'300 + Stole King + GG' Visibility

"I don't have time to pay attention to things like Golden Glove. I only think about the team winning."

Until April, Park Chan-ho (28, KIA Tigers) was known as a "fast-footed" shortstop. Since his debut in 2014, his career batting average was only 0.243 until last year. He was the stolen base king twice in 2019 (39) and 2022 (42), but his batting average was only 0.260 in 2019 and 0.272 in 2022.

This year, Park became a complete shortstop. As of the 6th, he has a batting average of 0.304 119 hits, 61 runs, 46 RBIs, and 27 steals. His batting average has far surpassed last year's career high. He is still in second place in the KBO League in the stolen base category. No. 1 Shin Min-jae (LG Twins, 31) seemed to be taking the lead, but Park Chan-ho is chasing after four more in three games in September alone.

Park Chan-ho, who is becoming a .300 hitter, only had a batting average of 0.181 in April. He was followed by a glance of criticism and doubt rather than cheering. However, it has been on the rise since May, and except for June, it has steadily recorded a batting average of more than 300 percent every month. In particular, he has maintained a good batting sense with a batting average of 0.383 in 26 games since August. In August, it ranked first in the monthly Shell Heelix Player batter category with a WAR (winning contribution over substitute players) of 1.86 (based on Sports2I).

Park Chan-ho, who met with this magazine, said, "I haven't been in good condition recently. As I played the season, my body became very heavy, he said. "The team atmosphere is so good that I am excited to do it together. I try to see as many balls as I can. "The batters behind me are ridiculously good, so I think I can score if I step on the base, so I'm trying to get on base as much as I can," he said. KIA, which has won nine consecutive games, will bring Na Sung-bum, Choi Hyung-woo and Socrates Brito together without missing an opportunity when table setters Park Chan-ho and Kim Do-young get on base.

Park Chan-ho must have felt the hearts of his fans more than anyone else. You can think of him as cool when he is sluggish, but if he performs well, more support follows him. Park Chan-ho already knows. "Even when I was sluggish in April, I thought they would definitely cheer me on if I did well," he said. My wife was once upset because she was criticized for something other than baseball. But even then I said, 'Don't be upset. Just wait a month or two. I'll show you how (the fans' minds) change,' he assured. As a result, it became as good as that word," he said with a smile.

His first batting average of .300, his third stolen base king of his career, and his first golden glove are all visible. It's time for any professional player to be greedy for his personal performance, and Park Chan-ho shook his head saying he has no desire to win the award. He drew the line, saying, "Stealing is physically exhausting, and you can't succeed every time you try." This means that there is no record challenge for the title. Instead, he said, "Naturally, I'm just doing my best at every at-bat. There have been too many situations in the team that need my stolen base. He explained, "If I got on base, I had to steal, and that's why the record was accumulated."

Park Chan-ho said, "But there is no time to pay attention (to individual awards)." Park Chan-ho's autumn baseball experience was only one wild card game last year. In 2017, when KIA last won, Park Chan-ho failed to win the championship because he was serving in the military. This year, KIA is in fifth place (as of the 6th), but the final performance is still not guaranteed. While chasing the second-ranked KT Wiz with just three games, there is a four-game difference from the sixth-ranked Doosan Bears. With the remaining month's performance, it can be second or sixth place. 스포츠토토

Park Chan-ho said, "The team is not in a relaxed situation," adding, "We have to go up to the top somehow." I only think about the team winning. "My original goal was to come in third place, but at this rate, it would be difficult to come in second place, but I don't think it's impossible," he said with anticipation