Manager Kim, Sung-Han, Assaulting Player Scandal

Since the fact that the manager of Kia baseball team assaulted a minor league catcher revealed too late, the pro baseball circle is troubled.

It was the 25th when this incident was on the surface. It was known to public after the wife of a Kia catcher, Kim, Ji-Young, Kim, Ji-Hyoung posted an appeal on the Internet homepages of the Kia Tigers and the KBO.

Mrs. Kim said on the appeal, “My husband was hit by the manager, Kim, Sung-Han 3 times on his head with a bat at the Gwangju Stadium on August 17th, brought to the hospital with cerebral concussion and excessive bleeding, and had been treated for a month.”

As soon as the appeal of Mrs. Kim was made public, Kia posted the ‘Letter of the Manager Kim, Sung-Han to the fans’ and the ‘Players’ Point of View’ on its home page (www.kiatigers.co.kr). The point was that ‘it was not intentional and done in educational purpose.’

The manager Kim explained the situation through the phone conversation with us on the 26th, “I hit his head with a bat saying ‘do it right’ during a special practice since we had 4 consecutive losses and he couldn’t find his location. I was confused because he bled although it was a light hit.”

He said, “Recently, Kim, Ji-Young’s father-in-law asked money, so I said that I would give him 20 million won, which is his one year salary, but they asked 200 million won. They said they would sue me as a violation crime otherwise, but I don’t intend to solve a problem between a coach and a pupil with money.” In response to this the wife Kim, Ji-Hyoung, who was taking care of Kim, Ji-Young at the Naju General Hospital, said, “I have nothing more to say.”

Since there is a hint of this incident got bigger, the officers of the Kia ball club visited the hospital on the 26th and started to persuade him saying, “Regardless of money, it looks better to come back to the team as a player as soon as possible.”

Kim, Ji-Young is a 10th year pro player who joined the team in 1993 after graduating Yong-Heumg High School in Mokpo, and he is a pitcher, who has recorded 0.244 batting average, 3 homeruns, and 14 RBI’s in 119 games in his career. He marked 0.136 batting average (3 hits in 22 at bats) and 1 RBI in 11 games this season, and his yearly salary is 21 million won.

Sang-Soo Kim ssoo@donga.com