On the 22nd, a press conference for retirement of Hanwha Kim Tae-gyun was held at Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park in Daejeon.

Kim Tae-gyun, who appeared in a neat suit instead of a uniform, took a commemorative photo with a bright expression after receiving a bouquet from Danjeong Jung Min-cheol, acting director Choi Won-ho, and captain Lee Yong-gyu.

But was it because of the thought of'the last'.

“Hello, this is Hanwha Eagles Kim Tae-gyun,” he immediately blushed.

After nearly five minutes of tears, I started saying goodbye.



“I would like to say thank you to Hanwha fans who have loved and cherished me for 20 years. I would like to greet you first because there are so many people to be grateful for,” said Kim Seung-yeon, managers and coaches.

He expressed his gratitude, saying, "I have sacrificed everything since I was a child, and I want to say that I had a hard time with my parents who lived only looking at me and my wife and children at home."



He also revealed his love for Hanwha Eagles, who had been with him for 20 years.

Tae-gyun Kim said, "I am from Cheonan, Chungcheong Province, and I joined Hanwha with a goal and a dream to do well." He said, "Hanwha Eagles has always been my pride and pride."




At the same time, he expressed his sorry feeling to the fans.

He said, "Before the start of the season, I said to my fans,'I will repay you with good grades' and'I want to share the joy of winning with my fans.' I think it will remain.”

Tears formed again in his eyes.



During the past 20 years in which Tae-gyun Kim was active, Hanwha Eagles was far from winning.

After finishing second in the Korean Series in 2006, it went downhill, and after 2010, it has moved to the bottom.

The arrow of blame for the decline in team performance was directed to Kim Tae-gyun, the team's main hitter and central hitter.

Despite being evaluated as the best right-hander in the history of professional baseball, he had to be stigmatized as a'tick' because he lacked destructive power.



Tae-gyun Kim played in 2,14 games in 18 seasons, hitting a career batting average of 0.320, home runs 311, an on-base ratio of 0.421, and a career batting average of 0.516.

His career batting average, hits, and on-base are all the best records for right-handed hitters, and his accuracy and pioneering ability were evaluated as unattainable.




A representative indicator of its ability is BABIP (In-Play Batting Ratio).

Among the batters who digested more than 3,000 at bats, Kim Tae-gyun's BABIP is 0.360, which is the 6th place.

What's surprising is that he is the only right-handed hitter among the 1-10 players.

In order to have a high BABIP, you need to be 1. left-handed or 2. fast-footed or 3. good at producing line-drive batted balls.

Tae-gyun Kim is a right-handed batter and his feet are not fast.

In other words, it has risen to the 6th place in history only by producing line drive batted balls.



Nevertheless, since 2012, when Kim Tae-gyun cleaned up his life in Japan and returned to Hanwha, he suffered a controversy over a lack of long-term hitting power.

The cause was outside, not inside.

The Hanwha Club is expanding the Daejeon Stadium in the winter of 2012 when he was in office as manager Kim Eung-yong.

At the same time, Daejeon Stadium became the second most difficult stadium to hit a home run after Jamsil.

It was then that Kim Tae-gyun's batting ball, who had crossed the fence with line drive in the past, started getting caught in the fence.




In addition, there were not enough partners from this time on that could make use of Tae-gyun Kim's excellent line drive mass production ability and on-base ability.

When Hanwha was called a strong team, hitters such as Lee Bum-ho, Lee Do-hyung, and Davis fired supporting Kim Tae-gyun.

However, after 2010, Tae-gyun Kim had to fight alone and lonely in the center line.

This can be seen from the WAR weight.

Kim Tae-gyun recorded 69 WAR (Contribution to Victory vs. Substitute) for 18 years.

This is 18.1% of the WAR produced by all other Hanwha team members during the same period.

It means you had to do a lot on your own.



Kim Tae-gyun was under a lot of stress from the long hitting power controversy.

He tried several changes to his blow to find a solution, but eventually he decided to go his own way.

Despite being criticized, he made no excuses for the stigma of'tick'.

Because I had no regrets about the choice.

And only when Kim Tae-gyun was retiring, he opened his mouth to his sense of blow.




“I hated being out since I was a child. I hated being out and I hated being struck out. I was very disappointed that the ball didn't hit the bat even when I went out. I thought and prepared that I would be a hitter who hits well and the pitchers are reluctant to deal with it. Even when I came to the pro, I focused on it. There is not."



Kim Tae-gyun is going to visit the Daejeon Stadium where the last home game will be held today (30th) and give his final greetings to the club officials and fans.

We support the second act of Kim Tae-gyun's life, who played his baseball without regrets.