SSG Landers’ main hitter Choi Jeong is hitting home runs again.

Choi Jeong hit his 25th home run of the season in a home game against the KIA Tigers held at Incheon SSG Landers Field on the 3rd. In the bottom of the first inning, when he was down 1-2, with two outs and no runners on base, Choi Jeong-eun recorded a ‘recognized double’ by passing the key to right field to KIA starter Lee Eui-ri. In the bottom of the fifth inning, when he was down 4-5, he hit Jun-pyo Park’s four balls with a side arm. After hitting consecutive fouls, he kicked up a 142 km/h two-seam fastball on the fifth pitch. The hit to the left led to a come-from-behind 2-run home run with a distance of 110m.

Choi Jeong came into the dugout and even performed the ‘MacArthur ceremony’ by smoking a pipe in his mouth.

If SSG had maintained the lead they created with this home run, Choi Jeong would have recorded the game-winning hit, but SSG lost 6-8 after allowing a comeback in the 8th inning.메이저놀이터

Choi Jeong led the team with 19 home runs through June of this season. However, while he was limited to one home run due to injury in early July, he was allowed to overtake Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha Eagles). Choi Jeong’s home runs remained quiet until mid-August, and the gap widened further.

However, Choi Jeong has added 4 home runs in the last 9 games, making the competition for home runs even more heated. With 25 home runs, Choi Jeong closely followed category leader Noh Si-hwan (30) by five. Since Noh Si-hwan has been selected as the representative for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and will be absent from the end of September, Choi Jeong may have a chance until the end.

Choi Jeong scored 1353 points in his personal career with a home run that day. The countdown is on to break the record for most points held by Seung-yeop Lee (1,355 points, current Doosan Bears coach).

Choi Jeong-eun recorded 2 hits (1 home run), 2 RBI, and 1 walk in 3 at-bats in the game on the 3rd, leading the team’s batting lineup that attempted to achieve its first win after the coaching staff was reorganized. Despite this performance, Choi Jeong could not smile due to the team’s defeat. He signed as a free agent (FA) twice with SSG, including while with his predecessor, SK Wyverns. As a franchise star who represents the team enough to be called ‘Choi Jeong Landers’, he feels a greater sense of responsibility for the team’s performance than anyone else.

SSG has recently fallen behind 4th place KIA Tigers by 1.5 games amidst a slump of 4 consecutive losses, and the burden on Choi Jeong is increasing accordingly.