Veteran right-hander Kim Tae-hoon spent a long, unforgettable day in his life. He had many twists and turns, from his team that literally changed overnight, to a long-distance move, to an unexpected start, but the last one had a happy ending.
Kim Tae-hoon recorded a scoreless inning in the second game of the season against the Doosan Bears in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 27th, defending Samsung’s 7-6 victory and harvesting the first save of the season.
Until this morning, Kim Tae-hoon belonged to Kiwoom Heroes, not Samsung. While he was getting his hair cut at a hair salon somewhere in Seoul, he was notified that he had been traded to Samsung, so he hurriedly packed his things and moved to Daegu.
Kiwoom announced that it had traded with Samsung on the condition that it send Kim Tae-hoon at 11:00 am on the same day and receive veteran infielder Lee Won-seok and the 2024 rookie draft 3rd round nomination right.
Kim Tae-hoon joined Kiwoom with the 79th overall pick in the 9th round of the 2012 rookie draft and started his professional life, and has been wearing only the ‘Heroes’ uniform for over 10 years. When the trade was decided early in the morning, he hurriedly moved from Seoul to Daegu without even saying goodbye to his Kiwoom colleagues. 메이저놀이터
Kim Tae-hoon came down to Daegu by KTX and arrived at Rapak, the new home stadium, and said, “I thought I would experience a trade someday, but it came sooner than expected.” I hurriedly moved. I guess I went to the hair salon knowing exactly what to do,” he joked.
As much as the sudden trade, his first appearance at Samsung was unexpected. Samsung coach Park Jin-man said that even before the game, he would put Kim Tae-hoon on the mound in a comfortable situation, but in the top of the ninth inning, with a one-point lead on thin ice, he took out Kim Tae-hoon’s card. As the team’s bullpen situation has not been good recently, Kim Tae-hoon joined the team and was appointed at the same time as the match.