*This content was translated by AI.
Yang Eui-ji (39, Doosan Bears), dubbed the catcher "G.O.A.T." in Korean baseball history, predicted the timing of his retirement, saying, "I will play baseball for another three to four years at the most."
Yang Eui-ji, who joined Doosan in 2006 and seemed to remain in Doosan forever, moved to the NC Dinos ahead of the 2019 season. And four years later, he obtained his second free agent (FA) right before the 2023 season and returned to his old team. He became a Doosan man again, stamping a total of 15.2 billion won for 4+2 years.
Last season was a difficult year for Yang Eui-ji. Of course, my personal performance was not bad. He played in 130 games in the 2025 season and became the catcher's batting king with a batting average of 0.337, 20 home runs, 89 RBIs, an on-base percentage of 0.406, a slugging percentage of 0.533 and an on-base percentage of 0.939.
In addition, he also held gold gloves in his arms. Starting with the first award in 2014, he won the 9th Golden Glove in the catcher category alone until 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2025. It is a new record for the most wins in a single position.
Yang Eui-ji will wear Doosan's captain's armband again this year. "Last season, there were so many games that really didn't work out. I didn't think those situations would make me work hard, and I thought the team should work with a more united mindset. As Doosan captain in the New Year, I thought a lot about why I failed last season. Since there are many young players, I thought that the way for the team to become stronger is to teach them more annoying things and help them develop," he said.
That doesn't mean there's too much pressure. Of course, if you are a player, it is a professional to give good results to your fans under pressure. You have to accept the pressure and enjoy it. I don't think there's such a big problem if I do as much as I can. Helping me and my colleagues create synergy will have more impact on the team's performance," he said, renewing his determination.
Yang Eui-ji signed the condition of 4+2 years and a total of 15.2 billion won when he returned to Doosan. According to the official announcement at the time, the terms of the contract were 4.4 billion won for the first four years and a total annual salary of 6.6 billion won. And after the end of the 2026 season, it was a condition that included a player option of up to 4.2 billion won for two years, including incentives. And if you play this season, that time will come soon.
Yang Eui-ji said, "Rather than motivating, I will stop playing baseball in three to four years at the most," and added, "I'm going to work hard and have fun when I can play baseball for the rest of the year anyway. I don't really have a thought about what to do, but I'm just paying attention to how we rebuild the team quickly," he said, showing a unique mindset.
The KBO League has another veteran catcher, Kang Min-ho (41, Samsung Lions). Ahead of this season, Kang Min-ho signed an FA contract with Samsung for up to 2 billion won and stayed. Yang Eui-ji said, "When I have a meal with (Kang) Min-ho, I always ask 'how do you take care of your body?' I played for a longer time than I did, so I'll refer to it in that part. It's really respectful to see you do it. I thought that I could play baseball for a longer time, so I gained confidence. They say a lot of good things. I put a lot of effort into how I can play baseball for a longer time," he said.
Finally, Yang Eui-ji said, "I think there are a lot of things to pay more attention to so that juniors can grow up this year. I'm going to teach you one more thing to help you grow into a good player. The juniors may be bothered, but they try to watch and help more diligently from the side. As a captain, it is most important to help your friends play confidently. Also, I felt a lot that the dugout atmosphere should always be good before the game to get a good result. When there were many consecutive losses last year, there were many times when the dugout atmosphere was bad even before the game. I thought a lot about changing the Doosan Bears bench in the new year. I will pay a lot of attention and make it as enjoyable as possible so that my juniors can play with confidence," he said again.
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*This content was translated by AI.
