DUI affecting more than just Cleveland Indians’ Shin Soo Choo’s clean record - MLB News
Shin Soo Choo was arrested on May 2 originally on the suspicion of drunk driving which showed his blood alcohol level at an astounding .201. The legal limit in Ohio is a distant .08.
News of this incident made headlines everywhere given that this was the first brush with offensive behaviour that the Cleveland Indians player had.
Any other players would’ve been concerned with whatever legal issues he would have to face and what the reprimands of his actions would be but Choo is much more worried about what his fans think of him after the embarrassing incident. Given that he is from
Korea, an equally baseball crazed nation as America, he has disappointed many more fans than a regular player would have in the same situation.
He commented about the situation and said, "My first country is Korea, but I've lived here 11 years. This is my country, too. I have two different countries, so I worry about more fans. That happened last month. So I wanted to play good in the field, show
better play and then try to make people forget."
Performing well is what Choo might want to do but that is something which is just not happening. He was the Indians most reliable and top offensive player in the last two seasons. This season however, that spark seems to have fizzled given he is barely hitting
.242 along with five home-runs and 22 RBIs in the duration of 54 games.
Choo was replaced by American League’s biggest hitter and excellent short-stop Asdrubal Cabrera on manager Manny Acta’s request.
For Choo, who has never had an unruly off the field incident, the intense scrutiny that comes with it is something he is learning to adjust with. To not let those worries get to him in the field Acta moved Choo to the Number six spot from his previous Number
three spot, which is designated for the best hitter on the team.
For Shin Soo, this doesn’t affect or upset him. He believes that he isn’t on the top of his game at the moment and the Number three spot should be reserved for someone who is, which is Cabrera.
Choo who has always played with a passion is trying not to let this incident affect him and is using the incident to his advantage by trying to put his career back in perspective. He said that he is extremely grateful to be paying in the Major Leagues.
Hopefully Choo bounces back soon into his regular competitive self because the Indians need his help to overcome their first slump since the season began. They recently lost eight out of their last 11 games which is not what you expect from the team that
has the second best record in baseball.
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