The winner of the catcher's category, which was one of the battlegrounds for the Golden Glove, was veteran catcher Kang Min-ho (39).
Kang Min-ho was selected as the winner of the catcher category at the Golden Glove Awards held at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 13th.
In a vote of media officials in charge of the KBO League in the 2024 season, Kang Min-ho received 66.3% of support (191 votes), beating Park Dong-won (LG), who received 30.9% (89 votes), and pocketing his seventh golden glove in his career.
As Yang Eui-ji, who was often designated as a designated hitter, was excluded from the candidate, attention was paid to who would take the golden glove between Kang Min-ho and Park Dong-won.
Yang Eui-ji and Kang Min-ho were the soloists in this category. Yang Eui-ji is the most winner in this category ever. He became the Golden Glove winner for the catcher category for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, and received the golden glove eight times from 2018 to 2020 and 2022-2023.
This Golden Glove has entered a two-way race between Kang Min-ho and Park Dong-won.
Both candidates couldn't predict their awards. Park Dong-won said at the Korea Professional Baseball Association award ceremony, "My dream is to receive it. I hope (Kang) Min-ho will give me a chance." He also said, "Min-ho told me that he really wanted to go to the Korean Series and that he would go to the Korean Series and that he would give me a Golden Glove."
Kang Min-ho also did not know that he won the prize. Kang, who had been agonizing over whether to participate until right before the award ceremony, participated in the ceremony with the intention to celebrate even if Park Dong-won won the prize, and even received the prize.
Kang Min-ho said after winning the award, "I'm in a position to compete with my juniors. I'll make sure to compete nicely next year so that I can stand here again." "I thought I should have had more catchers growing up, but I was slow. My juniors are also growing up now," he said. "I want to be a Golden Glove candidate if I get strength from competing with my juniors."
In fact, as Kang Min-ho pointed out, the KBO League is undergoing an aging process. Except for NC Kim Hyung-joon and Kiwoom Kim Jae-hyun, the main catchers of each team in the league are in their mid-30s. It is also because of the nature of the catcher's position that requires experience, but it is also true that the growth of the new catcher is slow.
As Kang Min-ho accepted himself as a "competitive position," younger catchers who can threaten his position should grow up now. This is because Kang also needs the driving force to seek the award again next year. There are many candidates for catchers who can challenge this position.
KT has Jang Sung-woo, the main catcher who led the team to the postseason for the fifth consecutive year.
There is also Kim Tae-gun of the Kia Tigers, who led the team to an overall championship this season and acquired the title of "winning catcher," which it had long hoped for. Notably, Kim contributed to the victory by hitting a grand slam in the Korean Series, with a batting average of 0.353 with one homer and seven RBIs in five games.
SSG has veteran Lee Ji-young. Born in February 1986, Lee is the same age as Kang Min-ho. He posted a batting average of 0.279 this season and hit five home runs.
Lotte has Yoo Kang-nam who is expected to win the next season, although he was disappointed due to injury this season. Hanwha has Choi Jae-hoon. Born in 1989, Choi has already become a veteran of the team. Under Hanwha coach Kim Kyung-moon, who was a famed catcher, Choi plans to keep his home ground at the new stadium next year.
NC`s main catcher Kim Hyung-joon is also a player with further growth potential. Kiwoom needs a young catcher to grow. During the off-season, he signed a multi-year contract with Kim Jae-hyun for up to 1 billion won for six years, hoping for Kim's growth. In addition, Kim Gun-hee, who decided to focus on catcher after playing both pitching and hitting, is also a promising catcher. 온라인카지노
The growth of the new catcher can be a factor that invigorates the entire league. As the face of the league's representative pitcher is changing, if the catcher starts to change, the league could become hotter with more fierce competition. Kang Min-ho, who received the Golden Glove at the age of 39, hopes and dreams to further whip himself.