The new year to announce the year 2023 has arrived. As much as that, the baseball world dreams of the birth of a new star.
In particular, high school baseball is a dynamic space where many talents circulate through repetition of graduation and admission. In addition, a sudden ‘surprise star’ appears because the growth rate is different on a yearly basis. Or there are those who have not been able to show themselves for a while due to injuries, and then show their true self in the third grade. There is no ‘limit’ to the growth of such young players. There is someone who challenges this ‘unrestricted figure’. Jeong Seung-won (18), who dreams of becoming the ace of Seongnam, is the main character. I met Jeong Seung-won, a promising player who overcomes his injury and dreams of a comeback, in ‘Talk Talk Baseball’.
Baseball, which started following your cousin,
is now indispensable.
Q) Nice to meet you like this. Please briefly introduce yourself.
Jeong Seung-won (hereinafter referred to as ‘Jeong’): My name is Jeong Seung-won, a pitcher in the third year of Seongnam High School. In fact, his older cousin started playing baseball first. By the way, he also went to school in front of his house, and he happened to see that there was a baseball team. That’s why he first started when he was in the third grade of elementary school.
Q) Looking at the records, it seems that they started playing baseball at Bongcheon Elementary School, Seongnam Middle School and Seongnam High School, and all went to nearby schools. Was there a trigger?
Jeong: His father graduated from Seongnam High School (laughs). Also, it seemed like a school nearby would be nice. Doesn’t the training end late, including the time to come and go? But,
Q) Choose because it’s close? For some reason, it seems to be watching Slam Dunk’s ‘Seo Tae-woong’ (laughs).
Jung: (Laughing together) I think it was unintentional.
Q) By the way, here is an interesting record. He said that he was an outfielder in elementary school. How was it as a hitter?
Jung: I thought it was bad because the batter was a bit slow running (laughs). Of course, he batted all the way through high school. But he thought the pitcher had a good chance.
Q) If so, is it still possible to hit?
Jeong: Of course it is possible. It’s because I was the 4th batsman in middle school (laughs).
Q) After all, it seems that good talent has a lot of two-hit experience. I heard that he pitched quite well at Seongnam Middle School as well. What if there was a game in your middle school life that you remember most?
Jeong: (As if regretting it) There weren’t many matches because of the corona. By the way, I played the 2nd game of the National Sports Festival with Daegu Gyeongsang Middle School. That time is the most memorable. There was a moment-to-moment crisis, but when I stopped and came down, I felt thrilled.
Q) As expected, after graduating from Seongnam Middle School, you went to Seongnam High School. Looking at it, there was a starting record even in the first grade?
Jeong: During my freshman year, the phoenix was my first appearance. It was a 10-time match-up situation. It was a situation where the runners were loaded with bases and only one run was enough to finish the game. In that situation, the manager changed the pitcher to me. The official debut was a very difficult situation, but on the contrary, I was very excited. I went up the mound thinking it was fun, but it was fortunate that I blocked it well.
Q) By the way, the sophomore record was only one game. Was it an injury?
Jeong: I didn’t want to overdo it. It wasn’t a major injury, it was shoulder impingement syndrome. The coach encouraged me not to overdo it, to think about doing well in my senior year of high school, and to focus on rehab. So he said he didn’t have to participate in team training. As much as I took a break, now my shoulders are in perfect condition. Now, half-pitching has been completed perfectly.
He overcame his injury and went on to third grade.
Now he dreams of another goal.
Q) The rehabilitation process must not have been easy, but when was it the most difficult?
Jeong: At first, I thought, ‘Why do I get injured 메이저사이트?’ I hated the world a bit thinking about it. I was upset because I worked hard during the winter season and was injured in an important season. Other high school sophomores were throwing well, and I felt like I was walking through a tunnel with no end in sight.
Q) A tunnel with no end in sight, it seems that only those who have suffered it know it. However, he overcame rehabilitation in the end. How are you feeling?
Jeong: I didn’t know before I got hurt. Will I get injured? As much as that, it seems that I have neglected taking care of my body. When I was in rehab, I didn’t know what to do because I was hurt for the first time, but good people around me helped me and believed that I could do it all the time, so I treated the crisis as an opportunity, set goals, and worked hard on my rehabilitation. And I always imagined throwing the ball from the mound again with a sense of responsibility, and I was able to overcome it by thinking positively.
Q) Yes, I can’t help but talk about this season. What do you think your organs are?
Jung: People can’t always do well. Slumps come and hard times come. However, I believe that only by overcoming it can you grow one step further. Personally, I think this season is very good. People around me might say it was a failure because I didn’t have enough innings, pitched poorly, and got injured, but I learned how to find the right answer from failure while rehabilitating, and it’s actually okay since I screwed up in my second year of high school. because? I think I can do well in my senior year of high school, and I have the confidence not to get hurt. My strength is that I can throw the ball myself even if the opponent hitter comes in, I control the breaking ball that counts well, and above all, I am always confident.
Q) Is there a player you would like to see as a role model?
Jeong: This is senior Lim Chan-kyu of LG. I liked senior Lim Chan-gyu from elementary school, and I fell in love with senior Lim Chan-gyu once more on YouTube when I saw his spirited pitching in Whimoon High School.
Q) Seongnam High School is pretty good. Who do you think is a good friend?
Jeong: Seongnam High School is doing well this year. That’s right. However, the big advantage of Seongnam High School is that it is an original team. It is a tight-knit team, and colleagues always support each other like family, and fill in the gaps with each other. The director always emphasizes the basics. I have the idea that if I do the basics well, I can get good grades. (Lee) Jae-sang is the team captain this year, but he has good leadership and is a friend of Seongnam middle/high school, so it seems to be more supportive. There is an expectation that (Yoon) Kwon will be able to take responsibility for scoring at Seongnam High School next year. And there are many other great players like (Yu) Sang-woo, (Gong) Do-hyeok, (Park) Yoon-seo, (Oh) Seung-hyeon, and (Na) Hae-seong. I hope you look forward to it.
Q) As much as you have rehabilitated, I can’t help but ask you about your resolution this year.
Jung: (firmly) I have nothing more to lose. All I have to do now is go up. The 9 years I invested in baseball, I will definitely be rewarded.
Q). Last question. What is baseball to Jung Seung-won?
Jeong: To me, baseball is everything in my life. I think I lost a lot while playing baseball. It’s always been said by the coach that to gain one he has to lose one. That’s right. I spent all my school days only playing baseball, but now that I have one year left, I hope that happiness will come after hardships.