KIA’s Kim Do-young, in his third year of service… From ‘the second Lee Jong-beom’ to ‘the first Kim Do-young’
The hottest player in professional baseball these days… ‘Failure is the mother of success’ really feels real
Overcoming early trial and error with ‘focused mentality’… ‘Good finish’ is the ultimate goal for me and the team
“I’ve never won a championship in my life. It’s best to do something when you can. This year is the perfect time.”
Kim Do-young (21, KIA) became the youngest player to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a single game during a professional baseball away game against Kiwoom at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 15th. He then said, “I will work hard to play baseball at a higher level.” A week later, on the 22nd, at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju, when asked if he had declared his intention to advance to the Major League Baseball in the United States, he said, “The team is currently in a high position (first place), but I am not satisfied with that,” expressing his will to win the Korean Series.
Kim Do-young was a promising prospect who was called the ‘second Lee Jong-beom’ during his time at Gwangju Dongseong High School. That meant that there was nothing he could not do in both offense and defense. In his first year as a professional, Kim Do-young became the first high school rookie to rank first in batting (0.432) during the exhibition games in 2022. However, during the regular season, he only had a batting average of 0.237, 3 home runs, and 19 RBIs.
Last year, he suffered an ankle injury in the second game of the opening and did not return until the end of June. Instead, Kim Do-young proved that the expectations for him were not ’empty hopes’ by recording a batting average of 0.303, 7 home runs, and 47 RBIs despite only appearing in 84 games.
Kim Do-young said, “(KIA) picked me as a player who would one day play 30-30. I always had confidence in myself,” and added, “People often say that ‘failure is the mother of success,’ and it really was true. I was able to get good results this season because I went through trial and error during the first two seasons.”
This year, when he stood tall as the ‘No. 1 Kim Do-young’, he did not have a good start. Kim Do-young had a batting average of only 0.192 (10 hits in 52 at-bats) in the first two weeks of the season until April 7. Kim Do-young said, “Because the beginning of the season was so bad, I thought, ‘Let’s get better little by little,’ and focused on what I could do each day. As a result, my performance went up and I got good results. I felt that ‘mentality’ is really important in baseball.”
By April 30, Kim Do-young’s stats were a batting average of 0.338, 10 home runs, 26 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. In the 43-year history of professional baseball, Kim Do-young was the first person to achieve 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases in a month. At the same time, the phrase “Do-young, I have to live thanks to your sweat” became popular among KIA fans.
Popularity leads to uniform sales. Kim Do-young’s uniforms sold through June of this year exceeded 20,000. This is the highest sales record among players from 10 teams. Since KIA changed its uniform sales to direct sales two years ago, no player has sold more uniforms than Kim Do-young this season.
Kim Do-young also receives a lot of requests for autographs. Kim Do-young said, “When people who recognize me ask for my autograph, I try to do it as brightly as possible. As an athlete, it’s a happy thing, and I feel grateful every day.” He added, “When I was in high school, I didn’t have a separate autograph, so when I was asked to sign, I just wrote my name in cursive. Now, I’m using the autograph my older sister made for me, but even I don’t think it’s very good. I should make a new autograph,” he said, scratching his head. He added with a laugh, “(If I change my autograph, it will be meaningful to fans who have the old version of my autograph).”
The only concern the team has for Kim Do-young is injury. Kim Do-young participated in the Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) as a national representative at the end of last year, and while doing a head-first slide at first base, he injured his finger and had to undergo rehabilitation for four months. Surprised by Kim Do-young’s injury, KIA decided to impose a fine of 10 million won on batters and runners who do a head-first slide at first base before this season.
Even a fine of one-tenth of his annual salary could not stop Kim Do-young from sliding. On the 9th, Kim Do-young entered first base with a head-first slide in the home game against Samsung. Kim Do-young was ruled safe without injury, but KIA sent another warning signal by raising the fine to 100 million won. Kim Do-young said with a smile, “If I get hurt before the ‘fall baseball’, everything I’ve done so far will be meaningless. I will never slide head-first again.”
Gwangju = Reporter Lim Bo-mi [email protected]
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2024-08-24 07:43:02