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| ▲ Kwon Ki-young ⓒ Doosan Bears |
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| ▲ Lee Seung-jin, who transferred to Doosan Bears on the same day as Kwon Ki-young, and grew into a victory group ⓒ Kwak Hye-mi |
[스포티비뉴스=김민경 기자] Doosan Bears catcher Kwon Ki-young, 22, was on the verge of taking off his uniform with a foolish choice.
On the 13th, Doosan announced that’Kwon Ki-young confirmed the fact that he had accessed an inappropriate speculative site and requested the KBO to designate him as a suspended player.’ Doosan first confirmed that pitcher Hyeon-wook Jeong played illegal sports toto, and Kwon Ki-young admitted to the fact in the process of conducting a thorough investigation of the entire team.
Online gambling performed by Kwon Ki-young is an act of damaging the dignity of Chapter 14, Article 151 of the KBO Baseball Code, and can be subject to severe punishment, which is equivalent to’gambling’. The disciplinary level of KBO will be determined after a police investigation, but KBO has expressed its intention to take a tough response to eradicate illegal gambling. Kwon Ki-young is currently discussing with the club when he will be investigated by the police.
Kwon Ki-young was a catcher prospect who was nominated for SK Wyverns after graduating from Chemul Declaration and ranked 26th in the 2nd round in 2017. Since the second year of high school, he has been evaluated as a player with high-level defensive skills, taking the position of catcher. Thanks to his strong shoulders, he also showed strength in jersey of stealing.
However, it did not stand out on the professional stage and was traded to Doosan in May of last year. SK received catcher Lee Heung-ryeon and outfielder Kim Kyung-ho, and gave Kwon Ki-young and pitcher Lee Seung-jin to Doosan. When Kwon Ki-young first heard the news of the trade, he expressed “confused”.
There was a clear reason for Doosan to choose Kwon Ki-young. Although he was young, he evaluated that he was a military player and was worth raising. Kwon Ki-young said, “I will start again with a new heart, and I want to show you that you are good at Doosan.”
However, he couldn’t show his worth at all and was on the verge of folding his dreams with unpleasant affairs. Kwon Ki-young said that his conduct was not good from the days of SK, but playing speculative games is another story. In the field, there is a story that what I did for fun from high school would have continued until now.
Than Lee Seung-jin, who wore Doosan uniform, with the same fate. Doosan evaluated Lee Seung-jin as a fast-ball pitcher who would empower him in the bullpen, but his arrest at the beginning of the transfer remained in the low 140km range. Lee Seung-jin worked hard under the guidance of the second-team pitching coach and reborn as a pitcher who throws a 150km/h high-speed ball from the first-team mound in two months. Lee Seung-jin took a chance on his own and stepped on the mound of the Korean series he dreamed of.
Did Kwon Ki-young feel anything while watching Lee Seung-jin, who is triumphantly? Kwon Ki-young couldn’t properly show neither baseball nor his conduct. He said, “I really want to show you how you’re doing well in Doosan,” he rightly took the opportunity given by the catcher kingdom.
Like Seung-jin Lee, it would be nice if it could be a good example as a successful case of trade, but Kwon Ki-young remained as an example that the futures of professional baseball should never be similar.
Sportavi News = Reporter Minkyung Kim
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