“Even if I am born again in the next life, I will play baseball.”
The last words of ‘Choo Choo Train’ Choo Shin-soo (42), who ended his brilliant 24-year professional career in Korea and the United States, were a confession filled with deep love and a wish: “I will play baseball even if I am reborn in the next life.” Choo Shin-soo responded that he has ‘no regrets at all’ about his 35 years of playing baseball and 24 years of playing in the U.S. and Korea.
Choo Shin-soo, who repeatedly expressed gratitude and gratitude to the fans who have supported him for a long time, said, “’That player is sincere about baseball. “If I were to say, ‘I risked my life for baseball,’ I think it would all be compensated,” he said, adding that he hoped he would be remembered as a player who was sincere about baseball.
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Choo Shin-soo’s retirement press conference was held on November 7 at the Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Hotel in Songdo, Incheon. More than 100 media officials attended the event, which was attended by SSG’s teammates Kim Gwang-hyun and Choi Jeong, as well as club executives and staff.
Choo Shin-soo, who appeared with surgery on the shoulder that had bothered him all season, calmly looked back on his career with a bright expression and expressed his feelings about ending his career as a player. At the retirement ceremony on this day, sculptures of Choo Shin-soo’s uniform number 17 and the uniforms of each major league team, including the national team, were unveiled. In addition, the ‘Legendary Moments TOP 5’, which are the most memorable moments in Choo Shin-soo’s career, were revealed.
He started his professional career in 2001 and played in a total of 2,814 games in the Major League and KBO League. After continuing his career as a player for 24 years without a break, this season marked the end of the first chapter of his long journey in baseball. It was not an easy decision to retire because he was so serious about baseball.
Choo Shin-soo said, “At the end, because I couldn’t play in many games due to injury, my regrets as a player disappeared. I have come to admit it. “I started to admit, ‘I probably can’t do it as a player,’” he said. “It’s natural to want to play baseball when you see the players in the dugout after being injured. However, after a difficult year due to injury, the desire to go out on the field naturally disappeared. “In some ways, it was the injury that made me stop letting go of my regrets as a player,” he said, adding that the shoulder injury that had bothered him all season was the reason why he stopped his “fighting spirit as a player.”
![‘Adu’ Choo Shin-soo “I will play baseball again even if I am born in the next life” [추신수 은퇴]](https://pimg.mk.co.kr/news/cms/202411/07/news-p.v1.20241107.ad62d1c5f16e4d9497628bb4351ea6d9_P1.jpg "‘Adu’ Choo Shin-soo “I will play baseball again even if I am born in the next life” [추신수 은퇴]")
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Shin-Soo Choo said, “Of course, I decided to retire before my injury. “I wanted to give other players a chance, and now I think I’ve done enough, so I decided to retire,” he said. “I saw senior Park Chan-ho’s press conference a while ago. Although I wasn’t there, I also shed tears while watching. I also thought a lot, ‘Can I do this?’, and I think I ended up in this place. “I am truly grateful to SSG for their great care,” he said, expressing his thoughts at the retirement press conference.
It was a monumental professional career. Choo Shin-soo debuted on the professional stage in 2001 and recorded a batting average of 0.275, 1,671 hits, 218 home runs, 782 RBI, 961 runs, and 157 stolen bases in 1,652 games over 16 seasons in the major league. He also achieved the record of 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, the symbol of the Hota Jun tribe, three times.
The 7-year, $130 million contract signed with the Texas Rangers ahead of 2014 was the highest contract for an Asian player at the time, and is still the highest contract in Major League history for a Korean player. Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco) followed Choo Shin-soo and broke the $100 million barrier by signing a contract worth $113 million in 2024, but he still could not surpass him.
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He overcame prejudice and discrimination on the big league stage, where only Asian players Ichiro Suzuki (retired) had achieved great success, and broke the limitations by playing for a long time as a representative player of the major league. Major league fans who were fascinated by Choo Shin-soo’s play, which was synonymous with hustle play, loved him with the nickname ‘Choo Choo Train’.
Regarding his most memorable at-bat in the major league, Choo Shin-soo said, “I think it was when I debuted in the major league. I was too young to enjoy it. “If I had to pick one at-bat outside of baseball, I think it was the last at-bat,” he said. “We ended up playing baseball without spectators in a situation where no spectators were allowed. It was such a shame that I ended my seven years in Texas without being able to say hello to the Texas home crowd. Although I couldn’t hit due to injury, I didn’t want to end the last seven years of my contract on the bench. “After consulting with the coaching staff, I remember promising that I would only bunt at bat,” he said, looking back on his final moments in the major league in 2020.
The Choo Choo Train’s run continued in Korea as well. He joined SSG in 2021 as the first player to be recruited since SSG acquired and re-founded the SK Wyverns. After SK named Choo Shin-soo as a specially designated player for overseas expansion in 2007, a dramatic move to Korea was accomplished. In 439 games over four seasons since returning to the KBO League, Choo Shin-soo recorded a career batting average of 0.263/396 hits/54 home runs/266 runs/205 RBI/51 stolen bases/on-base percentage of 0.388/slugging percentage of 0.424/OPS of 0.812.
In particular, Shin-Soo Choo experienced the thrill of winning his first professional championship by leading the team to the first ever wire-to-wire integrated victory in 2022, the year after joining SSG.
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Choo Shin-soo chose the 2022 Wire to Wire win as his ‘Legendary Moments TOP 1’ and shared his thoughts at the time and his views on winning.
Regarding the reason why he chose winning as the most memorable moment of his career, Choo Shin-soo said, “I think the reason is the two letters ‘winning’ at the end. “Not only me, but many other players sweat for those two words of winning,” he said. “If winning is ruled out, I don’t think there’s any need to sweat and win while hurting. While playing baseball for 34 years, I desperately wanted to win. “I desperately wanted to do it in the U.S., but when I got to do it in Korea, I chose that as my first moment.”
The mindset that I came not to ‘experience Korean baseball’ but ‘to win’ has never changed. Choo Shin-soo said, “As a sports player, I have always played baseball to win and not to lose. I wanted to share that feeling with the players. I think everyone agrees that they don’t want to bring fans to a baseball stadium and play a losing game. “I think I talked a lot to the players about how to win and what mindset they need to have in order to win,” he said, sharing his thoughts and episodes leading up to winning the Wire Two in 2022.
Every season, I went to the stadium before anyone else and at an earlier time than anyone else and prepared for each season. For the first time in 25 years since his professional debut and in almost 35 years since he began his baseball career, he has faced a ‘winter without baseball.’
Choo Shin-soo said, “I think the most asked question after the last game was, ‘Are you disappointed?’ (Laughing) I feel so sad. But it is a really comfortable winter. Whether players are having a good season or performing below expectations, there is always stress. If you do well, try to do better, and if you don’t, try to bounce back. That creates stress a day or two after the season ends. When I opened my eyes this time, I wondered when I had ever woken up in such a good mood. “I don’t have to worry about gaining weight even when I eat,” he said, smiling brightly and comfortably.
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Although his career as ‘athlete Choo Shin-soo’ is over, the habit has not gone away. It’s only been two weeks since I had shoulder rotator cuff surgery, but I started exercising again. And that’s starting the day after surgery.
You can’t put a grade on your baseball career. However, he said he wanted to say, ‘I worked hard and lived well.’
“After my last at-bat, I received a huge call. I heard a lot of things like, ‘It’s a shame,’ ‘I’m so disappointed,’ and ‘Just do it for one more year.’ I closed my eyes and thought about it. I started playing baseball when I was 9 years old, and I thought about the at-bats that ended yesterday’s game, and looking back, a smile came to my face. I may not have become the player I wanted to be, but I feel like I used the 24 hours I was given well to do what I love about baseball. So I have no regrets. I think that’s why they say winter is happy. “It’s like giving points, and if you were to give me a point, I would say, ‘I worked hard and lived well.’” It was also a reassuring feeling that I could say because I worked hard as a player without a single regret.
Lastly, Choo Shin-soo said that he wanted to be remembered by fans as ‘a player who was sincere about baseball.’
When asked, ‘What kind of player do you want to be remembered as?’ Choo Shin-soo said, “If you calmly evaluate ‘Choo Shin-soo’, there doesn’t seem to be anything special about him. However, when I say Five-tool, I think of it as a player who can do it on average but can do it in many areas and in a variety of fields.” “If it means ‘I risked my life for baseball,’ I think I can be rewarded for everything I’ve done in my baseball life up to that point,” he said sincerely.
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By joining SSG in 2021, he reconnected with the Korean KBO League. For him, who grew up as a baseball boy born in Busan, SSG has now become his ‘first team’ and an ‘unforgettable memory.’
Choo Shin-soo said, “As you know, I am from Busan and was also nominated by the Lotte Giants. He is also a person who developed his hopes of becoming a baseball player by watching Lotte Baseball. (That’s why) It was a really unfortunate situation to not be able to play for Lotte. However, when I returned, I was in a situation where I could not return to Lotte. The place where I first took my first steps in Korea was Incheon, so SSG is my first team. “I feel great pride in working with great players like Gwang-Hyun Kim and Jeong Choi, even though I am a senior, as a baseball player and colleague,” he said.
I am just grateful to the fans. Choo Shin-soo said, “The only thing I can think of is ‘thank you.’ “When I was playing in the U.S., there were many people who told me that they ‘woke up early in the morning’ to watch my games,” he said. “There was something that touched my heart while I was attending an autograph session in Korea. I heard people say, ‘I thought I wouldn’t see you because I was far away, but I’m grateful you came back to Korea.’ “I didn’t express it at the time, but I think I shed a lot of tears in my heart,” he said, expressing his sincerity.
A career full of ups and downs. But now, looking back, I am grateful for all those moments. Choo Shin-soo said, “While playing as a baseball player, I received a lot of support from many people, and I also received a lot of criticism. “I think that (criticism) is also of interest,” he said. “I’m leaving the ground now, but I will think carefully about what I can do for Korean baseball and what help I can provide.” “I want to say thank you very much,” he said.
Choo Shin-soo, who thought for a moment when asked by the host, ‘Is there any last thing you want to say?’, quickly answered:
“I will play baseball in my next life.”
[송도(인천)=김원익 MK스포츠 기자]
