*This content was translated by AI.
"When I think about our club last year, when we stood up proudly after overcoming tearful adversity, I keep thinking of one person who symbolizes the whole club."
Lee Jin-man, CEO of NC Dinos, made the remarks while delivering a New Year's message at the 2026 club's New Year's party held at the Olympic Memorial Hall in Masanhoewon-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, at 2 p.m. on the 5th.
CEO Lee, who mentioned "our values," looked back on last season, saying, "On a difficult journey that is unprecedented in KBO history, and hoping to be successful, we armed ourselves with determination, grit, and strong teamwork and wrote a miraculous storybook ending with 10 consecutive wins at the end of the season, giving a deep impression to the baseball community."
CEO Lee, who brought up the keywords of determination, grit, and teamwork, said, "When I think of our club last year, which overcame the tearful adversity and stood up proudly, I keep thinking of one person who symbolically shows the whole club." He was infielder Kim Hui-jip (23).
CEO Lee said, "There were times when I was struggling with the floor, but rather than giving up or giving up on adversity, he showed more determination to overcome it, showed a grit of getting up step by step, and finally 'bang' and raised our entire club."
Kim Hwi-jip, who met with reporters after the New Year's party, looked dazed. "I didn't know at all," he said. "All I thought was to do better." He said, "I think there is a message from the New Year's party. I was grateful and surprised that my story came out," he confessed.
Still, Kim Hwi-jip is a player who is recognized by everyone in the work-esque category within the club. NC manager Lee Ho-joon brought up Kim Hui-jip's name along with Lee Woo-sung, Seo Ho-cheol, Park Si-won, and Oh Jang-han and said, "He came (for training) without missing a day." Kim Joo-won, a friend, said, "I'm mature and thoughtful for my age. Even if I don't say it in words, I feel something, so I think it has a good influence," he said. It hasn't been two years since the 2024 trade, but it already has a big presence.
Kim Hwi-jip said, "Thank you for looking at it like that," but added, "I'm not a player who came from this team. So I didn't want to make you feel like you're a player from another team around you. So I tried harder," he said. He continued, "Now I'm at an age where I have to do well. I think that's why he said that."
Last year, Kim hit 0.249 with 17 home runs, 56 RBIs and 10 steals, and an OPS of 0.769 in 142 regular-season games. He set a career high record in home runs, and stolen bases exceeded double digits for the first time. In particular, he helped greatly when the ranking battle was in full swing with a batting average of 0.328 and 14 RBIs in 24 games since September.
On top of that, he instilled his fighting spirit in the team at the end of the season by saying, "I haven't given up yet," and NC ended the season with nine consecutive wins, breaking through the 3.5% probability (based on KBO PS Odds) and creating a dramatic story of entering autumn baseball.
We have no choice but to expect Kim Hwi-jip's performance again this year. In particular, he, who is not in the military, has no "military white flag" (military + blank flag) only when he is selected for the 2026 Aichi and Nagoya Asian Games national team and wins the gold medal. He said, "Asian games can mean a lot of military service benefits, but winning doesn't disappoint fans," adding, "It's good to be selected well, but it's not enough to be stressed out just because you can't be selected."
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*This content was translated by AI.
