SEOUL– SSG Landers third baseman Choi Jeong has played in seven Korean Series during his 18-year career, and won the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) titles in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2018.
Choi is now gearing up for his eighth trip to the championship round, with the Landers set to face the Kiwoom Heroes in the best-of-seven series starting Tuesday. And the excitement and elation of winning the last game of the season never gets old for the 35-year-old.
“Once you get a taste of the championship, the reason why you’ve become a professional ball player gets that much clearer,” Choi said at the pre-Korean Series press conference Monday. “It makes you feel so proud of being a pro athlete.”
This is not something that either Lee Jung-hoo nor Yasiel Puig can relate to: the two star outfielders for the Heroes have never won a professional championship. This is Lee’s first Korean Series appearance. Puig played in two World Series, for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 and 2018, when his team fell short against the Houston Astros and then the Boston Red Sox.
Landers captain Han Yoo-seom, the 2018 Korean Series MVP, said he doesn’t want his opponents to enjoy that championship feeling this year.
“This is not going to be an easy Korean Series, but we’ll show them how much big-game experience counts,” Han said. “I hope those guys won’t win until next year at least.”
Lee, the two-time reigning batting champion and the leading contender for the regular season MVP award this year, conceded that the Landers, who went wire-to-wire for the regular season crown, will be the favorite. But that doesn’t mean the Heroes will bow out easily.
“We will be the underdogs, but we are a young team playing with a lot of energy,” Lee said. “No one expected us to come this far this postseason. But we have never cared much about the underdog label. We’ll just let our play on the field do all the talking.”
Puig, who leads the Heroes with three homers this postseason, said his preseason promise of hosting his teammates for a championship party in his Miami home still stands.
“I came up short with the Dodgers twice, and this is my third opportunity to win a championship. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm,” Puig said through an interpreter. “The most important goal for me has always been to try to help the team win and not worry about individual numbers. I hope to celebrate our championship in Miami with my teammates.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency