The struggles of the '1.8 billion FA' facing the reality of 'backup' → He hit a batting ball inside without watching the game. He also hit a come-from-behind home run

The struggles of the '1.8 billion FA' facing the reality of 'backup' → He hit a batting ball inside without watching the game. He also hit a come-from-behind home run

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The 34-year-old SSG Landers Oh Tae-gon saved his team with just one swing. He was batting at an indoor practice range even during a game for the sake of his at-bat.

Oh appeared as a pinch hitter at the bottom of the eighth inning, one out and one out, behind the Doosan Bears' opening game of the "2025 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League" held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Tuesday. Oh hit a come-from-behind two-run homer off Doosan setup man Lee Young-ha. SSG won the game 6-5.안전놀이터

After the game, reporters joked that he ended up swinging his bat once. Oh really turned his bat just once. After watching two balls, he hit the third pitch with one strike and one ball to hit the left fence. Then, he briefly entered the defense in the top of the ninth inning before the game ended.

It wasn't that simple, however. Oh said he kept hitting batting balls at the indoor practice range during the game. "I hit it a lot inside," Oh said, expressing regret at reporters' misunderstanding.

"I always play in the third inning or so. No matter how much we cheer for them in the dugout, it doesn't really help our team," Oh said. Fighting on the bench doesn't mean that you are good at baseball. Backups need to warm up, stretch, and prepare in advance to help their team. As you can see during the cleaning time, our team only has backup players. We are practicing inside. We have a good system like that."

Oh Tae-gon swung his bat from behind for nearly two hours for one at-bat in the eighth inning.
Doosan's Lee Young-ha, who allowed a come-from-behind two-run home run to SSG Oh Tae-gon in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The result was sweet. "I expected the timing to play as the coach gave me advice in advance. I bowled while carefully examining the pitch analysis table of Lee Young-ha. Even though I hit the ball like that, it felt too fast when I got 149 kilometers in the beginning," Oh said. "The first batter walked straight. I thought hitting the first pitch would make the mood worse. I waited but it was in the middle. The second ball fell out. So I hit the ball with the heating point in front of me because it was either a fast ball or a slider, but I thought it was okay."

Ahead of the 2023 season, Oh signed a four-year free agent contract with SSG worth 1.8 billion won (approx. It is not a major player. Young prospects are rising from below. Oh also faced the reality.

Oh Tae-gon said, "I had that time, too. When I said I was a promising player at Lotte, it was my seniors' day off when I played in the game. There were times like that for me, so I decided to accept it now," he confessed. "Instead, I got the money, so I have to pay for it," he said, smiling and emphasizing, "Coaches always believe in me, so it is good for the team as well as for me to repay and win in order to survive."