Austin Dean, a foreign hitter for the LG Twins.
Austin Dean (31), who achieved everything in his first season in the KBO League, including a team championship and an individual Golden Glove Award, did not choose to try again in the Major League (MLB) and remained with the LG Twins. He said it was because he enjoyed living in Korea so much and that he especially wanted to eat ssamjang.
Austin played a key role in ending LG’s brutal streak of foreign batters last year and leading the team to a combined championship.
He played 139 games in the regular season and achieved great results with a batting average of 0.313, 163 hits, 23 home runs, 95 RBIs, 87 runs, and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.893. He entered the top 10 in most batting indicators, including 3rd in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage, 4th in hits, 6th in runs scored, and 9th in batting average.
In addition, he showed his strength in big games in the Korean Series, with a batting average of 0.350, 7 hits, 1 home run, 5 RBI, 3 runs, and an OPS of 0.931.
After the season ended, he received overwhelming support with 271 out of 291 valid votes (93.1% of the votes) at the Golden Glove Awards ceremony, which selected the best player by position, and became the first baseman’s Golden Glove winner. 카지노사이트
Typically, players who showed off superior skills in the KBO league left by signing with major league or Japanese professional baseball teams.
Austin also likely had ambitions to succeed in the major leagues. He played for the Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants from 2018 to 2022, batting 0.228 in 126 games with 76 hits, 11 home runs, 42 RBI, 40 runs, and an OPS of 0.676. Based on his performance in the KBO League, he can return to the major leagues again and hope to reap the fruits of his success this time.
However, Austin decided to continue wearing the LG uniform. Austin’s contract renewal terms include a signing bonus of $300,000, an annual salary of $800,000, and incentives of $200,000, totaling $1.3 million. Although the contract size is large among foreign players in the KBO League, it is small compared to the Major League and Japanese professional baseball.
When Austin, who seemed to have nothing more to achieve at LG, was asked why he stayed, he answered ‘passion’.
Austin said, “When I was young, my dream was to become a major leaguer. However, as he faced fierce competition to become a starting player in the major leagues, he began to have skeptical thoughts like, ‘What did I play baseball for?’” he said.
He continued, “When I signed with LG and came to Korea, I really liked the atmosphere of the KBO League and the enthusiastic support of the fans. Korean baseball was really fun, and my lost passion was revived. “In particular, it touched my heart deeply that not only the fans, but also the manager, coaches, and players were all there for me,” he said. “That’s why I had a strong will to play baseball at LG for a longer period of time.”
Korean meat cuisine is also one of the reasons why Austin wanted to continue playing for LG. Austin, who returned to Korea on the 4th, immediately went to his restaurant and ate meat dishes to his heart’s content.
He said, “I visited a Korean restaurant in the U.S. in the off-season, but there was no ssamjang. I missed this ssamjang so much. “It was really nice to come to Korea and eat meat dipped in ssamjang,” he said.
At the same time, he said with a smile, “I came back to LG because I wanted to eat ssamjang.” 토토사이트 순위