Hyun Soo Kim appreciation thread

[cheecks]

Man i will miss this guy and so will my son, who loved him.

Agreed, Buck hated him for whatever reason. Buck has "his guys" (Rickards, Flaherty) and Kim wasn't one of them. 

Not a fan of Buck at all. I see why he has the rep that he does.

[O's84]

Buck phoning in the Kim trade covertly:

[O's84]

Buck right after the trade:

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Orioles might have not made the wildcard last year if Kim doesn't hit that home run. 

One of my favorite Oriole moments. Watched every pitch to that point of what was a painful game. Quickly turned glorious. Thanks for the memories Hyun Soo!

[gfrank]

I'll always wonder what could have been with this guy had the circumstances been different, and he had gotten into 130+ games with us. It was slightly inexcusable last year when he was hitting and Buck was still benching him for Rickard for reasons unknown, but you can probably pretty fairly chalk it up this year to Trey Mancini and that season-long slump he never seemed to get out of. It put those nails pretty firmly in the coffin now that Joey's gone out there flashing better leather than he did last year. It's a shame. There are other Oriole teams where he would have pretty easily ran away with the starting job, but this year's team wasn't one of them.

I hope he sticks it out a couple more years in the states instead of just going back to Korea. I could really see it clicking at some point for this guy. And judging by the replies here, I probably won't be the only Orioles fan who now has a reason to skim the Phillies box scores for the rest of the year.

[Tbone83]

Kim didn't fit in. Not enough Ks, didn't swing for the fences. He wasn't what made the Os good/bad offensively. 

I think there was a lot of untapped potential there, but who knows. I agree it is one of the black marks on Buck's record here. I wish Kim the best of luck and hope he finds himself in a situation where he can play more. 

[tntoriole]

I really liked Kim's calm at bats, his good humor despite his treatment by management, his confidence in his own ability by refusing to be shipped to Norfolk and his support of his teammates.  I think Buck was perhaps flummoxed by the cultural issues involved in dealing with a translator during a long season and never felt any informal bond or connection with Kim. 

[Frobby]

Since this is an appreciation thread, I'll say that Kim was a great teammate who always supported his teammates and didn't sulk when not playing.   I appreciated that he rarely gave away at bats.     I hope he gets an opportunity for more regular playing time in Philadelphia.   

[weams]

I guarantee that Buck never hated Hyun Soo Kim. I also think Buck did not think his was an MLB game. I liked the funny dude myself. 

[weams]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Since this is an appreciation thread, I'll say that Kim was a great teammate who always supported his teammates and didn't sulk when not playing.   I appreciated that he rarely gave away at bats.     I hope he gets an opportunity for more regular playing time in Philadelphia.   

Very strong post. 

[Mayor McCheese]

Well at least he did not end up in Toronto......

[InsideCoroner]

My favorite underdog Oriole. I couldn't make it to his T-shirt night last year so I bought one on eBay the day after that game, which is still one of my favorite Oriole shirts. Mancini's emergence made it clear he wasn't going to be a regular, so I hope he gets ABs for the Phils and hits well. I would like to see him stick around MLB in the coming years.

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, Mayor McCheese said:

Well at least he did not end up in Toronto......

Wow - still frightening shot and lucky can did not hit him.

 

Loved Hyun Soo's makeup and attitude.  He never publicly said anything negative about his situation.  He was a proud man who got along with his teammates, and his teammates seemed to genuinely like him.  In his minimized, role he did perform quite capably for his "skill set".  I wish he could have been used better and always looked for his name in the lineup.  As others have said, I hope he continues to play in the MLB in the years to follow!

[yujinishuge]

I'm so angry at how he was treated by the team and I hope he gets revenge and this trade in hindsight looks as bad as the Arrietta trade. 

 

I love this team but I can't help but feel they didn't know what they had here. 

[ThomasTomasz]

9 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

That was a real thrill (and a good call). I really enjoyed watching Kim bat last year. This year, not so much.

Earl would have found a useful role for Kim for as long as he was on the 25-man roster.

 

We saw last year what a lack of substantial playing time and at-bats did to Caleb Joseph.  This year, the same happened to Kim.