I hope he was remembered as a strong first baseman, whether it was a quiet retirement announcement by the MVP of the Korean Series, FA's big hit of 5 billion won
Oct 17, 2025
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KT Wiz Oh Jae-il is retiring.
KT announced on the 17th that Oh Jae-il has decided to retire after ending his 21-year professional career.
In fact, it was a scheduled step. Oh Jae-il took off his Samsung Lions uniform and became a KT player through a trade with Park Byung-ho last season. Last year, he was given some opportunity to play after joining in a trade. I hit 11 home runs. However, the batting average fell too much, and junior players such as Moon Jae-chul were challenging.
Ahead of this season, the four-year, 5 billion won FA contract with Samsung ended. However, KT gave an annual salary of 150 million won. I went to spring camp, but I wasn't given a chance. As Hwang Jae-gyun settled on first base, Moon Sang-chul, who performed well last year, also disappeared. Oh Jae-il has not played a single game in the first team this season. KT also no longer has a justification to hold Oh Jae-il.
Oh Jae-il made his professional debut with the Hyundai Unicorns in 2005. Since then, he has shown off his slugging instincts with the Heroes and enjoyed his prime after moving to the Doosan Bears. He hit 27-26-27-21 home runs from 2016 to 2019. Considering that he is a player who uses Jamsil as his home ground, he has a great slugging ability.
2019 was the peak of my career. He created the only 100-run (102-run) season in his professional career. He also won the Korean Series MVP by leading Doosan to the championship. And he hit the FA jackpot. It signed a 5 billion won contract with Samsung. He hit a total of 215 home runs, and his defense at first base was also very stable.
Oh Jae-il, who leaves the ground, quietly did his best during his career. I want to be remembered as a first baseman who was always sincere and reliable"I am grateful to the leaders and colleagues who have played for various teams, and to the fans who have always shown generous support."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
