Eight veteran players of the Hanwha Eagles gathered in the west coast of Taean on Wednesday morning. Eight veterans in their 30s, including ace pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (38), captain Chae Eun-seong (35), Jang Si-hwan (38), Lee Jae-won (37), Choi Jae-hoon (36), An Chi-hong (35), Lee Tae-yang (35), and Jang Min-jae (35), all wore thin sweatsuits and acquired them in the winter sea. The cold sea made loud cries. 

It was the moment when he fulfilled his pledge to fail in the semi-finals before the season. At the KBO Media Day held just before the opening of last year's season, Chae Eun-seong, who attended the event as Hanwha's representative player, made an unusual pledge by saying that if the team fails to make it to the round of five, seniors will go to Taean in December to obtain the prize. The pledge was made by Ryu's suggestion, "Why do you always make a pledge when you fail?" and was an expression of strong determination to participate in the fall baseball league. 메이저놀이터

However, Hanwha failed to make it to the top five again by ranking eighth in the early days of the season, leaving behind a flash of gusty winds. It was doubtful whether Hanwha's pledges before the season had been forgotten, but the seniors did not. Without mentioning it to the club, he voluntarily went to Taean to keep his promise. Ryu left a short video message on his SNS account, saying, "I went to the winter sea to keep my promise with fans. I will do better next year." 

Looking at the seniors who entered the winter sea, the juniors were also stimulated a lot. Kim Seo-hyun said, "I didn't know that seniors would really do that. As a junior, I don't just take it lightly. I thought I had to improve my skills unconditionally." Moon Hyun-soo also said, "The seniors made it with the determination that they must go to the fall baseball league. That's what the juniors should do with that mind." 

Chae Eun-sung said, "I said this in front of everyone (on Media Day), but I had to keep it. It was not a pledge we made because we were good at it. I didn't mean to be funny, but I went into the sea with the intention of doing well next year (2025) while reflecting on myself a lot. On that day, the seniors said, "Let's prepare well and show good results next year," and said, "I'm glad if it was a good message to my juniors." 

With this extraordinary sense of responsibility, Chae Eun-seong, who is trusted by Hanwha coach Kim Kyung-moon, will take the heavy responsibility again this year. After the end of last year's season, Kim called Chae Eun-seong separately to ask him to captain. As Chae Eun-seong had an up-and-down season personally when he assumed the captaincy last year, he thought that he would hand over the armband to others this year, but he couldn't help but ask for the help of Kim. He is entering the second consecutive season as the captain. 

"It's not easy to become a captain," Chae said. "The older you get, the harder it is to become a captain. It was a good experience after one year of experience, but it's true that it's a very difficult position. However, it was like handing over someone else's hard work," Chae said. "I have to take care of this and that while serving as a captain, but the most important thing is to be good at baseball." When a captain is good at baseball, every word or action of a captain can give him more strength. 

Chae had a batting average of 271 (118 hits in 436 at-bats) with 20 home runs and 83 RBIs in 124 games last year. It was a little better in terms of records than in 2023 (batting average of .263, 23 home runs, 84 RBIs and OPS .779), the first year of his transfer to the FA. However, considering that it was a season of batting and pitching, overall hitting productivity fell slightly, and it was regrettable that he was sluggish in the first half amid bad news that he was on the injured list twice due to finger and back pain in the early days of the season. 

In the second half of the season, he improved his performance significantly with his unique driving, but he failed to make up for the team's performance, which had been sagging in the first half. After the season, Chae Eun-sung, who also participated in the Miyazaki wrap-up camp in Japan and sweated with his younger juniors, reflected, "It was an opportunity to go to the wrap-up camp for the first time in a long time and find his mindset as a child. The coach said good things, and it was a good time to fill in a lot of what was lacking as a team." 

"Last year was a season that I was disappointed in both team and personally. I have no choice but to do well somehow. The coach also said that as we get older, we need to make changes little by little. We will make small changes accordingly," he said. "I hope our team will get better results this year, and all the players will be healthy and play baseball well without any injuries. As the coach mentioned during the closing camp, it is the season to start anew with a new stadium. I really hope that the coach's words that he wants to have an autumn feast with Hanwha fans will come true," he said, dreaming of an autumn baseball game at Daejeon New Stadium.