2013. Yang Eui-ji, who was born in June 1987, cannot surpass Lee Byung-kyu's record even if he is the batting king this year, but he will prove why he is still the best catcher in the league. Yang Eui-ji won the batting king once with a batting average of 0.354 in 2019, the first year of his transfer to NC.
Yang Eui-ji "Because if you hit it well, you're going to win first place. Since I've played once, if I play baseball under stress, I can't even play what I want to play, and the balance is broken. I'm not paying much attention because if I just keep it until the end, I'll get it."
One triple was missing in the heat-forward cycle. Ruta hit in his first at-bat in the top of the second inning, a hit in the second at-bat in the top of the third inning, and a home run in the third at-bat in the top of the sixth inning. At the ball count of 0B2S, NC Kim Nok-won's curve was rolled up and crossed the left-center fence.
Yang Eui-ji tried to make a triple in his last at-bat with two outs and runners on first and second bases in the top of the eighth inning. That's because the team already had a big 9-3 lead. Yang Eui-ji's ball completely split the left-center, and Yang Eui-ji was greedy and ran to third base. However, it was not enough to settle on third base. NC shortstop Kim Joo-won made a relay play to catcher Ahn Jung-yeol to prevent additional runs, but instead of catching a runner at home, Ahn Jung-yeol quickly threw to third base to end the inning. Yang Eui-ji, who was out enough, scored a two-run double instead of bringing laughter to the Doosan dugout.
Yang Eui-ji said, `Of course, I played knowing that there was only one triple left. Jung-yeol has no affection for him. I now believed in our old friendship. (Kim) Joo-won made a good home throw, but it's a little disappointing that Jung-yeol threw to kill meI don't do it just because I want to do it after laughing, but I think my juniors are also working hard if I work hard. I just thought it would be nice to see me and have fun. I'm trying to entertain myself," he added.
|
|
Yang Eui-ji joined Doosan in 2006 and established his position as an irreplaceable catcher, but after the 2018 season, he first became a FA and signed a four-year, 12.5 billion won contract with NC. During his four years at NC, he exceeded 20 home runs every year, and in 2020 and 2021, he achieved 30 home runs for two consecutive years, solidifying his image as a big shot. Ahead of the 2023 season, he was re-qualified as an FA and signed a total of 15.2 billion won with Doosan for 4+2 years. After achieving a total of 27.7 billion won in FA, he returned home and dreamed of a brilliant finish, but it was regrettable that he only had 17 home runs in both 2023 and 2024, perhaps because he played in Jamsil, a pitcher-friendly stadium.
Yang Eui-ji is " (20 home runs) meaningful. It's been a decent performance for the last two years, and I've been aiming for 20. Since I used a big stadium anyway, I wanted to hit 20 consistently, if not 30 home runs, but it was a pity that I couldn't hit it for two years. I'm glad that I was able to play this year" he said.
How can he still compete for the top spot in the league even in his late 30s. It is even more surprising that he is using his best performance in his third year of Doosan's return. His batting average reached 0.407 (35 hits in 86 at-bats) in August.
Yang Eui-ji "Thinking about the times when I was good, I kept trying to find that feeling even though I was old. I think I've found a little bit of my old sense since a month or two ago. I felt a lot of strength in the ball. I didn't like it at the beginning of this year, but I think I've gotten a lot better in August."
Yang Eui-ji said "At the beginning of this season, I talked about it in the training part because I couldn't play much last year. I don't think I played even 120 games, so I prepared this year with the thought that I would play a lot of games so that my name would always appear on the electronic display at the center"I was satisfied that the efforts were in the light.
|
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
