Kim Dong-yeop, who is left with an injury, confessed honestly, "I wanted to quit after doing it properly." [Ulsan Field]

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Dong-yeop (36), who played for the Kiwoom Heroes in the 2025 season, was once a big gun who commanded the KBO league. He has hit 92 home runs in his career, and as many as three seasons (2017, 2018, 2020 seasons) have recorded more than 20 home runs when he was with the SK Wyverns (the predecessor of SSG Landers) and the Samsung Lions.

Kim Dong-yeop appeared after being assigned to Group A of the "Ulsan Wales" tryout held at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium on the 13th. Kim Dong-yeop's expression on the ground wearing an unnamed uniform, leaving behind the colorful past, was grim.

Kim Dong-yeop, who met with the on-site reporters after finishing the tryout, seemed relieved, saying, "I've worked out outside for the first time in a long time, and I think I just decided to show the basics as I did. I didn't try too hard to show it because I might get hurt. I think I just did what I was practicing," he said with a smile.

"About 10 years ago, I tried to play overseas tryouts high, but I hurt my wrist after hitting only one while hitting at that time. At that time, I used a lot of energy. It's my first tryout since then, and I think I know the trick a little bit now. There was also a good tension on the way to Ulsan, so I thought it would feel good. Still, I'm satisfied that I finished well without getting hurt during the tryout," he added.

In fact, Kim Dong-yeop's 2025 season was very unfortunate. Kim Dong-yeop, who was released from Samsung after the 2024 season, started the season difficultly by signing a contract with Kiwoom Heroes. However, in an exhibition game against the Doosan Bears on March 15, 2025, he was hit in the right wrist by a fastball of 148 kilometers per hour on four pitches with opposing starter Kim Yoo-sung at the ball count 1-2. Eventually, the fracture was diagnosed and the season started on time. The record of playing in the first team in the 2025 season was only nine games and he was notified of his release again. Due to injury recovery, he spent more time at Goyang Baseball Stadium, the home stadium of the Futures team, than at Gocheok Dome, Kiwoom's first-team home stadium.

On the day, Kim Dong-yeop said, "If there was a proposal for the first team, I would have gone right away, but some clubs contacted me after being released, but I think the situation was not very good. So I thought a lot about (retirement). In fact, if I couldn't do it because I received many opportunities in the first team, I thought I would take off my uniform without regret, but I was hurt in the exhibition game, so I had a lot of regrets. So, I think I applied like this because I wanted to do it properly and quit at least a little bit," he explained.

Kim Dong-yeop then said, "If I had a previous personality, I would not have applied. In fact, my close seniors gave me advice, but when I come to society, I have more things to bend my pride. Originally, I didn't have strong self-esteem, but I think I applied because I was told to do it with confidence," he said.

There is also a clear desire to enter the first team. This is because up to five players can be transferred from the Ulsan Wales club to the first team in the 2026 season. In response, Kim Dong-yeop said, "Of course, I want to go up. It is natural that any player wants to play in the first team. In fact, the first team, Futures League, and baseball are the same, but they haven't shown much because they've been hurt a little in the last two to three years. So I applied because I wanted to show my skills starting from the Futures League. There is no problem at all with the injured area at the moment," he stressed.

Finally, Kim Dong-yeop said, "Now, I think it's more important to do well than to try. If I pass, I want to hang out together and teach the players the know-how and things I experienced in the professional league, and then leave the ballpark.

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*This content was translated by AI.