‘Runner-up No. 5’ coach Kim Gyeong-moon leaves Hanwha… One of the championships that I couldn't solve in the end

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Gyeong-moon = Professional baseball coach Kim Gyeong-moon (67) of the Hanwha Eagles will resign at the end of this season.

An official from the Hanwha club told Yonhap News on the 10th, "The contract with coach Kim Kyung-moon expires at the end of this season," and "the club is seeking to appoint a new coach."

He added, “I would like to express my deep gratitude to coach Kim Kyung-moon, who has led the team so far.”

In June 2024, when the team fell into a slump, Hanwha parted ways with former coach Choi Won-ho and signed a three-year contract with coach Kim Gyeong-moon for a total of 2 billion won.

Coach Kim Gyeong-moon stabilized the team, which was shaken in his first year in office, and advanced to the Korean Series (KS) by finishing second in the regular season in 2025.

However, this season, the performance fell short of expectations due to the poor performance of foreign pitchers and the lack of key bullpen pitchers.

As of the 9th, in 143 games, they had recorded 57 wins, 82 losses, 4 draws, and a winning percentage of 0.410, remaining in 9th place.

Coach Kim Kyung-moon directly announced his intention to resign ahead of the home game and final game of the season against NC Dinos held at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ball Park on the 10th.

Coach Kim began his career as a coach at the Doosan Bears in 2004, and served as NC's first coach from 2011 to 2018.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as the coach of the Korean baseball team, he achieved the greatest honor as a coach by winning all 9 games and winning the gold medal.

However, on the professional baseball stage, he was unable to resolve his sorrow of winning KS.

Coach Kim was runner-up in the KS in 2005, 2007, and 2008 during his time at Doosan, and also suffered a setback on the brink of the summit in 2016 when he was leading NC.

And last year, Hanwha also advanced to KS, but lost to the LG Twins and failed to win, leaving a disappointing record of runners-up five times in total.

However, coach Kim Kyung-moon left a significant mark on Hanwha.

Through the game against the Lotte Giants on August 12 last year, he became the third player in professional baseball history to reach 1,000 wins, following coaches Kim Eung-yong (1,554 wins, 68 draws, 1,288 losses) and Kim Seong-geun (1,388 wins, 60 draws, 1,203 losses).

As of the 9th, he had recorded 1,078 wins, 957 losses, and 39 draws in 2,074 professional baseball regular season games as a manager.