"Why are you quitting baseball?" Retirement from active duty → Park Dae-on decided to go to the U.S. "I want to study advanced baseball."

"Why are you quitting baseball?" Retirement from active duty → Park Dae-on decided to go to the U.S. "I want to study advanced baseball."

Blog Article

SSG Landers catcher Park Dae-on heads to the U.S. to study baseball.

The SSG club said on the 1st, "Park Dae-on conveyed to the club that he wants to end his career as a baseball player and start his second life. After the interview, he applied for voluntary cancellation to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in respect of the player's will. Park Dae-on will leave for the U.S. on the 14th to study baseball," he said.

Park Dae-on, who joined the NC Dinos as the 25th pick in the second round of the 2014 KBO Rookie Draft, has played in the first division game since 2015, and played more than 100 at-bats for the first time in 2022 since his debut. His career performance in the seven seasons was .212 with two homers and 23 RBIs in 259 games and a 0.519 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).

After the 2023 season, Park moved to SSG through the second draft of the KBO. Back then, SSG wanted to strengthen its home ground. However, Park failed to make a call-up for the first team last year. While in the second team, Park played in 45 Futures League games and recorded a batting average of 0.245 with one homer, 13 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 0.294. He could not play in either the first team or the Futures League this season.카지노

Park Dae-on said in a telephone interview with the Expots News on the 3rd, "There were a lot of responses asking why I quit baseball," adding, "I don't think I made it (to the first team) because I didn't do it. I really prepared a lot (in the second team), and I kept practicing. So I don't regret it."

The second draft of the KBO was first implemented in 2012 and was abolished every other year until 2020, before being revived in 2023. As such, Park Dae-on wore the SSG uniform with a sense of responsibility and expectation. However, the team failed to meet its expectations.

"I'm sad because I failed (as a result), and I feel very sorry," Park said. "After coming to SSG, I don't think I was able to help my team," Park said. "My team trusted me in the second draft and picked me, but I didn't meet my expectations. I always watch baseball with a feeling of sorry."

Park sweated a lot at Tread Athletic in Charlotte, North Carolina, the U.S., ahead of this season. Park says he had a chance to experience U.S. baseball and felt a lot during the process. In addition, Choo Shin-soo, the assistant manager of SSG, also had an impact.

"[Chu] Shin-soo gave me access to American culture, and after training in the U.S., I came to Korea after feeling a lot," Park Dae-on said. "I thought I knew what baseball Shin-soo was talking about. There were a lot of things I wanted Korean baseball to learn. That's why I decided to go to the U.S. to study."

"I don't want to go to the U.S. for a year or two, but I want to stay for a long time. I want to learn for sure. Coach Hoyle, a minor league team under the Cleveland Guardians, who is challenging himself overseas, said, "He is so cool in other countries. As a coach, you have to be trustworthy of a player, and on the contrary, a coach has to give trust to a player. I want to study advanced baseball in the U.S.."

When asked to pick the most memorable moment, Park mentioned 2022 when he was at NC Dinos. Park won the KBO Fan First Award in July.

In 2022, KBO established the 'KBO Fan First Award' as part of a project to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of the KBO League. The KBO Fan First Award, which was held after receiving special fan service experiences and stories with players, was designed to inspire the KBO League's fan first philosophy and to provide fans with an opportunity to participate in the event directly.

Before the opening of the 2022 season, Park Dae-on heard from an employee that the first uniform of this season was sold with his name on it. After that, he sent a handwritten letter and a batting glove to express his gratitude. Afterwards, when Lee Joon-young, the applicant for the story, asked for an autograph on the batting glove, he showed a friendly appearance by serving coffee himself after the game.

"Sometimes I jokingly tell players, 'We have to be careful and the people we treat well are not the coaching staff, but the fans,'" Park said. "If you don't mean it, you can't do that to the fans. I felt more special than other awards, and I still feel proud of myself. I think it was meaningful to receive such an award because it means that you are a good player who even the fans acknowledge."

Park Dae-on, who is facing the second act of his baseball career, tries not to forget that feeling. "I recently wrote a message on social networking services, but I'm not a famous player. Nevertheless, I thank many fans for their interest and support like a family. I will live with that heart," he said.