Kim`s Coaching Style Designed to Encourage Players

“I want to really connect with my players. That’s why I give each and every player a ball-toss,” said Team Korea manager Kim Gyeong-mun yesterday.

Since the team started training November 11 in Okinawa, Japan, Kim spends upwards of an hour tossing balls to his players.

His words of encouragement are purported to be working their magic

Kim Ki-tae (Yomiuri), the batting coach, exclaims, “They hit my balls gently, but hit his tosses as hard as they can.”

Beginning as Doosan skipper in 2004, he has led his team to 3 playoff appearances and 2 Korean Series finals. Even though Doosan was predicted to be among the weaker teams in the 2007 league, Kim defied the experts and took Doosan to the playoff finals against the eventual winner, SK.

His days as a player were markedly different. Even though he was appreciated as a defense-specialist catcher, 10 seasons in the professional league saw him hitting .220 with six homeruns and a measly 126 hits. His exposure to national team baseball as a player was his high school days only.

The Korean baseball squad lost to both Japan and Taiwan in last year’s Doha Asian Games. Having joined the team at its low point, Kim has Samsung’s Sun Dong-ryeol and Yomiuri’s Kim Ki-tae as assistants to share coaching responsibilities.

After winning the Japanese league championship in his first season, Chunichi’s Lee Byeong-gyu joined the squad on November 15, making the national squad’s roster complete.

“When the manager is restless, players are bound to be stressed out. I have no problem with taking the blame for bad outcomes. It’s our job to encourage players so that they will be able to make efforts voluntarily.”

A teenager who once dreamt about membership on the national team has ended up being its leader. Team Korea manager Kim Gyeong-mun finally has the chance to prove the validity of his coaching style of baseball to an audience on an international level.

why@donga.com