Cold water for complaints of bruising in professional baseball..."I apologize directly." KIA player, who swore at the fan the same way, bowed his head
Aug 23, 2025
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This is what the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association (hereinafter referred to as the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association) wrote in an appeal to professional baseball players on the 20th to refrain from malicious comments and to create a healthy cheering culture. The Korea Federation of Players asked the fans to refrain from criticizing the player who went too far, but a day after the appeal was announced, the player responded equally to the fan with abusive language, sparking controversy.
KIA outfielder Park Jung-woo was eliminated from the first-team entry ahead of the match against the Gwangju LG Twins on the 23rd. It's not just about grades. It was the aftermath of a war of words with fans on social media. It is known that the player was quite excited to even talk on the phone, not enough to exchange abusive language with fans through SNS messages.
An official from KIA said, `We had several interviews with the player (Park Jung-woo) and went through the process of confirming the facts. What's clear is an altercation with a fan. He explained, "I removed it from the entry because I thought it was inappropriate."
The decisive reason for hearing abusive language from fans on SNS is the running base against the Kiwoom Heroes in Gwangju on the 21st. KIA was dragged 5-11 by Kiwoom and chased 10-11 by adding 3 points in the seventh inning and 2 points in the eighth inning. He sought a finishing victory in the last attack of the ninth inning, but Park Jung-woo, who was a runner on second base with one out, poured cold water on him. When Kim Tae-gun stepped down with a fly ball to the left field, Kiwoom left fielder Lim Ji-yeol found Park Jung-woo, who had a large lead on the second base, and threw to the second base immediately. It was faster for Park Jung-woo to be forced out of the second base than third baseman Kim Ho-ryeong tagged up and scored home. In an instant, the game ended with KIA's one-point loss.
KIA fans visited Park Jung-woo's SNS, which they judged as the main cause of the defeat, and began to leave a message of criticism. Park Jung-woo read the fan's message of criticism and responded to it, but he made things worse. The primary cause is for fans, but it is certainly a big problem that professional players responded to fans with abusive language.
An official from KIA explained, `It is not subject to disciplinary action by the club because it happened personally between the player and the fan.'
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Park Jung-woo was scheduled to post an apology on the same day, but decided to meet in person and apologize on the 24th as he judged that reconciliation with the fan came first.
Behind the recent increase in the popularity of professional baseball, voices have risen on social media saying that excessive criticism against players is serious. This is the background of the players' association's appeal.
The Players' Association expresses serious concern about the excessive behavior of some ignorant people on social media, etc., and requests that they refrain from doing so. The Korean professional baseball is facing an unprecedented boom, with 10 million spectators set to enter for the second consecutive year since last year, and in particular, the rosy prospect of breaking through in the shortest period this year. I know very well that this is based on fans' interest in professional baseball and their affection for the cheering team and players, and all Korean professional baseball teams are making every effort to show the best play by continuing a strong ranking fight without giving up until the end of the season.
However, although such motivated efforts may have caused misunderstanding to some, or may be a simple over-expression of distorted fan sentiment by some ignorant people, concerns are growing that the reckless actions of professional baseball players on social media have already gone too far. This can never be said to be a healthy criticism or a rebuke with love, but it is just an irresponsible venting of anger. Such an inadvertent act is shrinking the professional baseball player and further bruising the entire Korean professional baseball" he appealed.
The excessive criticism of the player is clearly the wrong fan sentiment, but the moment the player responds equally to the wrong fan sentiment, the above appeal will not be supported. It is time for both fans and players to have a mature cheering culture.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
