A promising player who joined Doosan in the 2nd round in 2006. There is a 35-year-old man with a tumultuous life who has since suffered an elbow injury, a release, and a trade. KIA Tigers pitcher Kim Kon-guk. He made the start after 1479 days and threw the ball vigorously.
1st Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Jamsil Baseball Stadium filled with 10,000 spectators. The pitcher the LG Twins put forward was ace 꽁머니사이트 Adam Plutko, who had a record of 10 wins and no losses before the game. And against this, the pitcher who stepped on the mound for the first time this season after receiving a special order to escape KIA’s losing streak. It was Kim Kon-guk.
It was only 1479 days since the game against LG in Jamsil (Lotte at the time) on June 12, 2019 that Kim Kon-guk started. In the bottom of the first inning, Kim Kon-guk got off to a fresh start with a first-pitch strike (145 km) against lead batter Hong Chang-ki. In the end, after treating Hong Chang-ki as a left fielder in the second pitch, Moon Sung-joo as a shortstop grounder and Kim Hyun-soo as an infielder grounder after a 9-pitch game, ending the first inning with a three-way offense.
The second inning followed. Even with a ball count of 0-2 in favor of Austin, he threw 4 balls in a row and allowed on-base. However, Oh Ji-hwan struck out on a swing, Park Dong-won hit a fly ball from first base, and Moon Bo-kyung hit a ground ball from second base, continuing the no-hitter pitching.
KIA coach Kim Jong-guk, the command tower before the game, said, “It’s best to throw more than 5 innings, and I hope you will take care of about 3 innings.” However, unlike the command tower’s wish, Kim Kon-guk could not complete all three episodes. He allowed lead hitter Park Hae-min to hit a triple in the middle right, and then Shin Min-jae got a timely hit to the left. Then, Kim Geon-guk threw Hong Chang-ki a fly ball to right field while giving second base to Shin Min-jae. In the meantime, Shin Min-jae went to third base, and when the follow-up Moon Seong-joo grounded to second base, he stepped on the groove. Kim Kon-guk threw a straight walk to the next hitter, Kim Hyun-soo. In the end, his pitching ended here. He passed the mound to Kim Ki-hoon and came down leaving behind the mound he wanted to step on so much.
On this day, Kim Kon-guk’s performance was 2⅔innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 2 runs (2 earned). The total number of pitches is 46. He threw 28 fastballs, 9 sliders, 5 cutters, 3 curveballs, and 1 forkball, respectively, and the highest speed of his fastball was 147km. The maximum velocity of the slider also reached 140 km. With Kim Kon-guk’s pitching as a stepping stone, KIA was able to win 5-3 after scoring 5 runs in the 4th inning. KIA broke the losing streak at ‘3’ and stepped on the heights of 30 wins (1 draw, 37 losses) in the season.
Kim Geon-guk, who graduated from Hanseo Elementary School (Westside Little) – Cheongnyang Middle School – Deoksujeong High School, joined the Doosan Bears in 2006 in the 6th place in the 2nd 1st round. His signing contract is 130 million won. He played in one game in 2007 and pitched one inning (two hits, one walk, and one run), and was eventually released in 2008 after struggling with an elbow injury. As he failed to join the police baseball team, he fulfilled his military duty as a conscripted police officer. After being discharged from the military, he joined Goyang Wonders, an independent baseball team led by coach Seong-geun Kim at the time, and in May 2013, he headed to NC Dinos with three colleagues. However, he seldom seized the opportunity, and after the end of the 2013 season, through the second draft, he moved the team to KT Wiz, which was then led by manager Kim Jin-wook. Prior to joining KT, his name was also changed from Kim Yong-seong to Kim Kon-guk.
However, KT also wore a Lotte uniform in April 2017 in a 2:2 trade (Jang Si-hwan + Kim Kon-guk ↔ Oh Tae-gon + Bae Jae-seong) without being able to play in just one game. Since then, Lotte has appeared in 87 games (131 innings, 66 ERA) in 4 seasons from the 2018 season to the 2021 season, posting a record of 7 wins, 5 losses and 4 holds. However, after the 2021 season ended, he received a notice of release from Lotte, and spent a year last year without a team. It was the KIA Tigers who reached out to Kim Geon-guk. In January, KIA explained, “It is a resource that 메이저도메인 can be used as an intermediate fight and was recruited to strengthen depth.” And on this day, he bravely threw his ball again and greeted the fans.
After the game, Kim Geon-guk said, “It’s been a while since I’ve been on the mound for the first team, so I was very nervous and excited. I prepared with the most positive thoughts. I remembered the moments when I pitched well.” He continued, “I focused on pitching aggressively during the game. Before the game, catcher Han Jun-su said that he had a good fastball pitch. In the game, pitching with a fastball focus was also effective. I trained to raise it. However, it was regrettable that I could not take the innings for a long time that day,” he said.
It was his wife who warmed Kim Kon-guk’s heart. Kim Kun-guk expressed his sincerity, “I wanted to play baseball a lot while taking a break for a year and it was difficult, but whenever I did, my wife who was next to me gave me a lot of strength. Thanks to her support, I was able to stand on the mound again.” Finally, he promised the next pitch, saying, “I will continue to show a good image to KIA fans with aggressive pitching.”