"Trust your process." Shirakawa, who almost quit baseball, leaves in Choo Shin-soo's advice

"Trust your process." Shirakawa, who almost quit baseball, leaves in Choo Shin-soo's advice

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"I talked to him and he said he almost quit baseball"

During an interview with Keisho Shirakawa, 23, who has recently shown good performance as a substitute for his team, SSG manager Lee Soo-yong was surprised to hear a story. It meant that Shirakawa almost quit baseball. After graduating from high school, he was not nominated by a Japanese professional baseball team. As a result, he played in the independent league and constantly applied, but failed every year. Naturally, he became tired, and he must have felt skeptical about his future as a baseball player.

In the end, however, he didn't give up and improved his skills, and the opportunity opened up. After confirming Roenis Elias' injury, SSG decided to take advantage of the short-term foreign player system introduced in this year's league, and after asking questions, they became interested in Shirakawa, who was the top starting pitcher in the Japanese independent league. He signed a six-week contract to visit Korea. And his career changed Shirakawa's baseball career.
Shirakawa also showed off his strong competitiveness in the KBO league. He also showed off his good points with fastballs with speeds of over 150 kilometers per hour, good vertical movement of four-seam fastballs, and breaking balls of folk balls and curves. It was not just from experience of success. He studied well in his baseball career by facing challenges that he had not felt well in the independent league. Shirakawa thanked all of his teammates, front desk staff, and coaching staff for their generous advice. He ended the six weeks at SSG by renewing his commitment to play again.

It was six weeks where he felt many things. Shirakawa chose the game against the Lotte Giants on June 7 at Sajik Stadium as his most memorable game. Shirakawa went through a big ordeal on the day. After literally giving up seven hits and three walks during one ⅓ inning, he allowed eight runs (seven earned runs) and left the mound. His team also lost, and it was a big ordeal for him personally. Shirakawa confessed that he was so shocked that he felt doubts about what he had done so far.

It turned out that he was so nervous. He was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm at Sajik Stadium, which is known to be the hottest place in the KBO league as well. He was so nervous that officials even thought, "I could see Shirakawa's jersey could be shaken even when I saw him in the dugout." Shirakawa also honestly said, "I was scared." As a result, he failed to throw his ball. It was an ordeal he had never experienced in the Japanese independent league. He was depressed.

"Up until now, I was confident that no matter what ball I threw, I would not get hit," Shirakawa said ahead of the match against Changwon NC Dinos on Tuesday. "However, I was particularly hit every time I threw. I realized my weakness there and thought I should try again," he said, expressing that he still has memories of that day in his heart.

Although a difficult period continued until the next game, the advice of Choo Shin-soo (42), who played for 16 years in the Major League, where team captain, the best fielder produced by Korean baseball, and the best players from all over the world gathered, was a great help. "He was young and inexperienced. I came all the way here to become a professional player, but I was nervous and nervous, so I couldn't show my skills properly," Choo said, advising Shirakawa to "believe in the process you have done so far."

"If I go to a bigger stage than here, I'll throw it in front of more people. What will I do then?" Choo said. "I should go up with the mindset of 'I'll show you,' not to make a question mark. Trust yourself." 먹튀검증

In Shirakawa's eyes, Choo was a great player and cannot even approach him. It was a turning point in Shirakawa's baseball career that Choo approached him first and gave him strength. Shirakawa also said, "Those kinds of advice from Choo gave me a big boost," adding, "It was an opportunity to gain confidence." Coincidentally, Shirakawa showed good performance after the advice thanks to his strong facial expression and ball pitching, which led to SSG's agony until the end.

Shirakawa laughs at himself, "Our village is a village." He confesses that he is unfamiliar with the 'big world' because he hasn't been to many cities. However, playing in front of big cities, big stadiums, and many fans in Korea will help Shirakawa grow into a bigger player in the future. With Choo Shin-soo, and his teammates' advice in his heart, Shirakawa leaves SSG vowing to "work harder."