[Official] "Legend with 2,209 hits + 'Closer King' with 427 saves" Kim Tae-gyun and Oh Seung-hwan to directly mentor younger national team members! APBC representative team instructors join abruptly

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Two legends of Korean baseball who shared the glory of reaching the semifinals at the 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) and finishing as runners-up in 2009 will once again don the national team emblem. Kim Tae-gyun (44), with a career total of 2,209 hits, and Oh Seung-hwan (44), the "Closer King" with 427 saves, will pass on their international tournament experience to the next generation of national team players.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced on the 2nd that "Kim Tae-gyun and Oh Seung-hwan will join the domestic training camp for the 2026 Asia Pro Baseball Championship (APBC) representative team as instructors."

The two are scheduled to participate in the representative team's training, which will take place over two days from the 3rd to the 4th at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark, to coach young players.

Kim Tae-gyun is a franchise star representing the Hanwha Eagles. After debuting in the professional league in 2001, he continued his playing career exclusively with Hanwha, excluding the period from 2010 to 2011 when he played for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

In KBO League history, he appeared in 2,015 games, recording a .320 batting average (2,209 hits in 6,900 at-bats), 311 home runs, 1,358 RBIs, and an on-base percentage of .421. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2001, the Home Run Championship in 2008, and the Batting Championship in 2012, and has received three Golden Glove awards.

He also left a significant mark as a national team player. In the 2006 WBC, he first wore the senior national team emblem and contributed to Korea's advancement to the semifinals. He contributed to Korea's runner-up finish in the 2009 WBC and remained active on the international stage until the 2017 tournament.

Oh Seung-hwan is a top-tier closer in Korea, Japan, and the United States, and is a legend of Korean baseball and the KBO. Oh joined the Samsung Lions in 2005 and recorded a career total of 427 saves in the KBO League. He holds the domestic record for the most saves and also served as a closer for teams such as Japan's Hanshin Tigers and the United States' Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals.

In particular, Oh Seung-hwan was responsible for protecting the lead at crucial moments for the national team. He shared in the 2006 WBC semifinal run, the gold medal with a perfect record at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the runner-up finish at the 2009 WBC. He served as a core member of the national team's pitching staff for a long period until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The two players' current participation aligns with the APBC's purpose of cultivating the next generation of representative teams. Now in its third year, the APBC is a stage where young players from four countries—Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia—gain international tournament experience. Players aged 24 or under, or within their first three years as professionals, are the basic eligibility criteria, while up to three wildcards aged 29 or under may be utilized.

The KBO has formed a preliminary roster of 33 players centered on young athletes such as Kim Do-young (23, KIA), Ahn Hyun-min (23, KT), Kim Ju-won (24, NC), and Moon Hyun-bin (22, Hanwha) in preparation for the 2027 Premier12 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The final number of participating players is 28.

The representative team's helm is held by Manager Choi Won-ho (53), who previously led Hanwha. Appointed as the national team manager to fill the vacancy left by former Manager Ryu Ji-hyun's move to Hanwha, Manager Choi will take on his first role as an international tournament manager through this event.

KBS N SPORTS commentator Jo Sung-hwan (50) will assist Manager Choi as head coach and defensive coach. Pitching coach Park Jung-jin, batting coach Jeong Kyung-bae, bullpen coach Kwon Oh-joon, strategy and third-base coach Kim Jae-geul, QC and first-base coach Lee Dae-hyung, and battery coach Choi Ki-moon will also guide the player roster.

The representative team will conduct domestic training and practice games in Daejeon from the 2nd to the 8th before departing for Japan on the 9th. They will play their first game against Australia at Tokyo Dome on the 12th, followed by matches against Japan on the 13th and Taiwan on the 14th. The top two teams in the preliminary round will compete for the championship in the final on the 15th, while the third and fourth-place teams will play a third-place determination game on the same day.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original