“I want the young players to gain international experience, gain confidence, and play baseball with grit.”
Hanwha Eagles legend Kim Tae-gyun (41), who wears the number 52, took over as the head coach of the Little League team. He is also the head coach of the Kim Tae-gyun Camp International team, which will be traveling to Japan for an exchange game. The team was formed by selecting 20 outstanding players from the participants of the Kim Tae-gyun Youth Baseball Camp held last month.
The team departed for Japan on the 15th. The team will play three games in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture on the 16th and 17th, including two games against Nagano Union and one against Tokyo Verdi Bambaata, before returning home on the 18th.
Kim Tae-gyun, who retired as a player in 2021, serves as a commentator for KBS N. “For Korean baseball to develop, it is important to expand the base of youth baseball. I want young players to grow through international experience. I will return to the field at some point, but I want to contribute to the development of Korean baseball in some way.”
Kim is serious about youth baseball. “It wasn’t easy to find sponsors,” he says. Kim is said to have paid for some of the costs of the game.
Na Ji-wan (KBS N commentator) and Kim Jin-young (former Hanwha) will be the coaches for the exchange game. Kim said, “I’m grateful that Coach Na and Kim Jin-young found the time to come. Coach Kim will be able to help the young pitchers a lot with his experience in American baseball.”
On November 18, Kim hosted the Kim Tae-gyun Youth Baseball Camp for “52” sixth-grade players at the Mandae Stadium in Hongseong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. It was his first event after retiring as a player.
Former and current professional baseball players such as Jung Woo-ram, Chae Eun-sung, Lee Ita-yang (formerly of Hanwha), Kang Min-ho, Koo Ja-uk (formerly of Samsung), Son Ah-seob (NC), Heo Kyung-min (Doosan), Choi Joon-seok, and Yoo Hee-kwan (retired) participated as coaches. Kim serves as an ambassador for Hongseong-gun. 월카지노
“We will continue to hold camps and exchange games in the future. This year, we held the camp for sixth graders, but we plan to expand it to middle and high schools.”
What the legendary player does after retirement.