“Coincidence made destiny.”
On the 11th, the KIA Tigers officially announced that they had recruited invincible pitchers Kim Kun-guk and Kim Seung-hyun, and infielder Kim Yong-wan.
Kim Geon-guk started his professional life after being nominated by the Doosan Bears with the 6th overall pick in the 2nd 1st round of the 2006 rookie draft. At the time of his joining, Kim Kun-guk was highly regarded for his potential to the extent of receiving a down payment of 130 million won. However, his baseball life was not so smooth.
In 2007, Kim Geon-guk pitched only one game for Doosan and was called off due to an elbow injury. Since then, no clubs have been looking for Kim Geon-guk, but he did not let go of the baseball. Kim Kon-guk enlisted on active duty, solved the military service problem, and struggled to continue his athlete career while working as a daily worker. As a result, he went through NC Dinos and KT Wiz to wear the uniform of Lotte Giants.
In his first season at Lotte, Kim Geon-guk hinted at his potential with an average ERA of 2.53 and 1 win in 5 games. And the following year, he had an average ERA of 4.46 with 3 wins, 3 losses and 3 holds in 37 games, and an average ERA of 3.98 with 3 wins and 2 losses in 32 games in the 2020 season. However, he was sluggish with a 6.55 earned run average in 13 games in the 2021 season, which led to his release.
Kim Geon-guk, who has gone through many twists and turns, never collapsed. Even in his invincible status, Kim Kon-guk has been steadily building his body for his career as a player. Kim Kun-guk participated in the ‘2022 Provincial Baseball Tournament’ as a representative of Busan Metropolitan City and showed off his strength, and through the KIA Tigers’ joining test, he was able to return to the professional stage after a year.
On the 11th, Kim Kon-guk, who contacted ‘My Daily’, said, “I don’t know if the trial competition was the trigger. However, after throwing the ball in the trial competition, I was given a chance to join KIA through agent Songsan (former KIA) hyung. Coaching staff I threw the ball in front and it came out 145km. KIA had a one-year hiatus, so I decided a little more carefully, and after a month-long test period, I joined the team,” he said happily. 온라인카지노
After breaking up with Lotte last year, Kim Kun-guk had a series of difficult times. Because no club was looking for him. There were, of course, times when he wanted to put down his goal of being a ‘professional’. However, he quietly walked the blind road with help from those around him, and the result of his steady efforts led to his re-entry into the professional league.
He said, “Last year, I didn’t get a single test. I felt relieved if I got tested even once in the process of building my body. I had a great thirst to throw the ball,” he said. “Actually, I thought about the strongest baseball. He talked to people he knew around him as well as (Lee) Dae-ho. Dae-ho hyung even said, ‘I’ll tell you if you need it,'” he looked back on the difficult times.
Continuing on, Kim Kon-guk said, “Last year, Lee Ji-mo (former Lotte) hyung contacted me by chance and said, ‘It’s such a waste. We prepared players by saying, ‘Let’s do everything at once,’ and suddenly an acquaintance said, ‘Wouldn’t you like to go to the competition?’ In the trial competition, his younger siblings told him, ‘Let’s work hard because hyung can go pro with this opportunity’, so I was really grateful.
In the end, Kim Konkuk never caught a ball in the first half of the year after his release, but he started to build his body with the contact of his senior Lee Ji-mo, participated in the trial competition at the recommendation of an acquaintance, and stepped on the ground together . With the help of my colleagues, I made it to the final stage, and with the help of agent Songsan, I was able to produce the best result.
It is Kim Kon-guk’s determination not to miss the hard-won opportunity now. He said, “It’s not easy to put on a professional uniform again. Thank you for giving me a chance at KIA. I think skills are important everywhere. I want to create a situation where I can play for another year or two through my skills.” I am so fortunate to be able to say that I can continue my career as a player in another team instead of saying ‘retirement’. I would like to ask for your support.”