"Young-gu's number is my dream"…The bold goal of LG's all-time foreign hitter
"Young-gu's number is my dream"…The bold goal of LG's all-time foreign hitter
Blog Article
"It's my dream (to have a permanent absence)."
Austin Dean, the LG Twins' all-time foreign hitter, showed his affection for his team. His goal was to be permanently absent.
Austin is, in name and reality, the best foreign hitter in the history of the LG Twins. Having started playing with LG for the first time in the 2023 season, he played in 139 games with a batting average of 0.313 (163 hits in 520 at-bats) with 23 home runs and 95 RBIs with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.893, driving LG to win the title overall for the third time in 29 years since 1994 and the third time in its career (1990, 1994 and 2023). Austin was able to become the first LG foreign hitter to wear golden gloves after the season.
Austin also showed great presence during the 2024 season. He started the season with a batting average of 0.281 in March and two homers and five RBIs, and a batting average of 0.348 four homers and 16 RBIs in April. He briefly slowed down with a batting average of 0.247 and four homers and 20 RBIs in May, but succeeded in rebounding with a batting average of 0.308 and seven homers and 28 RBIs in June. Austin, who posted a batting average of 0.316, four homers and 13 RBIs in July, finished the regular season with a batting average of 0.367 and nine homers and 35 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.333 and two homers and 15 RBIs in September.
The final result is 0.319 with a batting average of 16319 (168 hits in 527 times at bat) and 32 home runs and 132 RBIs in an OPS of 0.957. With this, Austin not only became the RBI king but also became the first batter to record 30 home runs-100 RBIs in a single season for the LG team. In addition, he also renewed the record of most RBIs in a season held by Chae Eun-sung (currently Hanwha Eagles) in 2018 and Kim Hyun-soo (119 RBIs) in 2020.
As he displayed outstanding performance, he naturally won the honor. He beat Matt Davidson of the NC Dinos, who had a batting average of 0.306 (or 154 hits in 504 times at bat) and a slugging percentage of 0.633 OPS 1.003 with 119 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 0.633. Austin received 193 votes (67.0 percent of the 288 valid votes cast for the Golden Glove, beating Davidson of 83 votes.
Not only that, but Austin also showed his sincerity toward Korean baseball. Austin, who could not attend the Golden Glove award ceremony for the 2023 season, had received a Golden Glove at Jamsil Baseball Stadium after returning home from his spring camp. It was different this time. He visited Korea for three days and two nights to keep his promise with fans that he would participate in the ceremony, and wore golden gloves amid many celebrations.
Austin recently expressed his commitment to permanently leave the office through LG's official video channel. For reference, it seems that the video was taken at a company dinner right after Austin received the Golden Glove.
"It may not be easy for a foreign player to be permanently absent, but it would be wonderful," he said. "Park Yong-taek (who was permanently absent earlier) has played for LG for a really long time. If you play for such a long time, it is natural that you will be permanently absent. In particular, he has the record of being the highest number of hits in history (2,504 hits, currently held by Son Ah-seop of NC Dinosaurs, who has 2,511 hits). I think such records increase his value." 안전놀이터
"I'm turning 32 now, and I think I'll have to play for four more years (with my current skills) to be able to play forever," Austin said, adding, "That's my dream. I want to retire from LG. If possible, I want to play baseball for a long time at LG."
Finally, he said, "Thank you, LG fans. Thanks to your love and support, I came to Korea and received the Golden Glove. It's all thanks to you. Thank you so much, and I'll see you again." Will Austin, LG's lucky foreign hitter, continue to hit hard and achieve his dream of permanent absence.