“So that fans can play baseball that is treated well… I will act as a battery for KIA like the long term of an electric car.”
Shim Jae-hak, the new KIA general manager, started his career as a Tigers frontman through an inauguration ceremony and an official press conference at KIA Champions Field in Gwangju on the 9th.
Shim Jae-hak, who joined the pro in 1995, played for the LG Twins (1995-1999), Hyundai Unicorns (2000), Doosan Bears (2001-2003) and finished his career with the KIA Tigers (2004-2008).
After a long period of leadership at Kiwoom Heroes (2009-2018), general manager Shim served as a commentator in 2019 and continued to communicate with baseball fans. He even returned to the field this year when he took over as QC/hitting coach for the WBC baseball team. He is the head of Shim Jae-hak, who has various experiences, but he is new to the front desk.먹튀검증
Shim Jae-hak, who entered the press conference wearing a KIA uniform jumper, revealed future plans and goals with a confident voice. The following is the official interview with Shim Jae-hak, who became the new head of the KIA Tigers front desk.
The feeling of being inaugurated as the general
manager came as an unusual one during the season. There are some things that are burdensome because I am not ready. However, there are many games that KIA has to play in the future, so I will try to make a good record. He has since quit three jobs, including commentator, power reinforcement member, and national team batting-QC coach. I will do my best in the future for one job, the role of KIA leader.
KIA has a very thick fan base and is a team with many fans. I know that. I will do as expected. To me, the fans are the first, so I try to play baseball that puts the fans first. I want to play baseball that I can understand that much.
As for the feeling of returning to KIA as the general manager,
there are employees I know and juniors I know. I’ve been to the place where I lived, but it’s changed a lot (laughs). I’ve been there to help during the broadcast, and I’ve lived there for 5 years, so it’s friendly and I don’t think it’s ‘new’.
Did you have a conversation with director Kim Jong-guk?
I didn’t have time to have a deep conversation with the director. She met her in the morning and spoke briefly. The time was still too short for a deep conversation. After hearing the story about today’s match, we talked briefly about the direction each other was thinking.
I have various ties with director Kim Jong-guk, including college and active duty
(laughing). ‘Line stories’ such as certain universities keep coming up. However, as I moved between 4 teams, a coach who came out of the same university came to the team and was traded to KIA, and a senior coach announced (me) a waiver after just one at-bat. I don’t think about such a relationship at all. On the contrary, I wonder if the CEO was the most uncomfortable about the appointment of the head of school. (Due to school ties, so far) I have not benefited myself. I think there is no problem.
I think it would be easy to communicate as much as we know each other.
He is a junior with whom I was originally close rather than academic, and he is a coach who has been in private as he liked to talk about baseball together. It’s a comfortable situation to have a conversation with.
When I was a player at KIA, my grades weren’t good, so I said, ‘I have a desire to repay you,’ but I
talked about it on the air, and during the five years I came to KIA, I did well in the first year, and after that I didn’t do much. However, I couldn’t take much because of the negative option rather than the announced (salary) amount. However, I want to say that I am really sorry to the fans. So I think I will work harder as I take on the role of general manager. Because I have an attachment to KIA, I think that I will be able to do well by focusing more on what I could not do at the baseball field.
As a commentator, how did KIA feel from outside the box?
The most important thing is team chemistry. It’s a very well done team. It is the most important part that I want to take with me even after coming to KIA. In that respect, I thought it was a well-equipped team that made me wonder if coach Kim Jong-guk led it without any fuss.
I am also curious about the evaluation in terms of power.
In the current situation, one of the things that many of you are curious about is probably that (trade), but I want to believe in our players. I wonder if it would be better if I believed in the players you know and gave them some kind of motivation. I won’t mention names because I think the gazes of reporters outside and the gazes I see will be the same. I think it would be a better team to meet and motivate each other. Because they are still catchers in their 20s.
In KIA, former players and general managers have continued to fail. Along with the burden, there will be concerns about the direction, but
it is true that he failed as a player at KIA. However, when setting the direction for the team, I will not lead with my own opinion. I will permeate well into the team. I think it’s important to set my direction in the future. If I already show my color now, I could lose the direction of the team that is going well, so I think I need to match the direction the team is going and my future direction.
There is a lot of experience, but there are also concerns about not having the front desk experience.
I don’t understand the distinction between a former player and a former front manager. You just need to collaborate on the roles you need. I think there will be no problem with the vigilance against it because I have been living in a company while working as a commentator. Also, if you need expertise in each part, you can collaborate with someone from the front desk. I don’t understand why people are divided like that.
What is the direction to pursue in the future
? Instead, the conversation will continue. The most important thing I can do is the ‘farm system’. I can’t yet make a judgment about what direction KIA is going and what kind of results it is making. I will watch first-team games in the future, but I plan to watch more Futures games. I will check if the future farm system matches my thoughts. It won’t be easy this season, but what I’m thinking is that it would be nice to create a ‘farm director’ and take on the role
. Also, the draft must select players within 11 rounds. And in a situation where you have to grow as a foster player, the most important thing is to develop players. Even if the system that can be nurtured is not completed within my tenure, I will admit that the farm system of KIA is a good system even if the next general manager comes and make a farm system that can continue.
Is it a story of giving existing players more opportunities along with nurturing instead of strengthening power such as trade
? I will trust the players. And I will make a bold trade. But I won’t do business that loses money. The basics of my trading are profit rather than win-win.
How long is the term of office
? (Laughs) I didn’t write a contract. (To club officials) Until when? (After hearing the story of until 2025) Laugh again.
What was your most memorable piece of advice?
I think ‘open your ears’ was the best advice for me. KIA Tigers baseball seems to be something that appeals to the fans and that the fans can trust. It is a word that is not often used in baseball, but it seems that it is time for ‘Re-Branding’. Because I think it should be a KIA Tigers that meets the fans’ needs (demands) and then goes in the direction the fans want. I want to lead the team with that direction. We need to listen to the opinions of the majority of
how to listen to the opinions of various fans and how to resolve the other direction .
And among the fans’ voices, what needs to be filtered out must be filtered out. Among what the fans say, the things that the fans can agree with about what I do (direction), the same goes for trades. When it comes to new nominations or issues that become an issue, if it’s really necessary, I’ll try to make that move after consulting with the director, who is not arbitrary as far as the fans can understand.
What kind of conversation did you have at the team meeting?
I didn’t say long words to the players. ‘I will do everything I can to help the players play on the ballpark. I will help you,’ he said. He also said, ‘Because the general manager’s room is always open, I hope senior players will always visit’. Rather than doing something right away in one day, I think the basic of team chemistry is skinship. From now on, I will approach each player one-on-one and do a lot of skinship. I want to be the general manager who is like a friend rather than a ‘captain and player’.
What is your strength as a leader?
First of all, it is that you have a lot of experience. I have neither front desk nor coaching experience, but I have experienced the pros and cons of moving from one team to another. Also, the records and stats I studied while commentating until recently, the human resources of meeting scouts while traveling abroad, and the KBO league, which was embarrassing but too confined while experiencing the WBC, now (assuming) when KIA left the WBC I thought about it. So, we plan to expand exchanges with foreign teams in the future. You’ll see that later. I want to bring KIA baseball to the wider world.
The reason why I took on the KIA general manager after much consideration instead of three jobs
is a really attractive position. Because the fan base is really good. It is also the most stressful position. The thing I was most worried about was coming during the season. On the one hand, I am grateful to MBC broadcasting station for understanding. I was greatly attracted by the thoughts of KIA fans. There was a lot of pressure, but there was a desire to achieve good results and to feel the same joy with the fans.
Known as a learning leader. Is there a person who is a role model or a club that you take as an example
? He is reading several books. He also talks about the Saber Matrix, but I think it’s important to filter it backwards. There is too much information and too many stats right now. It seems that a more important task would be to simplify the process so that only the most important facts can be delivered to the players.
If I could define the baseball that KIA wants to make in one word,
I want to make fans feel treated when they come to the baseball field and while watching baseball. Rather than going to a fast food restaurant and eating food, you come to the ballpark and come to a high-class restaurant to be treated, and feel like ‘I’m eating well today’, see such good baseball, receive good treatment, and work with the marketing part to leave the ballpark like that. I will collaborate I want to make the fans feel that way (being treated). It is still too early to set
the goal of becoming the KIA general manager this season .
Many matches remain. I saw the lacking part of the outside, and I saw a lot of strengths. It would be absurd to solve that part now. It’s too early to say ‘I’m going to do that’ after only one day. Since he is the general manager who came in the middle of the season, he has to permeate quickly. I think the priority is to quickly find out what the team lacks. I will help you with that part. Also, we (parent company) are an automobile company. Aren’t we good at making electric cars? I will act like a good battery so that coach Kim Jong-guk and electric cars can go long-term.