'Retirement' Kim Jae-ho “Courage to give way to juniors...happy with Doosan for life”
'Retirement' Kim Jae-ho “Courage to give way to juniors...happy with Doosan for life”
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“For the Doosan Bears to move forward in a better direction, I thought it was the right decision to give way to younger players,” Kim Jae-ho, 39, said of his retirement.
In the 2024 season, Kim proved that he was no slouch in terms of skill.
He wanted to play more on the field.
However, he decided to retire, saying, “I decided to have the courage to step down for the sake of the younger players.”
On the 14th, the day Doosan officially announced his retirement, Kim Jae-ho told Yonhap News Agency, “Our starting lineup is older. If I don't step down, the generation change may be delayed,” he said, adding, ”If I stay, there will be fewer opportunities for juniors to play. I thought the last thing I can do for the Doosan Bears is to step down now.”
Kim Jae-ho appeared in 57 games this season, batting .302 with one home run and 11 RBIs.
Although he didn't get a lot of playing time due to the “direction of the organization,” Kim was Doosan's starting shortstop at the end of the season.
He was also the starting shortstop in Games 1 and 2 of the wild-card deciding series.
Many Doosan fans are sad to see him retire, as he is still a competitive shortstop.
“I'm really sorry to the fans who supported me. Some of them asked me to play for one more year, but I thought it was time for me to leave.” ‘They have always given me strength,’ Kim said. 메이저사이트 I would like to thank them for their support,” he said in announcing his retirement.
Kim, who was drafted by Doosan in the first round in 2004, played for the organization for 21 years until this year.
He was the starting shortstop during the Doosan dynasty, contributing to three championships (2015-2016-2019) and winning the KBO Golden Glove shortstop award for the second consecutive season in 2015 and 2016.
He also played for Korea in the World Baseball Softball Premier 12 and the World Baseball Classic.
He was in the spotlight since 2014, but it took him 10 years to become a starter.
Kim Jae-ho has been the starting shortstop since 2014. Prior to that, he was bouncing between the first and second teams.
“I started my professional career as the first pick and received a lot of support. I apologized to many people and even hurt myself when things didn't go my way,” he recalls, adding, ”Whenever I felt like giving up, I would remind myself of why I started playing baseball and why I loved it. “I've been playing for 21 years, thanks to a lot of people who encouraged me,” he said.
The hours of sweat and tears accumulated and accumulated, and he became the Bears' franchise record holder for most games played.
In his KBO career, Kim played in 1,793 games, batting .272 (1,235 hits in 4,534 at-bats) with 54 home runs and 600 RBIs.
The 1,793 games played is the most in Bears franchise history. Second on the list is 1,716 games played by Hyeon-Hyun Glass.
Kim said, “I'm very grateful to have played so long with the same team. To be a 'lifetime Doosan player' was a great blessing,” he said, adding, ”I hope there will still be a player who plays longer than me in Doosan and break my record.”
Looking back on his time in a Doosan uniform, Kim said, “I can see the faces of all the juniors I played with, including Yang Ji, Kim Jae-hwan, Jeong Soo-bin, Heo Kyung-min, Kwak Bin, Hong Gun-hee, Park Chi-guk, and others.”
Still, he's a little more concerned about the infielders who will have to fill his shoes.
“All of our infielders are training hard,” Kim said. I'm worried and excited about the new Doosan infield,” he said, adding, ”I will support them and watch the changes in the Doosan infield.”
“We plan to hold a grand retirement ceremony for Kim Jae-ho during the 2025 season,” Doosan said. The word ‘grand’ is important because Kim Jae-ho was a special player for Doosan.
“I was happy to meet special fans and a special organization,” Kim said in his farewell speech.