How to enjoy the festivities with a pre-game ‘cold bath’ from the king of batting “You’ve got to get the dopamine going…”
Ahead of the postseason wild-card game on Nov. 19, Son Ah-seop (35-NC Dinos) was a dopamine evangelist.
It was his first postseason appearance in six years, since 2017 when he played for the Lotte Giants. “The air is definitely good and I feel good. When I get into the game, I’ll be fighting with my head, but it’s exciting and fun,” he smiled.
Son went on to talk about dopamine. This neurotransmitter is known for its role in motor function and motivation.
“At the end of the season, I could feel that it was hard, but the postseason is a stage where dopamine is released, so it can be different when you get into the game,” he said.
“When I was battling for at-bats and the team was on a losing streak, I studied about dopamine through YouTube, and it was important,” he said. This season, Son won the batting title for the first time in his career with a batting average of 3.339 in 140 games. Although his batting pace slowed down in the final stretch, he added a hit every game and pulled away from the competition to win the batting title.
His confidence in ‘Dopamine’ must have increased even more. “I want to face the plate with a dopamine boost from the first at-bat,” said Son.
While emphasizing the importance of ‘dopamine,’ Son pointed to Kim Joo-won as a player who could benefit from the ‘dopamine effect’. 먹튀검증 After playing shortstop for the NC this season, Kim represented Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games and won a gold medal.
Son said, “Kim Joo-won probably had a big game, and afterward, he was so relaxed that you could see his play. It’s really nothing, but it’s a big deal. It’s my first time in the postseason, and I think (Kim) will do well because he came back from a big game like this.”
Kim Joo-won had heard enough about Son’s love for dopamine. “I once talked to him about dopamine. When you go into cold water, dopamine is released and it lasts for about two hours, so I go into cold water a lot before the game,” he said. After the match, Kim Joo-won said, “I definitely feel more alert when I’m in the cold water. I think it worked,” he smiled.
NC defeated Dusan 14-9 in the wild card game to advance to the semifinals. Son As-seop had two hits, while Kim Joo-won also had two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Kim Joo-won even managed to erase a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning. Operation Dopamine was a huge success.