'8 votes were not enough. Why did Kim Taek-yeon fail to win the unanimous rookie award?
Nov 26, 2024
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Doosan Bears' Kim Taek-yeon (19) won the 2024 KBO League Rookie of the Year award. Kim Taek-yeon won the Rookie of the Year award at the 20224 KBO Awards held at Lotte Hotel World Crystal Ballroom in Seoul on the 26th.
Candidates for the Rookie of the Year vote are selected from among the rookie players of the year and players with a record of less than five years excluding the year of the year 30 pitchers and 60 at-bats for batters. The winners will be determined by selecting candidates for the Korea Baseball Press Association and early voting by local media reporters.
There were a total of six candidates this year. Kim Taek-yeon, Kwak Do-gyu (KIA), Choi Ji-gang (Doosan), Cho Byung-hyun (SSG), Jung Joon-jae (SSG), and Hwang Young-mook (Hanwha) were named.
The result was Kim Taek-yeon. Out of a total of 101 votes, Kim Taek-yeon received 93 votes, Hwang Young-mook received 3, Jung Joon-jae and Cho Byung-hyun received 2 votes each, and Kwak Do-gyu received 1 vote. Kim Taek-yeon, who aimed for a unanimous rookie award, failed unfortunately. There were only two unanimous votes in the all-time Rookie of the Year vote. It was only Yoon Seok-hwan (the final score voting method for 1st to 3rd place) of OB Bears in 1984, and Park Jae-hong of Hyundai Unicorns in 1996.
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Kim Taek-yeon, who went through a readjustment period in the second division at the beginning of the season, began to show her presence as a key member of Doosan's bullpen in mid-April. Since then, he has moved to Doosan's closing pitcher, who has been worried about the back door, and has shown a move like a `special rookie.'
Kim Taek-yeon pitched in 60 games this season, recording 3 wins, 2 losses, 4 holds, 19 saves, and a 2.08 ERA. In particular, he achieved a new record for the most saves in his debut season as a high school graduate in the KBO League.
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Kim Taek-yeon is the eighth player from Doosan to win the Rookie of the Year award. Doosan produced the most rookie awards among all KBO league teams. Starting with Park Jong-hoon (outfielder) in 1983, Yoon Seok-hwan (pitcher) in 1984, Hong Sung-hun (catcher) in 1999, Lim Tae-hoon (pitcher) in 2007, Lee Yong-chan (pitcher) in 2009, Yang Eui-ji (catcher) in 2010, and Jung Chul-won (pitcher) in 2022.
After winning the award, Kim Taek-yeon said "My parents that I think of the most now. You've been through a lot, but I'm glad I could give you a little bit of joy. I think Doosan fans cheered me on even when I couldn't go to the second division, so I was able to receive this award. I want to share this joy with the fans"Thank you."
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The secret to overcoming the pressure as a closing pitcher is "Since I'm still a rookie in my first year and I have a lot to learn, so I wanted to show a lot of my age on the mound." I wanted to show some boldness that wasn't like 19 years old. I think I came out on the mound as a play because I had a lot of good thoughts like that."
Kim Taek-yeon picked 'This moment' as the most memorable scene of this season. Kim Taek-yeon enjoyed the joy of winning the Rookie of the Year award, saying, `Many scenes pass by, but this is the first time I've felt this moment and I think I'll think about it a lot in the future.'
youll@sportschosun.com
