[Official] 'Even his final hit was a home run' KT founding member → first unified championship → hero of the Korea Series Game 1, Moon Sang-cheol retires... A period for the 12th-year one-club man

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Moon Sang-cheol (35), a 'founding member' who was there from the very beginning of the KT Wiz, has put an end to his 12-year active career.

The KT club officially announced on the 22nd, "Infielder Moon Sang-cheol has decided to retire from professional baseball."

Moon Sang-cheol, who attended Jungdae Elementary School, Jamsin Middle School, Baemyeong High School, and Korea University, entered the professional ranks as KT's 11th pick in the second-round special selection of the 2014 KBO Rookie Draft. He was a promising player whose power hitting was recognized to the extent that he received a signing bonus of 130 million won.

He did not immediately secure a spot in the first division from the start. Rather, he first made his name as a 'power hitter' in the Futures League (KBO minor league). After recording 14 home runs in 57 games in his rookie year of 2014, he hit 15 home runs in 2015 and 17 home runs in 2016, achieving double-digit home run totals for three consecutive years.

After enlisting in the military service at Sangmu, he dominated the Futures League (KBO minor league). In 2017, he recorded a batting average of .339, 36 home runs, and 101 RBIs in 91 games, becoming the first player to achieve 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a single season in the Futures League (KBO minor league). The following year, he also posted a batting average of .298, 22 home runs, and 78 RBIs in 94 games, ranking first in home runs and RBIs in the Southern League.

However, the barrier to the first division was high. When he first made his debut in the first division in 2015, he recorded a batting average of .163 in 51 games, and in 2016, he remained at a batting average of .200 in 48 games. Even after returning from military service, it took time for him to secure a definite position.

The turning point was in 2020. At the time, Moon Sang-cheol, who had difficulty finding a breakthrough in his hitting, repeatedly watched Kim Tae-gyun's batting videos and essentially rebuilt his swing from scratch. That year, he recorded a batting average of .260, 8 home runs, and 25 RBIs in 74 games, beginning to show his power in the first division for the first time.

In 2021, he recorded a batting average of .219, 2 home runs, and 16 RBIs in 53 games. Although it was not a dazzling individual performance, he shared the moment when KT, which had been with him since its founding, dominated both the regular season and the Korea Series. KT claimed its first unified championship that year, eight years after its establishment.

The autumn where Moon Sang-cheol's name remained most strongly was 2023. He recorded a batting average of .260, 9 home runs, and 46 RBIs in 112 regular season games, playing more than 100 games for the first time since his debut, and also delivered decisive extra-base hits in the postseason.

In the playoffs against the NC Dinos, he hit home runs against Eric Pae and Kim Young-gyu, contributing to KT's 'reverse sweep' of three consecutive wins after two losses. And in Game 1 of the Korea Series against the LG Twins, with the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning with one out and a runner on first base, he hit a game-winning double off the left-field fence against LG's closer at the time, Go Woo-seok. Moon Sang-cheol, who led KT to a 3-2 victory, was also named the Daily MVP for Korea Series Game 1.

The following year, he created his best season ever. In 2024, he recorded a batting average of .256 (89 hits in 347 at-bats), 17 home runs, 58 RBIs, and an OPS of .786 in 125 games. Games played, home runs, and RBIs were all personal single-season records. He established himself as a reliable power resource 11 years after his professional debut.

However, his playing opportunities decreased sharply in the last two seasons. Last year, he recorded a batting average of .214, 5 home runs, and 20 RBIs in 79 games, and this year he spent most of his time in the Futures League (KBO minor league). He recorded a batting average of .202 (45 hits in 223 at-bats), 6 home runs, and 30 RBIs in 71 Futures League (KBO minor league) games, while managing only 2 hits in 8 at-bats across 6 games in the first division.

Even so, he showed his strengths in his final first-division game. In the match against Daegu Samsung on the 12th, he recorded 1 hit in 2 at-bats, and that one was a home run. It became the only home run he recorded in the first division this year, as well as his final first-division hit of his active career. Thus, Moon Sang-cheol finished with a career record of 49 home runs, 190 RBIs, and 173 runs scored, along with a batting average of .237 (320 hits in 1,351 at-bats), in 609 games in the KBO League first division.

Through the club, Moon Sang-cheol left a farewell message, saying, "It is meaningful to be able to start and end my professional player career with KT. The passionate support and cheers sent by you, the fans, at Wiz Park will be something I will never forget for the rest of my life." He added, "I am grateful to all the coaches who guided me to grow until now, the fans, and especially my family, who have always been by my side as a source of strength."

The KT club plans to hold Moon Sang-cheol's retirement ceremony during the 2027 season.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original