"Dusan's uniform still looked good on him. I will continue to support (Dustin) Nippert in everything he does."

On the day of Nippert's retirement ceremony, Jung Soo-bin, who led the Doosan Bears to victory, expressed his affection for Nippert.메이저사이트

Doosan, led by head coach Lee Seung-yeop, beat manager Lee Kang-chul's KT Wiz 2-1 in the 2024 professional baseball KBO League regular season home game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 14th.

As a result, Doosan, ranked fifth, recorded 66 wins, two draws, and 66 losses, recovering its winning rate of 50 percent, pressing KT (67 wins, two draws, 66 losses) in fourth place by 0.5 games.

Jeong Su-bin, the first batter and center fielder, showed stellar performance. First of all, he showed his presence in defense. At the top of the first inning, he blocked KT Kim Sang-soo's tricky hit by hitting a sliding catch with runners on the second and third bases with two outs, and played a fly to the center field.

He also shone in the batter's box. He swung his bat fiercely at right field flies in the bottom of the first inning, but with one out and runners on the second base in the bottom of the third inning when the two teams were tying 1-1. He hit a 134-km fastball on seven pitches by right-handed starter Ko Young-pyo, leading to a timely hit. As Doosan won the game without allowing a tie, Chung's hit became the final hit of the day. Since then, Chung stole second and third bases in a row, but failed to score a point.

He also displayed sharp contact ability in the bottom of the sixth inning. As the leadoff hitter, he hit Ko Young-pyo's two-ball 115-km changeup to produce a hit to left. Lee Yoo-chan's sacrifice bunt and Yang Eui-ji's bases-loaded walk allowed him to reach third base, but failed to hit home again this time. Later in the bottom of the eighth inning, he retired by hitting a fly to the left field, and Jung's performance remained as two hits, one RBI and two steals from four times at bat on the day.

After the game, Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, "Jung Soo-bin was the troubleshooter in attack and defense today. At a crisis point in the first inning, Jung blocked additional runs by banking on his stellar defense, and didn't let the flow go," adding, "He showed perfect performance by garnering two hits and two steals including the finishing hit in the third inning."

Jung Soo-bin said, "I'm happy to win the first game in a long time. I think I focused more than usual because it was a meaningful game. I'm playing with the mindset that I'm playing the postseason one game at a time recently. As a result, I think I'm getting good defense and good plays. Also, I was able to win today's game because the pitching staff threw it so well. I want to say thank you to the pitchers all the time."

As Jung Soo-bin said, the game was very meaningful to Doosan. It was the very reason that Nippert's retirement ceremony was held on the day. Nippert is a foreign pitcher who represents the KBO League in name and reality. After signing a contract with Doosan (2011-2017), he joined KT (2018) and posted a report card of 102 wins, 51 losses and one hold average earned run of 3.59 in 214 games over the past eight years through the 2018 season. He is the longest-serving foreign player in history and remains the only one to achieve 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts.

After receiving Doosan's nomination as No. 39 in the second round of the fifth round in 2009, Jung has posted a batting average of 0.280 (1,467 hits in 5,243 times at bat), 36 homers, 540 RBIs, 323 steals, and OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.725 in 1,670 games so far this year, boasting a special relationship with Nippert. Jung stayed strong in the outfield and shared the glory days of Doosan. During the period, they played in the Korean Series four times (2013 and 2015-2017) and won the title twice (2015 and 2016).

"I got (Nippert) today, and fortunately I won. I feel great to be able to have my retirement ceremony in a good atmosphere," Jung said. "I wore Doosan's uniform a few years after I retired, and it still looked good on me. Congratulations on your retirement ceremony today and I will continue to support you in everything you do."

Meanwhile, at the retirement ceremony after the game, Jung Soo-bin delivered a bouquet of flowers to Nippert along with Kim Jae-ho and Heo Kyung-min. "My team members are my everything," Nippert said while reading the letter, "Thank you for welcoming me with open arms from day one and for treating me like a family. I'm grateful for having stood behind my back and only showed me hustling plays. He helped me become a top pitcher. I hope my pitches made you all proud. I wouldn't have been anything without my team members. I wouldn't have made it if you guys hadn't done your best every time I took the mound."