'7th place, 7th place, 7th place → 3-year, 2.4 billion won contract expires': Lotte Kim Tae-hyung's final farewell: "Sincere gratitude to the players and fans who have supported us"

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Manager Kim Tae-hyung, whose three-year contract with the Lotte Giants has expired, delivered a heartfelt final farewell to the players who completed the 2026 season's long journey and to the fans who offered passionate support until the very end.

He conveyed his final farewell to the young one.

On the 12th, at Seoul Jamsil Baseball Stadium, in the regular season finale of the '2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League' against the Doosan Bears, Lotte secured a 7-4 victory, leveraging the concentration of their lineup that produced 15 hits. With this win, Lotte pushed out the NC Dinos to finish the season in seventh place.

This game marked the final official match of the contract period for manager Kim Tae-hyung, who had signed a major three-year deal worth a total of 2.4 billion won with Lotte ahead of the 2024 season. After finishing seventh in his first year as manager in the 2024 season and again in seventh place in the 2025 season, the team also closed out this season in seventh place. As a result, 'Kim Tae-hyung's' Lotte remained in seventh place for three consecutive seasons, concluding their three-year contract with a record of '7th-7th-7th.' Broadening the scope to the entire Lotte organization, they swallowed the disappointment of finishing seventh for four consecutive years since the 2023 season (7th place), but they achieved a graceful exit by securing a valuable victory against the formidable Doosan in the final game.

After the game, manager Kim Tae-hyung said, "First and foremost, I want to tell the players who did their best this season that they have worked very hard," first commending the efforts of the players who had struggled throughout the season.

He also did not forget to send a message of congratulations to the players who completed remarkable records on this day. Manager Kim applauded, saying, "Congratulations to Reyes, who achieved the most hits title, and to Hwang Seong-bin, who achieved the stolen base record (55 stolen bases)." On this day, Reyes collected four hits, including one home run, to secure the KBO League's most hits title with 211 hits for the season.

Finally, manager Kim said, "I sincerely thank the Giants fans who have sent unwavering support until the very end of the season," bowing his head to express gratitude to the fans who had shared the journey with him for three years.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original