Kia Tigers manager Kim Ki-tai offers to quit after slow start

All News 19:20 May 16, 2019

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- The manager of the last-placed Kia Tigers, Kim Ki-tai, has offered to step down from his post, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team announced Thursday.

The Tigers said they accepted his resignation offer, after Kim said he wanted to quit to take responsibility for the Gwangju-based team's slow start to the season.

They said the Tigers' Futures League manager, Park Heung-sik, will serve as interim manager.

After 43 games played, the Tigers are at the bottom of the 10-club KBO league for the 2019 season with 13-29-1. They are 16.5 games out first place.

Kim, a former KBO All-Star and batting champ, took the helm of the Tigers in 2014 and steered the team to a Korean Series victory in 2017, their first championship title since 2009.

He re-signed a three-year deal after winning the Korean Series, but failed to finish the contract.

It is not the first time that Kim has left a team in the middle of the season.

In April 2014, he resigned from the managerial post of the LG Twins, which dropped to the bottom after 18 games. With the Twins, Kim guided the team to finish second in the 2013 regular season and to the playoffs for the first time in over 10 years.