Kim Sung-keun (; born October 30, 1941, in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

) is a retired South Korean

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Over the course of his managerial career, Kim managed seven different KBO League teams, and is only the second manager in the history of the league to record 1,000 victories. He is a four-time KBO Manager of the Year, and as manager of the

SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a membe ...

led the team to victory in the

Korean Series The Korean Series () is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play ...

three times. His nickname is the "Baseball God."

Biography

Kim spent his childhood as a resident of Japan and adopted a Japanese name, Seikon Kanebayashi, but remains a Korean citizen, thus making him a

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

. He began in the newly formed KBO as the pitching coach of the

OB Bears The Doosan Bears () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and play their home games ...

from 1982 to 1983. Elevated to manager in 1984, Kim managed the Bears through the 1988 season, making the playoffs twice. He was given the KBO Manager of the Year award in 1986. Kim then moved on to the

Pacific Dolphins The Hyundai Unicorns () were a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They were a member of the KBO League. The Unicorns won the KBO championship four times (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). The Unicorns were dissolved after the 20 ...

in 1989-1990, where he won his first playoff series in the 1989 season. Kim managed the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Cha ...

in 1991–1992. After taking a year off, Kim returned to the KBO in 1994–1995 as a coach for the

Haitai Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful ...

. He was re-hired as a manager in 1996, by the

Ssangbangwool Raiders The Ssangbangwool Raiders () were a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1990 and dissolved upon bankruptcy of the team's owner after the 1999 season. They were based in the North Jeolla Province and were members of the Korea Baseba ...

, where he lasted until part-way through the 1999 season. After being fired by the Raiders, Kim returned to the Lions as a coach in 2000, and to the

LG Twins The LG Twins () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul, South Korea. They are a member of the KBO League. The Twins play their home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which they share with their rivals, the Doosan Bears. ...

in 2001. Elevated to Twins manager in 2002, Kim took the team to his first

, where they eventually lost to Samsung four-games-to-two. Kim returned to Japan in 2005–2006 as a coach for

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

. Kim was hired by the

in 2007 and led the team to victories in the 2007, 2008, and 2010

. In 2008, Kim reached the 1,000-victory milestone in the KBO League, only the second manager to ever do so. Between 2009 and 2010, the Wyverns had a 23-game winning streak that ended in April 2010. In 2011, Kim was ousted near the end of the season after a long-standing disagreement between him and the SK front office. This led to bench coach

Lee Man-soo Lee Man-soo (; born September 9, 1958, in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, South Korea), also spelled as Man Soo Lee, is a former Korea Professional Baseball catcher and First baseman and manager. After a distinguished career as a professional p ...

taking over the reins – a move that brought a lot of protests from the SK Wyverns fans, as Kim had led SK to the Korean Series in every year that he had been at the helm. Immediately after leaving the Wyverns, Kim was hired by Hur Min to manage the independent minor league team the Goyang Wonders, which ended up playing in the

KBO Futures League KBO Futures League () or Korea Baseball Futures League is South Korea's second level of baseball, below the KBO League. It serves as a farm league with the purpose to develop professional players on-demand to play in the KBO League. The league ...

. He managed the team for all three seasons of its existence.Kang Seung-wo
"Goyang Wonders living up to name,"
''The Korea Times'' (2012-08-23). After the disbanding of the Wonders, Kim returned to the KBO in 2015 to manage the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon that competes in the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark. They have won the Korean Series once, in 1999, and the league penn ...

. He left a game in 2016 due to dizziness. His stint as the Eagles manager did not yield much success — he was fired by the team in May 2017, 43 games into the 2017 season, with a record of 18 wins and 25 losses.Yonhap
"Baseball club Hanwha Eagles to keep interim manager for remainder of '17,"
''The Korea Herald'' (Jun 13, 2017).

Controversy

In 2002, Kim was fined

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

5,000 during that season for a

beanball "Beanball" is a colloquialism used in baseball, for a ball thrown at an opposing player with the intention of striking them such as to cause harm, often connoting a throw at the player's head (or "bean" in old-fashioned slang). A pitcher who thro ...

war that erupted between the Twins and Tigers. (The Tigers' manager was similarly fined.) In 2015, after another beanball incident, "Kim was fined ₩3 million for failing to manage the team properly, the first time in KBO history that only one manager was punished in a beanball incident."JOO KYUNG-DON, KIM SIK
"Eagles manager hit hard by beanball talk and KBO fine,"
''JoongAng Daily'' (April 17, 2015).

KBO League managerial record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Sung-keun Living people 1942 births Zainichi Korean baseball players Baseball people from Kyoto South Korean baseball managers South Korean baseball coaches South Korean baseball players Samsung Lions coaches LG Twins coaches Doosan Bears managers Samsung Lions managers LG Twins managers SSG Landers managers Hyundai Unicorns managers Hanwha Eagles managers Nippon Professional Baseball coaches