Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre and former ace Cole Hamels, who once dominated the era, visited the SSG Landers' second team.

On 11th, SSG held 'MLB Legend Mentoring Day' at SSG Futures Field in Incheon, Ganghwa County. The purpose was to share the know-how of legendary players who left their mark in Major League Baseball with the Futures team and to improve the club's player development system. This event was realized through the arrangement of Choo Shin-soo, who serves as the owner’s assistant. Choo, Beltre, and Hamels all played together for the Texas Rangers.

Beltre is a legendary third baseman who recorded a .286 batting average with 3,166 hits, 477 home runs, 1,707 RBIs, 1,524 runs scored, and 121 stolen bases over 21 seasons (1998-2018) in Major League Baseball, playing 2,933 games. He has a dazzling awards history, winning five Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, and being selected to the All-Star Game four times. He was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024. He played together with Choo from 2014 to 2018.

Hamels is an ace who recorded a 3.43 earned run average with 163 wins and 122 losses in 15 seasons (2006-2020) in Major League Baseball, pitching 423 games over 2,698 innings. He was part of the 'Fantastic Four' during his time in Philadelphia and achieved good results even after moving to Texas. He played with Choo from 2015 to 2018.

Before the Futures League held that day, Beltre took time to give a lecture to the second team players. Beltre said, "As a baseball player, you must always make sacrifices and train. If you have a stronger mindset and a spirit of sacrifice, you can walk a better path in your baseball life. Once you enter the professional stage, you must always do your best and pull out more than 100% of yourself to become a true professional."

"There were many players who could not play baseball until the end like me, Choo, and Hamels," said Beltre, emphasizing, "It’s because they couldn't show strong mental strength when they were young and couldn't pull out their 100% ability. A professional athlete should take responsibility for doing what they love as a job, exercising, and getting paid for it."

Beltre stated, "The hunger and desire for baseball are also important factors. Families must make many sacrifices to raise a great baseball player. I hope you take pride in being a baseball player and train hard. I hope you finish your career well."

Beltre urged the players, saying, "Many will aim to move up to the first team through hard work. I hope you don’t limit yourselves and think of not just moving up to the first team but also having dreams of making it to Major League Baseball someday."

Following the lecture, there was a Q&A session with coach Park Jeong-kwon, Park Jong-hoon, and the coaching staff, and afterward, Beltre and Hamels each took time to give technical advice to batters and pitchers.

[OSEN]