Coach Lee Seung-yeop recently met with reporters at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul to deliver the results of Kim Jae-hwan's closing camp hell training and to forecast next season.
Coach Lee said, "I think there was definitely an achievement. "I definitely made a change," he said. "Kim Jae-hwan took the day off and conducted a total of 19 finishing training sessions in the uniform, and I felt that he definitely improved." Of course, there is no guarantee that the performance will improve because he did not play the actual game. But I've done enough practice I thought. I'm really tired of holding the bat and training for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours for sweatshirts, but I overcame it well. The first step was a good one," he said with a satisfied smile.
Coach Lee made the decision to have Kim Jae-hwan, a 16th-year professional, participate in the Icheon closing camp, which was held from the 31st of last month to November 24. Usually, finishing camps are characterized by making up for the lack of newcomers and establishing their own baseball. However, the coach's request and the player's will were combined to determine the veteran's unusual participation in the closing camp, and Kim Jae-hwan dreamed of reviving the third year of the FA contract by receiving the know-how of Lee Seung-yeop, who was called a national hitter when he was active.
There is only one reason why Kim Jae-hwan participated in the closing camp. It suffered its worst slump in two years after a four-year total of 11.5 billion won in large FA contracts. Following the first year's 128-game batting average of 248 with 23 home runs and 72 RBIs, he hit an all-time career low this year, which was worse than last year when Lee took over. Doosan failed to contribute to its ranking fight due to its poor batting average of 2202 with 10 homers and 46 RBIs in 132 games, coupled with its poor batting average of .331 with its right hand injury at the end of the season.
Kim Jae-hwan's will was determined. He silently digested it amid more intense training than his childhood, when he dreamed of becoming a big gun in front of his juniors. According to Doosan's official YouTube channel "Bearstivi," one day, he dropped his bat and gloves on the ground at the end of the training and complained of a drop in physical strength, and when Lee said, "Tell me if you're sick," he answered, "I think I'm going to throw up," making him realize the intensity of the training. All 19 training sessions were conducted at this level of intensity.
The head coach managed Kim Jae-hwan's mental as well as his technical part. Director Lee said, "I talked a lot rather than injecting the content. "There were more conversations I had in this 19 training sessions than this season," he said. "After talking about it, he practiced in too many ways as he got older and his performance got worse over the course of the season. Despite various practices, he did not get to the point well. He told me to trust me and go, and it was a time to get to know each other more," he said.
He said, "Now it's a self-training period. It's not a situation I can look at. If we take the same training we did in the closing camp in December, it will be better in January, and if we move forward step by step like that, it will be better in February. He believes that his problems will come out again through spring camps and exhibition games, but if he catches them little by little, he will be able to achieve enough results to forget his two-year slump. No, I believe it. Kim Jae-hwan has nowhere to hide anymore," he said, confident of the resurrection of the 11.5 billion-strong gun.
In an unusual way, I was able to hear my sincerity toward my student, who participated in the closing camp and completed hell training without complaining. Coach Lee said, "I don't know if Kim Jae-hwan relied on me or pretended to rely on me, but I've talked about problems and things to move forward enough," adding, "I'm so grateful as a coach for Kim Jae-hwan to participate in the closing camp." The player said he would die because he was tired, but he did as much as he could. The amount of practice will not be everything, but the body must remember first to make a good posture. I think I've erased all the bad thoughts in my head through this camp," he said.