After a Year Off, St. Margaret’s Kim Adopts Special Approach : Prep baseball: Three-sport athlete, who withdrew after his father’s death, returns as Tartans’ right fielder.

St. Margaret’s Dean Kim never claimed to be a special baseball player.

“When you see Dean, you’re not going to see this graceful player tracking down fly balls in the outfield,” St. Margaret’s Coach Mike Hays said. “He hasn’t played a lot of baseball.

“So what you’re going to find is a typical, small schools’ right fielder . . . . He’s just a kid who enjoys the game,” Hays said.

What is special about Kim is the new approach he has brought to the team after returning from a one-year absence.

In July of 1991, Kim’s father, Sung Kim, died after suffering a stroke. Following a year of withdrawal, mourning and reflection, Kim is back on the playing fields.

“Right after my father passed away, I was pretty down,” Kim said. “I shut everybody out. But through the whole experience, I became more mature. Everyone had a new role to play.

“Before, my dad worked and took care of a lot of things. Now, my mom and I know we have to depend on each other . . . it brought us closer together.”

And it began a transformation within the 6-foot, 165-pound Kim.

“When Dean first played baseball for us, he was really intense,” Hays said. “Now he’s become a well-balanced individual. On the field he’s focused, but he balances it with great maturity.

“If he makes a mistake, we might crack jokes about it and he’ll smile and laugh,” he said. “When you’ve gone through a death of loved one, it kind of puts a different perspective on everything.”

Sung’s death brought direction to Dean’s life.

“I’ve thought about the time we spent together, and sometimes I’ve wondered ‘Well, what if we could have spent some more time doing this, or doing that,’ ” Kim said.

“When looking back, it helped me realize the importance of the present. In high school, I have a chance to do a lot of things that have meaning, things that I won’t be able to do after I grow up.

“Now, I feel like I have a goal.”

One goal is to attend business school after graduation. Another is to live his high school life to the fullest.

“He’s a jack of all trades,” Hays said. “He’s taking full advantage of being at a small school like St. Margaret’s. He won’t have any regrets wondering if he should have tried out for one of the teams because here, he can play football, basketball and baseball.”

Kim’s favorite sport is football. In the 1992 season, he earned All-Academy League honors at defensive end for the Tartans’ eight-man football team.

Kim admits baseball is not his strongest sport, but he still has something to prove this season.

“In our last home game during my freshman year, we were down by two runs with runners on first and second,” Kim said. “I was on second and I messed up a sign and tried to steal third. . . . I was thrown out and we ended up losing.

“I just wanted to give baseball another try.”

Kim saw minimal playing time during his freshman year, but he has improved enough start in right field.

Although Hays doesn’t know how well Kim and the Tartans will play this season, he isn’t bashful about making other predictions about Kim.

“Whatever Dean goes into, he will do well,” Hays said. “He knows how to work hard, but he won’t get psycho if things don’t go his way, and he’s not a goof-off.

“He took the year off from baseball because his family was important to him. For such a young man, he’s already captured that delicate balance that most adults I know don’t have.”