The Nexen Heroes fired Kim Si-jin as their manager.

The Heroes terminated their contract with Kim, who had signed a three-year extension last season, said officials of the Korea Baseball Organization team. He is the second managerial casualty in the KBO this year, after the last-place Hanwha Eagles let go of their manager Han Dae-hwa in late August.

Bench coach Kim Sung-kap will be the interim manager for the rest of the season, officials added.

Kim Si-jin, 54, took over as the Heroes’ manager in 2009, but the team has never reached the playoffs during his tenure.

In the eight-team KBO, the top four clubs reach the playoffs.

Under Kim, the Heroes have finished sixth, seventh and eighth, and they were sitting in sixth place with 54 wins, 62 losses and two ties with 15 games left this season.

Kim had been the pitching coach and later the manager with the Hyundai Unicorns, which folded after the 2007 season under financial problems and became the Woori Heroes, under the new ownership of local company Woori Tobacco.

Naming rights were sold to Nexen Tire before the 2010 season.

The Heroes had a great start to the 2012 season, and reached first place on May 23 at 21-14-1, thanks to a franchise-record eight-game winning streak.

They were the first KBO team this season to reach 20 victories. But they have gone 23-48-1 since then and are seven games out of the fourth and final playoff spot. (Yonhap News)