Texas Rangers Shin-Soo Choo felt ‘free’ to go home after strong finish

Returning home to South Korea in the off-season is always special for Shin-Soo Choo and his family. But making the trip is a whole lot more fun after your team wins a division title and you sizzled at the plate the entire second half.

Two weeks back home in November, including his hometown Busan, was indeed fun for Choo, who visited friends, family and his parents. It was a much more enjoyable trip than a year ago when he was coming off an injury-plagued 2014, his first with the Texas Rangers.

“The last couple of years I felt like I put everything on my shoulders and now I want to do something to pay back the Texas Rangers and my contract,” Choo said from a winter caravan appearance with Sam Dyson at an Academy store in North Fort Worth Sunday afternoon. “Now I feel like I’m more free.”

Choo hit .343 with a .484 on-base percentage in the second half this past season. For a couple months, there wasn’t a more consistent hitter in baseball. That made going home much sweeter, he said.

“It’s always good to see my country and see a lot of friends and see my parents,” said Choo, who credited manager Jeff Banister for keeping faith when he was struggling early last season, including a .096 batting average in April.

“He gave me the opportunity. That’s not easy to do because everybody wants to win. The first half was not really me. Not many managers would give you that opportunity,” he said.

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Texas Rangers Shin-Soo Choo felt ‘free’ to go home after strong finish."