Genius shortstop leaves when clapping "I wanted to do well and retire"
Genius shortstop leaves when clapping "I wanted to do well and retire"
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Kim Jae-ho (39, Doosan Bears) has completed his career. He announced his retirement through the club on the 14th. After joining Doosan with the first nomination in 2004, he ended his career as a one-club man.
During his heyday, fans called him a "genius shortstop." He did not display dynamic defense or outstanding slugging capability like Oh Ji-hwan of the LG Twins and Kim Ha-sung who advanced to the Major League. However, his fast judgment on batting, stable defense and seasoned team batting helped his team reach the Korean Series (2015-2021) and win three titles.
Kim Jae-ho, who has played solidly, has become one of the longest-serving Doosan Bears players. Having played in 1,793 games for the past 21 years, Kim beat Ahn Kyong-hyun (1,716 games) and became the player who played the most games in the club's history from the beginning of the last year (founding as OB Bears).
Kim Jae-ho has decided to retire not because of his poor performance. He also posted a batting average of 0.302 OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.760, in 57 games this year, just before his 40th birthday. He also had a batting average of 0.283 last year and was active in the top lineup.
It is for the younger players to leave the ground. "I felt that we need a generational change. If I win a position, another junior will not be given a chance to play," Kim said in a phone interview with the Dong-A Ilbo.
Doosan's top batters this season were kept by Jung Soo-bin, Heo Kyung-min, Yang Eui-ji, Kim Jae-hwan and Yang Seok-hwan. Doosan's batters, led by veterans, scored no goals in both wild card matches. "Isn't Doosan a little older on average than other teams? I thought our team needs to change," Kim Jae-ho said. "If I leave, someone will appear again, and that player will be big. I wanted to make my juniors compete in a better environment."
I was able to leave even more relieved because I had good results. Kim Jae-ho recalled, "After signing my second free agent contract after the last 2020 season, there was a sluggish period. I felt sorry for the fans in many ways, and I also felt sorry for the team." After signing a four-year, five-billion-won contract after the 2016 season, he played with a batting average of 0.290 OPS of 0.780 for four years. He renewed his contract with Doosan for three years and 2.5 billion won after the contract expired, but he was sluggish with a batting average of 0.212 for the next two years. Kim Jae-ho said, "I've been thinking that I want to finish it by showing good performance. I'm going to retire when I feel sad (about leaving)." 메이저놀이터
Doosan has to completely reassemble the infield that Kim Jae-ho left. Heo Kyung-min, the main third baseman, also moved to KT Wiz, and the only remaining main infielders are Yang Seok-hwan and Kang Seung-ho. They are still unstable in defense even though they observe the batting performance. Doosan hopes that young players such as Park Joon-young, Jeon Min-jae, Lee Yoo-chan and Yeo Dong-gun will grow as soon as possible in the positions of shortstop and third baseman.