"One bad comment outweighs 100 good ones..." Why KIA's Hwang Dong-ha chose girl groups and Calm Man over SNS [Interview ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

"I'm just an ordinary 25-year-old outside the baseball stadium."

Hwang Dong-ha (24), who has emerged as a surefire starting pitcher for the KIA Tigers this year, revealed his unique mental management method.

Hwang is a right-handed pitcher who joined KIA after being selected in the second round, seventh round, 65th overall pick of the 2022 KBO Rookie Draft following his graduation from Insaeng High School. He has consistently appeared in the first division since his second year, and in 2024, he contributed to KIA's championship victory by rotating through the starting lineup in 25 games with a record of 5 wins, 7 losses, and an ERA of 4.44.

Despite experiencing the worst traffic accident of his career last year, Hwang worked tirelessly over the winter to secure a spot in the starting rotation this year. Starting as a swingman, he officially joined the starting rotation in May, posting a record of 4 wins, 0 losses in 5 games with an ERA of 1.48, recording 30⅓ innings and 24 strikeouts, which put him on the shortlist for the KBO Monthly MVP.

Ahead of the Gwangju LG Twins game on the 17th, Hwang met with StarNews and cited his forkball, which comes out with the same speed as his fastball, as the secret to his rebound this year. After about nine minutes of baseball talk, the opportunity arose to learn about Hwang Dong-ha as a person.

While Hwang is endlessly serious on the mound, his demeanor on the club's YouTube channel or in the dugout is unmistakably that of a young man his age. He smiles at girl groups visiting for the ceremonial first pitch and does not hesitate to joke with older players or peers. This bright side was Hwang's own way of breaking through the mental struggles he endured last year.

Hwang asked, "Was I too serious?" and added awkwardly, "Whenever we talk only about baseball, I end up becoming serious without realizing it." He continued, "When I'm not training, I try not to think about anything. I realized I want to live and enjoy things appropriate for my age outside the stadium."

He is a 24-year-old who enjoys watching YouTube during his downtime. Recently, he has become a fan of RESCENE, famous for "Geoje Yaho." From the Calm Man channel run by webtoon artist Lee Mal-nam to "My Precious Child" and "Divorce Deliberation Camp," he has consumed all variety shows unrelated to baseball.

Hwang responded, "It seems like girl groups are trending a lot on my YouTube Shorts these days. I'm just an ordinary 25-year-old outside the stadium, so I think it's natural to like girl groups. I watch a lot of variety shows like Calm Man, Geum-jjok, and Divorce Deliberation Camp. My YouTube algorithm doesn't show me much about baseball."

He added with a smile, "In the past, I thought a lot about baseball even after leaving the stadium, but that actually became a poison. I decided to stop thinking about baseball when I'm outside the stadium, and it actually became more comfortable. Just not thinking about baseball while resting is helpful in itself."

Nevertheless, he does not use personal SNS (social networking service). It was a decision made considering his personality. Hwang stated, "Not using SNS has been very helpful for me. I try not to look at SNS or comments related to baseball as much as possible. In the past, I would search for my own videos when I performed well. But even if there were 100 good comments, one bad comment would stick in my mind more. There is more stress coming when I perform poorly than praise on SNS when I perform well, so I thought it would be more helpful for me to not use it at all."

Even without SNS, fans continue to support Hwang Dong-ha. Hwang is aware not only of the fans who visit Gwangju-Kia Champions Field but also of the numerous fans who cheer for his growth. One such example was the May Monthly MVP commemorative coffee truck gift sent through the behind-the-scenes channel on MBC Sports+ recently. Since he was the MVP chosen directly by fans, the pain of missing out on the official KBO Monthly MVP was completely erased.

Hwang said, "Actually, I don't even care about things like the KBO Monthly MVP. I wonder if I'm too indifferent, but I didn't even know such a thing existed." He added with a smile, "The coffee truck I received this time was really great. I heard many fans voted for me, but since I don't use SNS, I didn't even know I was receiving so much attention."

He continued, "So I think I was even happier. It feels like I'm only receiving from the fans, which makes me feel a certain way. When I become more successful in the future, I want to gift a coffee truck so that our fans can drink from it."

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*This content was translated by AI.