Left-hander Kang Ri-ho (formerly Kang Yun-gu메이저사이트), who played for Nexen, NC, and Lotte, announced his retirement from active duty.
Kang Ri-ho said on his Instagram on the 8th, “After much consideration, I have decided to retire. It seems like yesterday when he made his professional debut at Kiwoom in 2009 at the age of 20, but since he is writing his retirement letter like this after 14 years have passed, many things come to mind during his career as a player.”
His love for Kiwoom, his professional debut team, was the greatest. He said, “I think a lot about Kiwoom, the hometown team that I loved the most while moving teams such as Kiwoom, NC, and Lotte. It seems that he always missed Kiwoom in a corner of his heart, even when he was on a different team.”
He continued, “When I think of the manager, coaches, and teammates, I always feel sad and apologetic. I think it was a team that gave me a lot of unconditional love.”
Kang Ri-ho did not forget to greet those who were with him at NC and Lotte. He said, “I was grateful for all the attention that you gave me to try to save and use it somehow even if my pitch fell, and sometimes criticized and harsh words to become a better person.” I sincerely thank the fans who did it,” he said.
“Kang Yoon-gu seems to have endured in the first team for 14 years through hard work rather than outstanding talent,” he confessed. I am always grateful and grateful to everyone I have come to know because of baseball.”
Meanwhile, Kang Ri-ho, who started his professional career with Heroes in 2009 after graduating from Jangchung High School, played for Nexen, NC, and Lotte, playing in 402 first-team games, recording 31 wins, 29 losses, 2 saves and 48 holds. His earned run average was 5.07.
In 2018, when he was in NC, he achieved his best performance after his professional debut with 7 wins, 5 losses, 1 save and 17 holds (average ERA of 6.09). The following year, he won 15 holds, achieving double-digit holds for the second year in a row. He appeared in 29 games last year, but left an average ERA of 5.48 without a win or loss.