Choi Ji-man (32, Pittsburgh Pirates)스포츠토토 and Kim Ha-seong (28, San Diego Padres), who faced each other in the major leagues, met Kang Jung-ho (36), a ‘big league senior’.
On the 27th, Kang Jung-ho posted a picture taken with Choi Ji-man and Kim Ha-seong on his SNS. Kang Jung-ho also posted a message saying, “My juniors, cheer up.”
Choi Ji-man’s Pittsburgh and Kim Ha-seong’s San Diego played three consecutive matches at Petco Park in San Diego, California on the 25th and 27th.
Kim Ha-seong played an active role with a multi-home run on the 25th, the first day of the three-game match, and Choi Ji-man, who was excluded from the first two games, showed a good side by side by hitting a preemptive solo shot on the 27th, the last day.
In this series, Kang Jung-ho found the stadium and ‘intuitively’. Kang Jung-ho currently runs a baseball academy in California, USA.
In the game on the 25th, Kang Jung-ho caught a foul ball with his bare hands during the game and drew attention. The local caster who was broadcasting the game at the time said, “Doesn’t he look like a baseball player?” and then laughed, saying, “Kang Jeong-ho, who played in Pittsburgh.”
Kang Jeong-ho is Choi, but he is a ‘senior’ who stepped on the big league first before Kim Ha-seong. In particular, to Choi Ji-man, he is a ‘Pittsburgh senior’.
He signed a contract with Pittsburgh in 2015 through the posting system (competitive bidding), and in his first year with a batting average of 0.287, he hit 15 homers and 58 RBIs, proving that even a KBO league player can succeed.
He was also 0 in 2016, the following year.
After returning from injury in 2019, he played 69 games, but finished his big league career with a batting average of 0.169.
Last year, he pushed for a return to the KBO league as Kiwoom Heroes, but was blocked by strong opposition from public opinion.
Kang Jeong-ho also had a relationship with Kim Ha-seong and Kiwoom (then Nexen).