'Foul Ball' likens baseball to life
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Kim Sung-keun, former manager of disbanded independent baseball club Goyang Wonders and now manager of the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), speaks during a press preview of a documentary film “Foul Ball” at the CGV Wangsimni Theater in Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
In baseball, the term “foul ball” refers to a batted ball that lands in foul territory. In the case of foul ball that is not caught by a fielder, a batter is given another chance at the plate though the player adds a strike to his or her count.
Although it is just a rule in the sport, Kim Sung-keun, a former manager of the disbanded independent baseball club, the Goyang Wonders, said the term foul ball can also be applied to our lives as most can get second chances even after they fail at something.
“I think baseball and our life are all the same because they both accompany failures and success,” Kim said to reporters at a theater in Seoul on Monday.
The Goyang Wonders were established by social commerce company CEO Hur Min in 2011, with the aim of offering a second chance to baseball players who were undrafted or released from professional clubs.
Kim, 72, dubbed the “god of baseball,” who had 1,234 wins and three championship titles in his managerial career in Korea’s top baseball league, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), over 15 seasons, was chosen to head the Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province-based club. Under his leadership, the Wonders recorded 90 wins, 61 losses and 25 draws while playing 176 games in three seasons.
The Wonders had played “unofficial friendlies” with teams in the Futures League, a second-tier division of the KBO, but it announced its deactivation in September due to financial hardship.
Kim and his former players are featured in an upcoming documentary film, “Foul Ball,” for which 1,093 days of footage was recorded capturing moments of the baseball club’s rise and fall.
Kim, who now leads the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO from this season, said he shed tears while watching a raw version of the film.
“I first watched the raw version in a hotel room in Okinawa, Japan as me and my team were there for spring training. And I couldn’t stop crying.
“I think the film is full of inspiration, as it has all sorts of human emotions in it,” Kim said.
After watching the film by himself, he then shared it with the Eagles players in a bid to give momentum to them.
“After sharing the film together, some said they realized how important baseball is to them, and others said they just cried sympathizing with the film,” Kim said, joking that he was sorry he couldn’t collect admission fees from them.
When asked about his brand of leadership, Kim said, “I have never thought that I am a good leader. But one thing I can confidently say is that I have been responsible for my players and have tried to make them better players at the game. I think that is one condition that a leader should keep in mind.”
Kim also gave his warm wishes to a newly established independent baseball club, The Yeoncheon Miracle.
“It is very welcome. I hope everything is going along well for the team,” Kim said.
The country’s second ever independent baseball club, based in Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province, announced its launch on March 13.
“As you know, there are about 700 to 800 unemployed baseball players every year, and it is good news for them,” he added.
The 87-minute-long film, which will hit local screens next month, is directed by Jo Jung-rae and Kim Bo-kyung, and narrated by actor Cho Jin-woong.