Ex-WBC, Olympic hero Kim Min-jae dies at 53

Lotte Giants's ex-coach Kim Min-jae / Courtesy of Lotte Giants

Kim Min-jae, a former slick-fielding shortstop who helped Korea win the 2008 Olympic gold medal, died Wednesday at age 53.

The Lotte Giants, for whom Kim made his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut in 1991, announced Kim had succumbed to cancer earlier Wednesday.

Kim joined the Giants, his hometown team in the southeastern city of Busan, out of high school in 1991. He was a member of the Giants' last Korean Series-winning squad in 1992 and played for that club until 2001.

He went on to spend the next four seasons with the SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) and wrapped up his career with four seasons for the Hanwha Eagles.

He finished with 2,113 career games, the most by a shortstop in KBO history and 12th-most overall, along with a .247 batting average, 1,503 hits and 174 steals. He also put down the most sacrifice bunts in league history with 228, with no active player even at 200.

Internationally, Kim represented Korea at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, when the country reached the semifinals, and then at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Korea won all nine games en route to the gold medal.

After retiring in 2009, Kim served as a coach for the Eagles, the Doosan Bears, the KT Wiz, the Giants and the Landers. He rejoined the Giants as bench coach ahead of the 2024 season.

Kim was diagnosed with cancer during his first season on the Giants coaching staff. Out of respect for their former player, the Giants kept Kim on the payroll and reassigned him to their minor league affiliate.

Kim split his 2025 season between the KBO and the minor league, but then began experiencing more health problems late last year.

The Giants had planned to ease Kim's workload this year by having him work with players in injury rehabs.