I achieved everything, but there is no “normal climb.”
Son Ah-seop (36, NC Dinos), who received many honors for 17 years after joining the professional league, has yet to complete his lifelong dream. Son, who once resented heaven, will be able to succeed in taking the presidency this year.
Son Ah-seop met with reporters at Changwon NC Park on the 8th and confessed, “The only complex as a baseball player is that there is no (winning) ring,” adding, “I feel like a complex a lot.”
At NC`s New Year`s party on the day, Son was appointed as the team`s captain for the 2024 season. “As Son has delivered positive influences to the team as a captain in the 2023 season, the team recommended Son as the team`s captain for the 2024 season. The coaching staff and Son have accepted the offer, and will be the team`s captain for this season as well,” a club source said.
“I chose the captain through voting to give rights to players as a coach, but I decided to set the term as two years because I thought one year would have less influence on players as a captain. I think he will play a role again this year,” NC manager Kang In-kwon said, referring to Son’s leadership, “There are a lot of young players in the team, and he led by example to have a little more goal. He seemed to be leading younger players by playing the role of a senior. I think Son is playing a role that will strengthen his role in the future.”
Son Ah-seop said, “I think the team and the coach believed it. I will make sure that NC can go higher this season with more responsibility.”
Last year, Son successfully rebounded by playing in his second season with the NC Dinosaurs. After moving to NC Dinos after signing a four-year, 6.4 billion won (FA) contract at the end of 2021, Son had a sluggish season with a batting average of 0.277 with four homers and 48 RBIs in the 2022 season. Faced with desperation, Son moved to the U.S. and started correcting his batting average with Kang Jung-ho (37), a former Major Leaguer. And it was to the best of its effect. Son played in 140 games during the regular season and recorded 187 hits in 551 at-bats, posting a batting average of 0.339 with five homers and 65 RBIs, 97 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases OPS of 0.836. He ranked first in the batting average and the most hits category, and was also ranked third in the score category. He faltered to the 0.230s until mid-April but got on track afterwards. Notably, Son had a high batting average of 0.373 in August and 0.407 in September, contributing to a team that is struggling to secure a ranking. Son became the Golden Glove winner in the designated hitter category after this season.
Son has become the fourth player to top the list with the most hits. Son won the title with 158 hits in 2012, and the title with 172 hits in 2013 and 193 hits in 2017. However, the batting champion is a different story. Son had two bad lucks until last year, as he ranked second in batting average. In 2013, he failed to win the title, lagging behind LG Twins’ Lee Byung-kyu (0.348). Son then finished the season in second place with a two-ri gap in 2020 (0.354). However, he acquired the batting average title for the first time in 17 years.
Son Ah-seop, who had such a great season, failed to win the title ring again this time. NC, which was considered the lowest-ranking candidate before the season, continued to do well and ranked fourth overall in the season with 75 wins, 67 losses and two draws (winning rate of 0.528). Then, he garnered great popularity by winning the Doosan Bears, the wild card game, the SSG Landers, and the semi-playoff all with sweep wins. However, he failed to advance to the Korean Series after losing three consecutive games in both the first and second playoff games with the KT Wiz. Son, who had no experience in the Korean Series, failed to win the title again this time. Immediately after his elimination, Son said, “As I still have my last goal (in the Korean Series), I think I will be motivated to not become lazy and not be eliminated. I resent the sky, but that goal remains, which gives me motivation.”
“The FA was treated well, and I think I have achieved the honor that I personally receive such as Golden Glove, title, national team, and so on,” Son said. “The most important thing is that I don’t have a winning ring. I feel like I’m a complex person.” “If that happens, I think I’ll be able to say that I’m perfect when I look back on my baseball career,” Son said.
Son Ah-seop, the year of the dragon born in 1988, made a good start to the year of the dragon. “After knowing that it was the year of the dragon, I feel like things will work out for some reason,” Son said. “I unfortunately couldn’t go to the Korean Series last year, but I want to finish it at the very end,” Son said.