Shin Soo-Choo was selected for the Cleveland Indians’  Tribe’s Man of the Year award.  This honor is an individual award that is voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.  Pretty darn good because Shin Soo-Choo is a position player and not a pitcher, where many Asian players are usually slotted for on Major League Baseball teams.  His stats are pretty impressive for just his first year in the big leagues and hopefully he’ll get better.

The BBWAA selected Shin-Soo Choo as the Tribe’s Man of the Year for the consistent production he provided in the Indians lineup. Utility infielder Jamey Carroll, who is now a free agent, was saluted as the Frank Gibbons/Steve Olin Good Guy Award winner.

Choo is a first-time winner of the Man of the Year honor. He batted .300 with 20 homers, 38 doubles and 86 RBIs in his first full big league season.

Asdrubal Cabrera was the runner-up for the award in the BBWAA voting.

Carroll won the Good Guy Award for the leadership he provided in the Tribe clubhouse and his approachability and accessibility with the media, in good times and bad. Travis Hafner and Aaron Laffey were also nominated.

Source: MLB.com

The baseball season ended this week and it’s the start of the playoffs.  We can look back and say that the two most prominent Korean players in the Major Leagues made big contributions to their team.  Chan Ho Park was one of the most reliable relief pitchers for the defending World Series champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.  But now let’s pause and take a look at Shin Soo Choo because he became the first Asian player to become a 20-20 player: 20 home runs and 20 steals in the same season.  He actually finished with 20 homers and 21 steals.  There were only 11 other players who entered the 20-20 club.  The steals are a bit surprising because when you look at him, he doesn’t seem to be so nimble because he seems to lumber along, but I guess he’s pretty swift.

Choo ended the season hitting .300 (175-for-583) with 38 doubles, six triples, 20 homers and 86 RBI. The 20 homers and 86 RBI are team highs for the Cleveland Indians.  He said his goal for next year is to go 30-30.  Let’s hope so!

Shin-soo Choo is a major league baseball player a lot of pitchers would rather not face.  As the clean up batter on the Cleveland Indians, he was also a key component on the Korean national baseball team during the World Baseball Classic.  Below is an excerpt from an interview he did with Dong-A Ilbo.

Dong-A: Koreans such as Park Chan-ho, Kim Byung-hyun and Seo Jae-weung succeeded as pitchers in Major League Baseball, but you seem like the first to do so as a batter. What does it feel like to become a major batter in the majors?

Choo: I’m not satisfied with myself at the moment. I feel like I need to do more to prove such a reputation. This is only my first season as a full-time runner and the season has yet to end. I’m maintaining a good sense of batting but there’s no end in learning when it comes to baseball. I see new techniques coming out every day, and I have to get used to the balls thrown by new pitchers. You simply cannot survive with old techniques. You have to keep working. I tape my batting every day and analyze it to see whether I’m doing anything wrong.

Dong-A: You are the first Korean to be nominated for the Hank Aaron Award. How does that feel?

Choo: It’s nothing. It might be a big deal in Korea, but not in the United States. It’s an honor to be a nominee, but I know I’m not going to be the winner. There are so many other outstanding batters in the majors. Every team gets two to three nominees, so I’m just one of them.

Dong-A: What was your most difficult moment?

Choo: I had the hardest time in 2001 and 2002 when I first came to the United States after graduating high school in Korea. I had problems with communication and I was lonely because I had no friends. I can communicate well now, though my English might not be perfect.

Dong-A: Do you take English lessons?

Choo: I didn’t take any lessons but I learned by talking to other players. I had a dedicated interpreter for the first two years but not anymore.

Dong-A: Are you aware of your popularity among American fans?

Choo: Many American fans seemed to notice me after the second half of last year, when I began to bat well. We have individual mailboxes and mine is full of fan mail usually asking for my autograph. Unfortunately, I cannot reply to all of them.

Dong-A: What advice do you have for Korean players who wish to play in Major League Baseball?

Choo: I played with my Korean teammates in this year’s World Baseball Classic and the national team is one of the world’s best. Baseball itself is not much different between the two countries, but rather a matter of culture and style. It all boils down to how well Korean players can adapt to the style of American baseball, which is different from Korea’s. I might be doing well here in the States, but I might struggle in Korea. Any player who comes to America should be ready to start from scratch. Even if you were the best player in Korea, you have to swallow your pride.

Dong-A: You might still have to serve your mandatory military service as a Korean male. Is the Asian Games next year your last chance to get a draft exemption?

Choo: That’s a very tricky issue I’ve been discussing with the team, but I’ve not received any confirmation. I want to play in the Asian Games but I’d need permission from my current team.

Dong-A: You have a sticker of the Korean national flag on your bat. Why?

Choo: Many Americans do not know about Korea. I want to let them know more about my country. I had the sticker at the end of the bat since it is often captured on camera. These days, many fans come to the stadium with a picture of the flag.

Dong-A: How do you manage your health?

Choo: I try to sleep a lot, at least eight to nine hours a day. I can get rid of fatigue by sleeping. I also eat red ginseng jelly and juice every day. I even eat jelly in games as a snack. I used to sweat a lot, but after eating red ginseng, I began to sweat less and grew less tired.

Dong-A: What is your ultimate goal?

Choo: I first want to do my best in the United States. I want to be remembered as a long-time starter instead of doing well just for a couple of seasons and then disappearing. I still have a long way toward achieving that goal.

Shin Soo-Choo, an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, was picked as one of the top 100 baseball players today in Major League Baseball, this according to Joe Posnanski of CNN Sports Illustrated.  Joe ranks Shin Soo-Choo as the 68th best baseball player, which beats out Adam Dunn, Todd Helton, All-Star Brandon Inge, Jimmy Rollins, and a whole lot of other players.  Pretty impressive!

Hits with power (13 homers). Is a perfect 13-for-13 in steals. Gets on base (.393 OBP). Has a bazooka for an arm. And his name, Choo, is perfect for shouting at the ballpark.

Shin-Soo Choo was back in the Cleveland Indians’ lineup Thursday — with his fingers crossed.

Choo said he feels just fine and is confident he can have a good season. Where he’s hoping for a little luck is in getting out of an impending two-year military commitment in his native South Korea that could sideline his blossoming career.

“There’s a little bit of a chance,” Choo said after returning to the Indians after playing for his country in the World Baseball Classic.

He hopes that helping his country to a second-place finish to Japan will be spur South Korean government officials to waive his mandatory military obligations. He and three other players on the South Korean team have yet to serve and must do so by age 30. Choo turns 27 on July 13.

Other members of the team had their obligations waived after winning the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. A win over rival Japan in the championship game would have helped, but South Korea lost 5-3 in 10 innings. But Choo hit a home run in the game, as he did in a semifinal win over Venezuela in which he raised an arm in celebration as he rounded the bases.  Read>