The beginning of the Kim Kyung-moon Magic. Hanwha picked up a valuable win in its first game under head coach Kim Kyung-moon.
The Hanwha Eagles won 8-2 against the KT Wiz of the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League on Thursday at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, South Korea.
Hanwha’s starter, Hwang Jun-seo, struggled with three runs on four hits and six walks with two strikeouts in three innings, but Jang Min-jae picked up the win with two innings of two-hit, one-run ball with one strikeout and no walks, and Park Sang-won struck out Oh Jae-il in a crucial moment to secure the hold with ⅔ innings of one-hit, one-strikeout ball.
The offense was led by the bat of Choi Jae-hoon, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored, while Noh Si-hwan also had a multi-hit game with two hits and one run scored. Ahn Chi-hong, playing second base for the first time this season, was the offensive spark, going 1-for-2 with a double, two walks and two runs scored. Lee Do-yoon and Jang Jin-hyuk, batting in the bottom of the order, also collected two hits apiece.
The victory marked a successful start to the Kim Kyung-moon-led reign and paved the way for Hanwha to leapfrog into the mid-table, closing the gap on seventh-place KT to 0.5 games.
Hanwha announced on Feb. 2 that it has appointed Kim Kyung-moon as its 14th head coach. He signed a three-year contract for a total of 2 billion won, including a 500 million won signing bonus and 1.5 billion won in annual salary.
An original KBO League member who played as a catcher for OB (now Doosan) in 1982, Kim began his coaching career at Samsung in 1994 and took his first managerial position at Doosan in 2004.
Upon taking the helm in 2004, Kim led Doosan to the postseason and earned recognition for his leadership by leading the team to the 2005 Korean Series, followed by back-to-back Korean Series appearances in 2007 and 2008. In 2011, Kim was named the founding head coach of NC, leading the organization to its first postseason appearance in 2014 and its first Korean Series appearance in 2016 before stepping down during the 2018 season.
Kim Kyung-moon’s career highlight was the 2008 토토사이트 Beijing Olympics. He led the national team to a nine-game gold medal victory, ushering in a new renaissance in Korean baseball.
On May 31, 2018, Kim returned to the field after a six-year hiatus, and it took him 2196 days to win a game against Daejeon Hanwha, his first victory as NC head coach. After the game, Kim said, “When I saw the team training before the game, I realized that the team was tightly knit. I think the players played better than I thought they would as the seniors released them in key situations. I want to give them a lot of praise,” he said, giving credit to the players.
Hanwha will face KT again on April 5, starting at 6:30 p.m. Hanwha is expected to start new foreign pitcher Jaime Barria. KT is expected to start right-hander Han Cha-hyun.
Here’s a one-on-one with head coach Kim Kyung-moon.
- On the win.
“When I watched the team train before the game, I saw that the team was tightly knit. I think the players played better than I thought they would, with the seniors releasing them in key scenes. I have a lot of praise for them.”
- Your performance at the top of the order stood out.
“I didn’t steal a base, but I didn’t say anything. I told him, ‘I just need one out,’ and he still got one hit. I think he’ll get better as he plays more and more 파워볼실시간 games, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
- The veteran players stood out for you. How would you characterize the game overall?
“I think I should give a proper shout-out to the veterans today.”
- You’ve had a lot of wins in your career, but today’s victory feels different.
“When a coach wins a lot of games, it’s not because he’s good, it’s because his coaching staff and players are good. Today, the coaching staff and the players kept us fighting hard, and I’m grateful to the fans behind them. We have to forget about today’s win. We have to prepare well tomorrow and play well.”
- On a personal note, it was his first win in 2196 days.
“One win, one win is everything. It’s great that I’m back on the field, and I’m really happy to get back to winning ways.”
- What did he say to rookie Hwang Jun-seo, who got the start?
“I was trying too hard to get my first win as a manager…(laughs) I got out of the first inning, but I knew I had to make a change early, so I took him out quickly when the score was 85.”
- Hanwha fans came to the stadium to support the team despite it being an away game.
“Right now, Hanwha fans are coming to the stadium a lot, both at home and away, and I’m really encouraged by their support. And I’m grateful. I promised the fans that I wanted to show them a good game with more content, but the players did a great job today. I have a lot of praise for the players.”
