Two months before the opening of Lotte's 'first designated catcher', Choo Shin-soo also praised him for "surprised framing."

Two months before the opening of Lotte's 'first designated catcher', Choo Shin-soo also praised him for "surprised framing."

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He joined the team after receiving the first nomination, and continued his professional career for 10 years. The team also expressed its intention to accompany him. However, Lotte Giants catcher Kang Tae-yul expressed his firm intention to retire.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on Tuesday that Kang was arbitrarily dismissed as a player. It was all of a sudden, 66 days before the opening of the 2025 season (March 22). What happened.먹튀검증

Kang Tae-yul, who recently contacted Star News, said, "I'm getting older, and I felt the same. I was thinking little by little because I didn't seem to have made any progress," expressing his intention to end his career.

Kang Tae-yul, who graduated from Busan Suyeong Elementary School, Daecheon Middle School, and Bujeon High School, started his professional career by receiving the first nomination from Lotte in 2015. Until last year, he played in 65 games in the first team for 10 years as a professional, posting a batting average of 0.123 (10 hits in 81 at-bats), three home runs, 21 RBIs and three runs, and an on-base percentage of 0.259 and an OPS of 0.509

He failed to display remarkable performance in batting performance. Nonetheless, he has displayed stable defense performance. "I was surprised. I felt like I made the ball look good with strikes," Choo Shin-soo (former SSG), a legendary player who recently finished his career, said in a broadcast interview in 2021.

However, his position in the team has been getting smaller and smaller. Kang Min-ho (current Samsung) was holding out when he joined the team, and since then, he has been in turmoil due to the catcher's team. After he was discharged from the military, he changed his name from Kang Dong-gwan to Kang Tae-yul, expressing his desperate desire, but the opportunity did not come easily.

In 2023, Yoo Kang-nam (33) joined the FA (Free Agent), and the opportunity to back up the first team was also given to Information Geun (26) and Son Sung-bin (23). He was also in the opening entry last year, but he only received 10 games and 10 at-bats in the first team. Kang Tae-yul confessed, "As my second-tier life got longer, I felt a slump about myself."

Still, he was impressive as he played in the first team at the end of last season and blocked stolen bases. "I did it thinking it was the last time. When I was called up, I thought if I don't get the last chance, I will take the plunge and quit," Kang said. After playing in 10 games in September, he was eliminated from the first team before the season ended, and eventually made a bold decision.

"At the beginning of the last season, I worked hard thinking, 'This is the last year.' But I didn't get any results," Kang said. "It wasn't that difficult to make a decision."

Lotte put Kang Tae-yul on the list of players on hold after the end of the season. Catcher Kim Tae-hyung (58) also decided to give Kang more chances, and club officials also dissuaded him from retiring. However, he couldn't renew his commitment. "I am so tired and I have come to acknowledge my skills. Unfortunately, I have many younger brothers who are better than me in the same position over the past 10 years," he said. "I am so grateful and sorry that you are holding me like this."

Kang Tae-yul, who looked back on his professional career over the past 10 years, said, "It was so hard when I was 20. I couldn't do what I wanted to do and noticed a lot." "After I was in the military, I thought, 'I have to prove my value, but I feel so sorry to waste my time just by looking at my face," he said.

After being discharged from the military, Kang had a batting average of 0.455 (five hits in 11 at-bats) and two home runs in 14 games in 2020. He also picked this period as the most memorable time in his professional career. Since then, he has been sweating profusely. "I did it desperately. I worked hard because I didn't want to regret it until I quit playing baseball after being discharged from the military," he said.

As he failed to settle down after trying his best, Kang decided to quit his career without leaving any regret. "Now I admit it. If there is a player who is better than me, it is right for him to participate in the game. As I acknowledged that, I decided not to regret quitting like this," he said.

He finished his career without regret, but looking back, there were some things he was disappointed about. Kang Tae-yul said, "I always had confidence in defense. As I gained more years of experience, I have broadened my horizons to watch the game. I don't feel any pressure anymore," he said. "What I overlooked is that defense comes first, so I couldn't pay attention to hitting. I almost put more than 80 to 90 percent of my weight on defense."

Now Kang is seeking his second career in baseball. "I'm going to run a baseball academy in Masan," he said. "But I think it's really nice that I can do something right after I quit."

Finally, Kang Tae-yul mentioned people he was grateful for. "Thanks to you guys, I heard good things from you guys, and thank you so much for being with me without any problems. I hope you all don't get hurt and do well. It gave me strength because the team's staff welcomed me every time I saw them. Thank you so much." "So far, I feel like I have met only such good leaders. I was blessed and I was able to play baseball happily," he said.

He also thanked his fans, saying, "I wasn't good at it and I was criticized a lot, but I was happy because you supported me a lot and took good care of me," and added, "I ask for your support in your second life." Finally, he also said to his family, "Thank you for your support and I love you."