“I felt weird watching director Kim Kyung-moon’s inauguration video.”
KIA Tigers captain Na Sung-beom congratulated his old teacher, who made him his current self, through a smartphone messenger after the match against KT Wiz in Gwangju on the 2nd. It was shortly after the news that Kim Kyung-moon will take the helm of the Hanwha Eagles was officially announced.
“As soon as I saw the news that manager Kim Kyung-moon was in charge of Hanwha, I left a text message to the manager,” Na Sung-beom said in an interview with an official Soo-hoon player after the game against the Doosan Bears in Jamsil on the 9th. “I couldn’t call you because I thought you would be busy,” he said. “I told you to meet me at the baseball stadium later, but you replied right away.”룸알바
Na Sung-beom graduated from Yonsei University in 2012 and started his professional career by being named to the NC Dinos, a new team founded as the ninth baseball team of the KBO League. He met with NC`s first coach Kim Kyung-moon and became a leading hitter representing the KBO league.
Na Sung-bum had a reputation as a left-handed fastball pitcher until college. He was evaluated as highly talented as a batter, but more people expected that he would play as a pitcher in the professional league.
However, Na Sung-bum took the bat instead of a ball as desired by manager Kim Kyung-moon. After quenching himself in the Futures League in the 2012 season, he started to play as a key hitter for his team in the 2013 season when NC entered the main league.
Coach Kim Kyung-moon judged that Na Sung-bum had a shoulder injury in college and needed a “star” to become the face of the new team. He believed that he would be able to achieve more success as a batter considering Na’s physical conditions, sincerity and batting qualities.
Manager Kim Kyung-moon’s “eye” was accurate. In the 2014 season, when he was in his second year in the first division, Na had a batting average of 0.329, 157 hits, and 30 homers, 101 RBIs and 14 steals, emerging as one of the best left-handed hitters in the league. In the 2015 season, he had a batting average of 0.326, 184 hits, 28 homers, 135 RBIs and 23 steals, making him even more monstrous.
Na also hit hard in the 2016 season with a batting average of 0.309, 177 hits, 22 home runs and 113 RBIs. He continued his growth in the 2017 season, leading NC’s central lineup with a batting average of 0.347 and 173 hits, 24 home runs and 99 RBIs.
“There is no such thing as ‘if’ in baseball, but it became a godsend that Na Sung-bum chose a batter on the professional stage due to persuasion by manager Kim Kyung-moon.” With manager Kim Kyung-moon, Na Sung-bum had a wonderful journey of advancing to the postseason for four consecutive years from 2014 to 2017 and advancing to the Korean Series (2016).
Coach Kim Kyung-moon’s resignation in the 2018 season stopped accompanying Na Sung-beom, but Na Sung-beom still picks Kim Kyung-moon’s name first as his best teacher.
Na Sung-beom will now meet his old teacher, whom he admires, as an “enemy” on the ground. KIA will play three consecutive weekend games against Hanwha led by head coach Kim Kyung-moon at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 21st.
“When I meet manager Kim Kyung-moon at the baseball stadium, I think I have to bow down 90 degrees first,” Na Sung-bum said. “I felt a little strange watching the news video of the manager’s inauguration ceremony. When I first came to the professional league, I felt a little strange because he is now in another team.”
“Actually, I’m still scared of Coach Kim Kyung-moon. Since I was with him since I was a rookie, I’ve been wary of him a lot,” he said. “I’m old now, but I still think it’ll be difficult to see him.”