Hanwha Ahn Chi-hong, who transferred from Lotte to Hanwha, is expected to pass on know-how to promising players 1 Filling 100 at-bats each as the number 9 hitter, “I’m proud of showing consistent performance every year… “It will help Hanwha win its second championship.”
Ahn Chi-hong obtained free agent (FA) status, changed from Lotte to Hanwha uniform, and strengthened his resolve, saying he could play in all infield positions except pitcher. Ahn Chi-hong has won the Golden Glove three times as a second baseman since his professional debut in 2009, and is an all-round defender who has also played as a first baseman, third baseman, and shortstop.
“I can do any position.”
Ahn Chi-hong (33), who qualified as a professional baseball free agent (FA) and transferred from Lotte to Hanwha, said this when he first met Hanwha coach Choi Won-ho (50). Ahn Chi-hong said, “You don’t know what will happen when the season starts. He said, “For the team, he can play not only as second baseman and first baseman, but also as third baseman and shortstop.”
Ahn Chi-hong was a top-class shortstop in high school baseball when he was a student at Seoul High School, but in the pros, he mainly played second base and won the Golden Glove Award in 2011, 2017, and 2018. During the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, he played third base and helped Korea win its third consecutive victory in the tournament. In the past two seasons, as his defensive range has decreased as he has gotten older, the number of games he has played as a first baseman has also increased.
Ahn Chi-hong also has a record of filling more than 100 at-bats as batters 1 through 9. He was a player who was willing to take on any position the team needed, regardless of position or batting order. He played in more than 100 games every season, except in 2016 (10 games), when he completed his military service with the National Police Agency baseball team and returned at the end of the season. This is why Ahn Chi-hong is known as a ‘man with calculations’ among professional baseball front offices.
Ahn Chi-hong, who signed with Hanwha under the condition of receiving a total of 7.2 billion won over a contract period of up to 6 years, said, “I have never had an MVP-level season. Instead, I am proud of consistently showing good performance every year. I had never played baseball with any tricks, but Hanwha highly valued this aspect of me. “I heard that Hanwha needs an attitude toward baseball like mine,” he said.
Hanwha has quite a few 'star prospects', including this season's home run king Noh Si-hwan (23), Rookie of the Year pitcher Moon Dong-ju (20), and 2021 Golden Glove Second Baseman winner Jeong Eun-won (23). Hanwha hopes that they can shed the 'promising talent' tag by learning from Ahn Chi-hong's experience of producing consistent results. Ahn Chi-hong also said, “Because Hanwha has many young players, one of the reasons I chose Hanwha was the expectation that I would have a lot to share as a veteran.”
It’s not that Ahn Chi-hong didn’t experience trial and error. Ahn Chi-hong tried to change his batting stance to improve his slugging power in 2013 while playing for KIA, but experienced failure. The number of home runs stayed the same at 3 from the previous year, and the batting average fell from 0.288 to 0.249. He focused again on accuracy ahead of the start of the 2014 season, raising his batting average to 0.339 while also increasing his home runs to 18. It was Ahn Chi-hong's record for most home runs in a season up to that time.
Ahn Chi-hong, who had a 'career high' season, tried to make the national team for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, but when he failed, he delegated his salary contract to the club and enlisted in the National Police Agency. Kim Soo-gil (60), a coach at the National Police Agency at the time, said, “Chi Hong is truly a tyrant. He said, “When MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) was prevalent, Chi Hongi’s fever rose to close to 39 degrees, but she still went out to the stadium and swung the bat,” and added, “There is a reason why Chi Hongi consistently performs well.”
Ahn Chi-hong, who returned from military service, recorded a batting average of 0.316, 21 home runs, and 93 RBI in 2017, helping his team at the time, KIA, win the regular season and Korean Series. It was his second overall victory, following 2009 when he was a rookie. Ahn Chi-hong said, “I got to play with senior Kim Kang-min (41), who had winning experience at SSG, at Hanwha. “I hope our different championship experiences will be helpful on the way to Hanwha’s second championship (since 1999),” he said. 카지노사이트존