2011 Rookie of the Year draft, he made a name for himself in the unexpected Hanwha Eagles.

He then played for Hanwha for 10 years before moving to the KIA Tigers in a trade in 2021. He changed teams with high expectations, but he did not perform as well as he expected, and to make matters worse, he even hampered his injury.

The elbow that often caused pain was a problem. For Kang Kyung-hak, 2022 was an important year. He had to show better performance for the team he chose, but his arm kept hurting. He endured pain, but in the end, he couldn't stand it in his daily life, and after undergoing checkups at three hospitals, he was diagnosed in two places that he had to undergo surgery to continue playing baseball.

It was natural that he should continue playing baseball. After discussions with the club, Kang decided to have surgery in May and underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-June. When he was just getting ready after the surgery, he was released from the hospital.

He knew that he was nervous about his future when he had to make room for the players who finished the military service, but was informed that he would be discharged from the team at an unexpected time. As he was out of the team for surgery, he had to leave the team without giving proper greetings to anyone. Rehabilitation was also up to him.

Still, he had to play baseball. After recovering 100 percent of his physical condition, Kang decided to find a new team. However, his recovery was slower than expected. As the years went by, he was able to find more perfect conditions. It wasn't until September that he could take the joining test with the consideration of one team.

It was nothing short of the last challenge that Kang Kyung-hak had in mind. However, the team did not call and eventually came to the conclusion that it was time to call an end to the "athlete" Kang. He was preparing himself. "I was thinking about it because I am old now, and there are many players who are younger and better competitively. I postponed the test about three times due to my physical condition, but I thought about a different path each time."

I had no regrets. "I was so bored for a year. I didn't want to watch baseball," he said. Rehabilitating alone, maintaining my physical condition, and technical training were difficult. If I tried more, there could have been a team I needed, but I didn't have the strength to endure it.

"I endured for a year to take only one test. If I didn't try it, I would have regretted it, but I thought I would not regret it if I took only one test. I prepared for a year to play baseball again, but after I failed, I felt relieved and wanted to rest for a little bit," he said.

Many still remember June 2018 of Kang. At that time, Kang had 31 hits, three homers, 15 RBIs and 18 runs with a batting average of 0.383 and an OPS of 1.042. Some even said that Kang's "crazy" month led Hanwha to the postseason.

It is a season that remains the best memory for Kang Kyung-hak, too. It is not simply because of the good grades, but because of the pride that he made the results on his own.

Kang Kyung-hak said, "I went to the first team camp that season and fell to the second team camp in 15 days. That's when I got more intense. Later, when the season started, I went up to the first team, and I couldn't even bat, so I got angry again, not anger. I did it against the evil at the time, but I felt relieved that I burst into laughter as soon as I went up. It was the first time I felt this while playing baseball."

The cheers that I will never forget. "The saddest thing is that I couldn't say hello to the fans as I quit like this. Hanwha made me a lot of memories that I will take with me forever. I feel sorry for not being able to come and show them to KIA fans. I stayed quiet for a year to play baseball again, and I think I was able to endure the thought that there were fans who were curious about how I was doing, thinking about me and supporting me," Kang said. 스포츠토토

He said, "When I hear the voice support once in a while, I feel really good. I think I will cherish the support of the fans for the rest of my life to the extent that I can brag about it to my children in the future. I'm also very grateful to Hong Chang-hwa for making me a cheerleader for 'Ppeekaboo'." He laughed. "I'm so grateful that they allowed me to live 'Ppeekaboo' while playing baseball."