Song Kwang-min (43), the longtime Hanwha Eagles infielder who belted 111 home runs and spent his entire 15-year KBO career with the club, has opened up about the behind-the-scenes story of his retirement. In a recent appearance on the YouTube channel ‘Stoking’ alongside former Hanwha battery coach Cha Il-mok, Song shared details about the offers he received from other teams after being let go by Hanwha.
“There’s always greed in a player,” Song said. “I wanted to keep playing.” He recalled how he received a call from the team’s operations manager while on a wedding photo shoot. “The next day, the club told me they couldn’t offer me a contract,” he explained. At the end of the 2020 season, Hanwha was in the midst of a full rebuilding and parted ways with several veterans, including Song, Lee Yong-kyu, Choi Jin-haeng, Ahn Young-myung, and Yoon Kyu-jin, to accelerate the generational shift.
Although Song was suddenly without a team, opportunities to extend his playing career did surface. “Actually, there were teams that called me. Doosan and Samsung,” he revealed.
Song first recounted how close he came to wearing a Doosan Bears uniform. “Senior coach Kang Seok-cheon from Doosan called and asked about my physical condition. I told him I was fine,” Song said. “It was during Game 4 of the Korean Series. I expected a call, but it never came. The higher-ups didn’t approve it.”
The other team that showed interest was Samsung. “Samsung also reached out when manager Heo Sam-young and senior coach Choi Tae-won were there,” Song noted. At the time, Samsung made a conditional promise: “If either Woo Kyu-min or Lee Won-seok (the two free agents) doesn’t re-sign, we’ll definitely bring you in.” However, both players ended up staying with Samsung, and Song’s move to the Lions fell through. “They signed both players, so I announced my retirement in January 2021,” he said.
Although Song couldn’t extend his active career, his decision to retire after the 2020 season allowed him to finish as a “one-club man.” His career stats: 1,060 games, a .286 batting average, 1,029 hits, 111 home runs, 530 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases. He now runs a fried chicken restaurant in Daejeon.
Meanwhile, former coach Cha Il-mok shared stories from his time as Hanwha’s first-team battery coach from 2018 to 2020. “That was when Hanwha was on an 18-game losing streak. We went through all sorts of trials and tribulations,” Cha recalled. “The team was so young. The batting order kept changing. A lot of players were coming up from the Futures and going back down. It was a chaotic atmosphere.”
Indeed, Hanwha’s 18-game losing streak in 2020 tied the record for the longest losing streak in KBO history, a mark previously set by Sammi in 1982. “It was a rookie named Noh Tae-hyung who came up from the Futures and hit a walk-off to break the streak,” Cha said. “There was no consistent lineup. The foreign players weren’t performing well either.”
Now, after enduring those difficult years, Hanwha advanced to the Korean Series last season, and fans are eager to see how they perform this year. Song predicted, “With their current roster, I think they can make it to the Korean Series.” Cha added, “I consider Hanwha a championship contender. I’m rooting for them to win. And I hope KIA can make the top five,” showing support for both of his former teams.
