“Some people wanted me to play one more year….”
‘Genius shortstop’ Kim Jae-ho (39) will finally hang up his uniform. “Kim Jae-ho recently announced his intention to retire from active duty to the club,” Doosan announced on Thursday.
Nicknamed the “genius shortstop,” Kim Jae-ho showed outstanding defense during his career. With solid fundamentals and spur-of-the-moment plays, he has protected Doosan’s center field.
It took a long time for Kim’s talent to blossom. After joining the club as a first-round pick in 2004, it wasn’t until 2014 that he made the leap to the starting lineup.
His rise to the top coincided with Doosan’s peak season. He led the team to the 2015, 2016, and 2019 championships, and the team also reached the Korean Series for seven consecutive years from 2015 to 2022.
In his 21 seasons as a professional, Kim has played in 1,793 games with a .722 batting average, 54 home runs, 600 RBIs, 661 runs scored, 79 doubles, and a .722 OPS. His 1,793 games are the most by any player in Bears franchise history.
This season, Jae-ho hasn’t played much as the organization has been trying to “generationalize” its roster. Last year, Doosan also tried to generationalize the organization, but no one was better than Kim at shortstop.
This season, Doosan continued its search for a young shortstop, but as the team was busy battling for position, 카지노사이트 Kim eventually emerged as the starter, finishing the season with a .760 OPS with three doubles, one home run, and 11 RBIs in 57 games.
He also showed that he was still competitive, starting both Game 1 and Game 2 of the wild-card decider.
Too good to leave the field. Some fans wanted him to extend his career. “I was asked to play one more year, but I thought it was time to leave,” Kim said.
It was a choice for the juniors. “I thought it was right for me to give way to the younger players in order for the team to develop further. “I couldn’t help but think about extending my playing career,” he said, ”but there are many old players in the team now. We don’t want to delay the generation change,” he said.
The secret to his 21-year career is the fans. “They’ve always been there for me. I was able to survive because of my fans. Thank you,” he said.
He also left words of advice for junior players. “I hope they will grow well as they gain experience rather than feeling pressure,” Kim said. ”However, many juniors say they want to be good at defense, but not many players care about defense as much as hitting. Defense is something that comes with hard work and rewards, and I hope they think about that a lot.”
Kim Jae-ho said, “I’m happy to be a Doosan player for the rest of my life. I’m honored to have set the record for the most appearances for the Bears, but I hope there will be a junior who can surpass my record.”