Word of mouth instantly spread as NC’s Son A-seop became the first player in the batting average since his debut after training with Kang in the U.S. ahead of the 2023 season. Kang has also shown interest in KBO league players through YouTube, and has been interacting with Korean major leaguers. Having learned the latest theory after experiencing the Major League, Kang has become a figure in the spotlight of baseball fans despite being branded as a drunk driving kick-off. 안전놀이터 추천
Son A-seop, who enjoyed the Kang Jung-ho effect with the batting average of 0.339 last year, will visit Kang again this year. Park Se-hyuk is also with him this time. At Doosan, Kim Jae-hwan wants to meet Kang and revive him. Retired Lee Dae-ho strongly recommended Kang Jung-ho School to the extent that he even provided support for Lotte’s Han Dong-hee and Jung Hoon’s stay.
Kim Ju-won of NC Dinosaurs, who has emerged as a shortstop for the Korean national team, also wanted to learn from Kang ahead of the spring camp. However, he gave up recently and decided to stay in Korea to prepare for the spring camp. Kim has already started spinning his bat. With the goal of becoming a player who has clearly improved in batting, he has been training at his home in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, and back and forth between the J-Sports Baseball Academy in Jamsil, Seoul. This is why he did not visit the academy.
“It is true that I originally wanted to go to the U.S. Son Ah-seop suggested it first, so I really wanted to go. But when I set the date, I only had two weeks to learn. I thought two weeks was short to learn something and make it completely mine. When I enter the spring camp, I definitely have to prepare for the season, but when I go to the camp without learning properly, I thought that I would have more anxiety. So, rather than just two weeks, I thought it would be better to go to the place I went to during the off-season and go to the camp this time. I told Son Ah-seop that I wanted to go to the U.S. early next year and learn.”
Kim originally planned to join the U.S. team ahead of the main camp. However, he decided to stay in Korea as he believed that joining Kang for a short period of time would not have sufficient effect. There are players who will enter the U.S. a little earlier to adapt themselves to the local area, but Kim decided that it would be better to learn the batting theory he is learning now, so he moved with the main camp.
Kang is known to have prepared to transform himself into a coach while staying in the U.S. In January 2022, he made an appearance at the ABCA convention where American baseball coaches participate. He was seen having conversations with former Hanwha Eagles and current LA Angels hitting coach Johnny Washington. Around the same time, Kim Ha-sung prepared for the second year of the Major League season with the help of Kang Jung-ho.
In March of the same year, Kiwoom Heroes tried to return Kang Jung-ho as a player, but it fell through. Kang Jung-ho has not given up his relationship with baseball since then. Last year, the news that Son A-seop trained together was reported. Now, he has become a famous instructor that players line up to look for.
As it happens, the view of such “outside coaches” has changed a lot in the baseball world. In the past, it was often regarded as a dirty trick for a professional baseball player to play baseball with an outside instructor, and now it is different. It is also encouraging.
“I want to become a growing player. I want to show my growth every year,” Kim said, vowing to become a better player in batting this year. Kim solidified his position as NC’s main shortstop by playing in more than 100 games for the first time since his debut last year, but he had a batting average of 0.233 at bat.
He gained stability in defense last year. He emerged as a shortstop for the Korean national team through the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2022, the postseason in November, and the APBC (Asia Professional Baseball Championship). He performed well in batting at two international competitions, the Asian Games and the APBC, but during the regular KBO league season, he clearly showed his strengths and weaknesses.