Left-hander Kang Ri-ho (former Kang Yoon-gu), who played for Nexen, NC and Lotte, announced his retirement from active service.
Kang Ri-ho said on his Instagram on 꽁머니the 8th, “After a lot of consideration, I decided to retire. “It feels like yesterday when I made my professional debut with Kiwoom at the age of 20 in 2009, but since I am writing my retirement after 14 years, a lot of things come to mind during my career,” he said.
His affection for Kiwoom, a professional debut team, was the biggest. He said, “I think of Kiwoom, the hometown team that was loved the most while moving teams such as Kiwoom, NC, and Lotte. “I think I always missed Kiwoom in the corner of my heart even when I was on another team,” he said.
“When I think of the coach, coach, and colleagues, I think I was always heartbroken and sorry. “I think it was a team that gave me a lot of unconditional love,” he added.
Kang Ri-ho also greeted those who were with NC and Lotte. He said, “I appreciated all the hearts you cared about to use it somehow even if your pitch fell, and sometimes you criticized and said harsh words to become a better person,” adding, “I sincerely thank the fans for their interest and support just because I am a professional baseball player.”
“Kang Yoon-gu seems to have endured in the first division for 14 years with effort rather than outstanding talent,” he confessed, adding, “I want to now try to immerse myself in my second life, which I have only done in baseball so far.” “I’m always grateful and grateful to everyone I got to know because of baseball,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kang Ri-ho, who started his professional career with the Heroes in 2009 after graduating from Jangchung High School, played for Nexen, NC, and Lotte and pitched in 402 games in the first division with 31 wins, 29 losses, and two saves and 48 holds. His ERA is 5.07.
In 2018, when he was in NC, he had the best performance since his professional debut with 7 wins, 5 losses, 1 save, and 17 holds (6.09 ERA). The following year, he won 15 holds and achieved double-digit holds for the second consecutive year. He played in 29 games last year, but left a 5.48 ERA without winning or losing.
After the season, he became a free agent. Kang Ri-ho was not called by other clubs even though he was a C-class FA that did not need a compensation player and played for Gapyeong Wales in the independent league of Gyeonggi-do.