Chapter 628 – Episode 615. God of Coaching? (2)

‘I’m not excited.’

It’s been a long time since I stepped on the first team stage. Before the game started, Kim Sang-min always stepped on the grass of the ground with an excited heart, but now he felt like this was boring and had nothing to do with him.

‘… It wasn’t like this originally.’

Kim Sang-min, who was selected in the first round of the 2014 draft and started his career by earning a spot in the starting lineup in 2015, two years after the draft, never imagined that he would be like this until he started his career.

The AT Thunders’ first and third base positions were almost empty positions, and Kim Sang-min, who had tempered himself by bombarding the second team in his first year, was easily able to move up to the first team.

The performance that Kim Sang-min recorded in 2015 is,

2015

99G 308PA 283AB 79H 7HR 29R 37RBI 3SB 6CS

0.279/0.325/0.399/0.724 93.1wRC+

(G/Games, PA/At-bats, AB/At-bats, H/Hits, HR/Homeruns, R/Runs, RBI/RBI, SB/Stealed Bases, CS/Failures to Steal Bases, wRC+/Adjusted Score Creation)

… It was enough to raise fans’ expectations.

Although he recorded a wRC+ that was slightly below average, it was his first year in the first team, and it was a blessing for a right-handed infielder, who the AT Thunder had been chronically lacking, to do something like this.

So, for the next four years, Kim Sang-min went back and forth between first and third base as mercenary hitters were recruited, and showed consistent performance at first base when first base was not enough and at third base when third base was not enough.

2016

108G 319AB 91H 8HR 0.285/0.350/0.417/0.767

2017

106G 369AB 96H 5HR 0.260/0.336/0.344/0.680

2018

121G 406AB 116H 12HR 0.286/0.360/0.438/0.799

2019

125G 414AB 103H 15HR 0.249/0.331/0.399/0.730

Although he did not completely meet the expectations of fans as a player drafted in the second round, his performance was good enough to show off as a starting fielder for the AT Thunders, where infielders are rare. Moreover, even at third base

However, the wall of the military, which all Korean men cannot escape, completely changed Kim Sang-min’s life.

Kim Sang-min, who had established himself in the first team but did not have the performance required to participate in international competitions, decided to enlist in the military in the 2020 season at the age of 26 and left the team.

However, the space left will be filled.

In the 2020 season without Kim Sang-min, the AT Thunders ended the season in 6th place when the ambitious third baseman they recruited failed spectacularly. AT’s management team recruited a major free agent in a situation where they could have played fall baseball if they had a proper third baseman,

That player was Su-ho Kim, a third baseman Golden Glove winner in the 2017-18 season who hit 20 home runs for 5 consecutive years at NV Rex. However, Kim Sang-min, who was in the military until then, was optimistic.

‘Since Suho is here, is my position at first base? Hey, if I’m discharged from the military, can’t we really go to fall baseball?’

It was natural for Kim Soo-ho to give up his position, and Kim Sang-min, who practiced at first and third base until his enlistment, was given the freedom to focus on one position.

When Kim Sang-min heard that Kim Soo-ho had been recruited, he went to the manager and asked to change his position to first base, thinking that he must have some free time in the military. And he continued to practice the areas he thought he was lacking.

‘I was weak against breaking balls, so I need to focus on breaking balls and practice patience.’

And there were some achievements.

After being discharged from the military, Kim Sang-min recorded a batting gap close to 0.09 in the 2022 season.

2022

122G 416AB 117H 5HR 0.281/0.378/0.375/0.753

Looking at the stats alone, a batting average of .208, 100 hits, and an on-base percentage of .307 could have been considered pretty good results…,

That was not the direction AT Thunders wanted. Kim Sang-min was selected from the draft as a right-handed slugger infielder who would fulfill AT’s long-awaited dream, and apart from the fact that the coaching was proper, Kim Sang-min was also coached that way within the team.

However, Kim Sang-min, who returned from military service, was not a slugger but rather a deformed hitter whose on-base percentage was higher than his slugging percentage. Until Kim Sang-min recorded 60 walks that year, the number of strikeouts was 113. A batter with slow feet and no long hits strikes out nearly twice as many times as he walks?

Is that also a player whose position is first base?

AT Thunders, who were relying on Kim Sang-min’s good second-team performance, made a decision right away. And that judgment was made very rationally.

The head of the operations team at that time was Cheon So-young.

So-young Cheon immediately said that people were hitting the aging curve, but she recruited Jin-cheol Choi, who had decent abilities, and that choice resulted in the team winning. The best choice for AT!

… However, the best choice for the team was the worst choice for Kim Sang-min personally.

Still, it was okay for the 2023 season. When a left-handed pitcher replaced the left-handed hitter Woo Kwan-hyung, he occasionally started as a designated hitter, and after Jin-cheol Choi was hired, he was able to consistently participate in games by playing at third base or first base, where he practiced again.

In addition, Kim Sang-min himself was satisfied that he had a place on the team that recorded the first championship that he had longed for a long time.

However, in the following year, the 2024 season, new faces such as Jeong Hwi-cheol and Baek Jeong-jin emerged in the already saturated outfield, and Kim Sang-min’s position gradually decreased with the emergence of Woo Kwan-hyung, a regular designated hitter, and Williams, a mercenary hitter who knows how to hit properly.

Although he had his strengths as a right-handed hitter, he lost his place due to the clearly different batting quality.

And last year, the 2025 season. In AT, which boasted the best batting line of all time, Kim Sang-min got 116 at-bats, but he recorded a shabby batting average of .108, 3 home runs, and 11 RBIs, and was eliminated from the Korean Series entry, becoming a second-tier player.

What was even more cruel was that he could apply for free agency after only one season as a starter. If you’re a professional baseball player, the free agent you dream of.

Of course, considering his performance, it would have been difficult to get a good contract, but just as most professional baseball players play with their eyes set on free agency, Kim Sang-min was also playing with his eyes set on becoming a free agent, so the despair of his dream being frustrated engulfed Kim Sang-min.

However, on the opening day of 2026, Kim Sang-min’s last chance came. Kim Soo-ho, who was injured at the WBC, was not included in the opening entry.

‘Now, now is your last chance.’

So Kim Sang-min was given the important role of third baseman in the opening game,

[Ah! Third baseman Kim Sang-min’s fatal mistake! AT Thunders fall!]

… He appeared in both games of the opening series and recorded three errors and more error-prone plays. It didn’t matter whether Kim Sang-min’s original ability was there or the pressure that this was his last chance was weighing on Kim Sang-min’s body. What matters is the result.

‘It’s over…’ .’

Kim Sang-min instinctively felt it. That this was his last career in the first team. He may have been able to make it to the first team and play the ball like he is now, but he didn’t become a professional hoping for that, so Kim Sang-min’s professional baseball career was actually over.

That’s why Kim Sang-min wasn’t excited about this stage at all.

Because he no longer had any flower path left for him. Even if he stepped onto the first team stage, he would eventually have to go down to the second team after a few days, and Kim Sang-min knew very well that as he got older, even such a position would not be granted to him.

Ta – Aak!

“Oh! It passed!”

“Wow, how the fuck do you stop that bastard from literature? “Is this okay?”

“Ji Maeng-ho! Ji Maeng-ho!”

Therefore, Kim Sang-min could only mechanically applaud Ji Maeng-ho’s two-run home run in the top of the first inning.

‘Tsk, I’m not even jealous anymore. … Ha.’

Even in the season when Ji Maeng-ho debuted, I was jealous and jealous, but now, rather than feeling such emotions, I can only sigh at myself for a moment and leave only the comment, ‘He plays well.’

“Sangmin! What are you doing! “I have to go stand by and bat.”

“Ah! “I’m sorry.”

“So, are you nervous?”

“Oh, no.”

“Derry, let’s meet for the first time, right? As mentioned when analyzing power, he throws a cutter, change-up, and curve, and against right-handed batters, he mainly focuses on fastball, cutter, and change-up, and the deciding ball is a curve. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s do well! Take it easy, take it easy. Anyway, that bastard’s pitch is really weak to Meng Ho, so I’ll trust Meng Ho today and feel no pressure. Okay?”

“… Yes.”

When he heard Lee Ki-cheol’s voice calling him, he picked up the bat and headed to the waiting box. Before going out to bat, Lee Ki-cheol gave advice as a batting coach, but none of that advice entered the mind of Kim Sang-min, who was already low on motivation.

‘… Still, since I got the money, I guess I’ll have to do it until this season. What should I do next year? I don’t think they will use me as a coach. Should there be an academy in Incheon? Oh, I heard from Dogok that Hyungwon is going to the academy, right? I hope it ends quickly, so I can contact my seniors.’

Kim Sang-min’s current main interest is now moving from professional life to future planning. So Kim Sang-min forgot Lee Ki-cheol’s advice and prayed that the game would end quickly,

Perfect!

As if listening to Kim Sang-min’s prayer, 5th batter Yoon Seong-tae hit from the first pitch and succeeded in reaching first base.

‘Nice.’

Of course, I had no intention of neglecting my at-bats. Since the Korean baseball field was small, rumors would quickly spread if he showed insincerity, and if that happened, it would be difficult for him to get a job at the academy.

“Jitterbug! Strike out!”

However, professional baseball was a place where you couldn’t hit a hit with that kind of complacent attitude.

[Kim Sang-min’s swing strikeout! Ji Maeng-ho’s two-run home run showed some shakiness for a moment, but Dery safely blocked the game in the top of the first inning.]

The inning ended with Kim Sang-min coolly spinning the bat three times, and he headed toward the dugout.

At that time,

“Hey, Sangmin. Come here.”

“… Huh?”

I heard a voice calling me by the awkward title Mr. Sangmin. If he was a junior, he would be called by his older brother or senior, and if he was a senior or classmate, he would be called by his name, so he had never heard the title ‘Mr.’, So he heard a voice calling him by that unfamiliar title…

The main character of that voice was Ji Maeng-ho.

‘Ha, really… You arrogant bastard. I called my senior Mr.. Even if it was just a joke, it sucks. Well, it’s not a bad thing since the students will have something to solve later.’

“What is it?”

“Come and see us first.”

What is this guy talking about? With such curiosity, Kim Sang-min took the gloves and approached Ji Maeng-ho.

“Why are you calling me a senior?”

“Let’s get this straight?”

“… Huh?”

“Don’t swing too roughly.”

Such a cheesy thing to say to a senior. However, rather than being angry at those words, Kim Sang-min felt like crying.

He dreamed of playing in the major leagues and wanted to become the best baseball player, but the fact is that he has lost his passion to the point that even his juniors can see that he is playing half-heartedly.

And the fact that I wanted someone to scold me like this,

There was still one person watching his swing, but the fact that he showed this in front of them,

I was so embarrassed and embarrassed that I felt like crying.