Park Chan-ho Defends Against Criticism Amid KBO Golden Glove Controversy: A Look at His Stellar Season and Media Struggles

Defending Park Chan-ho, one of the top contenders for the Golden Glove Award at shortstop in the KBO League this season. Provided by KIA

KIA Tigers shortstop Park Chan-ho (29) made a thoughtful statement at the Golden Glove Awards ceremony.

Chan-Ho Park received the defensive award in the shortstop category for two consecutive years at the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) awards ceremony held on the 26th. Being the winner of the KBO Defensive Award, which is considered a precursor to the Golden Glove Awards, increased his chances of winning his first Golden Gloves. However, Park Chan-ho, whom I met right after the awards ceremony, was not happy at all. Instead, in response to a reporter’s question, “Aren’t you more greedy for the golden gloves?” he expressed his frustration by saying, “I didn’t even do an interview about the golden gloves, but there is too much talk about me. playing the media (to win the award).”

This season’s KBO League Golden Glove shortlist position is considered the biggest battle. This is because Park Chan-ho and Park Seong-han (26, SSG Landers) took advantage of the slow performance of Oh Ji-hwan (34, LG Twins), who won the award for two consecutive years, to create a reward. a two-way match. Both players achieved a batting average of .300 in regulation at-bats and had the same number of errors at 23. In terms of individual performance, Park Seong-han has a slight advantage, his double-digit home run record ( 10, 5 Chan-ho Park), but Chan-ho Park is expected to have a special ‘winning price’ there. he led the competition together. Given the situation, public opinion is also tense.

The 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Awards Ceremony was held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on the afternoon of the 26th. KIA shortstop Park Chan-ho shares his thoughts after receiving a defensive award. Reporter Jeong Si-jong capa@edaily.co.kr /2024.11.26.

However, some rude fans are increasing the level of criticism towards Park Chan-ho. The main point is that they are greedy for prizes and they are trying to influence public opinion. Park Chan-ho said, “During the season (in interviews), when the topic of the Golden Glove came up, all I said was, ‘It would be nice to get it, but since the season still in the middle of the season. season, I think it would be right to think about it after it’s over.’ What did you do to play with the media I don’t understand.” Park Chan-Ho was the second person to attend the Golden Glove Awards ceremony last year. Oh Ji-hwan, the shortstop who won the overall competition, the winner of the award, but he visited the scene in person and beat Chan-Ho Park was the only one among all the roles that came to the awards ceremony although he was not a winner. However, this season, which is a strong candidate for the award, I still haven’t decided whether I should attend or not.

Park Chan-ho said, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m really worried about whether I should attend. Last year, I was in second place, where I would be praised, and when the club proposed it, I happily said ‘I’ll go,’ but this year, the feeling is very different (If not) “It felt like it wouldn’t get​​​​ I would accept any suggestion, and so on I don’t know if I should go or not,” he said, showing signs of debate. At the same time, he was worried that his family would become the target of attacks by some malicious reporters. He thought, “If you’re going to hear this, you don’t have to accept it.

Being nominated for an individual award means that the individual performance was outstanding. Kim Sun-bin was the last KIA shortstop to receive the Golden Glove in 2017. There are a total of six candidates for this year’s Golden Glove shortstop. He has to compete not only with Park Seong-han but also with prominent youngsters such as Kim Joo-won (NC Dinos) and Lee Jae-hyun (Samsung Lions). Chan-ho Park said, “I am satisfied with my personal marks. I am not saying that I will be satisfied with this performance in the future, but I think it is right to be satisfied because this year’s performance is an improvement on last year. The team also won and I think I did everything I could.”

Reporter Bae Jung-hyeon bjh1025@edaily.co.kr