Four out of 10 professional baseball teams entered 2023 with new managers. After much thought, the four new coaches formed a team of coaches that matched their goals. In particular, the head coach position, which was considered the ‘director’s right hand’, was occupied by big baseball players. Doosan Bears head coach Kim Han-soo, former head coach of Samsung Lions, Samsung head coach Lee Byeong-gyu, a legend of the LG Twins, and LG head coach Kim Jung-jun, who is considered the best in power analysis, are examples of this.
Doosan’s new head coach is Lee Seung-yeop, Samsung’s representative legend, who was even nicknamed ‘Lion King’ when he was a player. Coach Lee decided to start his coaching career at Doosan, not Samsung, and chose former coach Kim as his first companion in the new team. Coach Kim, who is 5 years older than Lee, is also a ‘one club man’ who only worked at Samsung. Coach Kim, who had been thinking about receiving a recruitment offer from another club, immediately decided to accompany Lee’s cautious recruitment proposal. Coach Kim said, “Coach Lee Seung-yeop is a treasure of Korean baseball.
Head coach Kim Han-soo has a close relationship with head coach Lee Seung-yeop. Coach Kim joined Samsung in 1994 after graduating from Chung-Ang University, and the following year, coach Lee, who graduated from Gyeongbuk High School in 1995, wore a Samsung uniform. While Lee Seung-yeop and Kim Han-soo held third base, the Samsung Corner infield was evaluated as the best in professional baseball. In 1998-1999 and 2001-2003, he also won five Golden Gloves together. While coach Lee played in Japanese professional baseball (2004-2011), coach Kim retired from active play and took over as Samsung hitting coach in 2008. Afterwards, coach Kim continued to protect the team and coach Lee returned to Samsung in 2012, and the relationship continued.
2017 and 2018 were also special for the two. Coach Han-soo Kim ascended to the Samsung command tower in 2017, and coach Seung-yeop Lee spent the last season of his career as a KBO league’s first ‘retirement tour’. Before the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, they also carried the torch together. The two have maintained a good relationship by acknowledging and respecting each other even while their relationship is constantly changing as team seniors and juniors, players and coaches, and players and managers.
Coach Kim Han-soo said, “As head coach, my role is to help manager Lee Seung-yeop and Doosan achieve good results.” We talked about ‘Let’s bring life to the world’.”
After its founding, LG allowed only three players the honor of permanent retirement. Kim Yong-su’s number 41, Lee Byeong-gyu’s number 9, and Park Yong-taek’s number 33. One of the protagonists, coach Lee Byeong-gyu, takes off LG’s striped uniform and wears Samsung’s blue uniform for the first time. Park Jin-man, the new Samsung coach, appointed coach Lee Byeong-gyu as the head coach early on.
Coach Lee Byeong-gyu, who showed off his natural batting talent, is one of the best hitters in LG history. In 1997, the first year of his debut, he won the Rookie Award and the Golden Glove while participating in all games. From 1999 to 2001 he ranked first in hits for three consecutive years, and in 1999 he joined the 30 home run-30 stolen base club. He left a career batting average of 0.311, and also won seven Golden Gloves. He also played for Chunichi Dragons in Japan Professional Baseball for 3 seasons (2007-2009). He only played as a player in LG in Korea, and his life as a leader was like that. Since 2018, he has worked hard to foster prospects by going back and forth between LG 1st, 2nd, and fostering.
There is no particular contact with director Park Jin-man. He only played for the national team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC). He is two years older than Park, who was born in 1976. However, coach Park offered the position of head coach to coach Lee Byeong-gyu as soon as he got rid of the ‘acting’ tag right after last season. Most coaches hire someone close to them who has been close to them for a long time as head coach, but Park made a completely different choice.
Coach Park Jin-man said, “I am quiet and silent, but Coach Lee Byeong-gyu is a style that keeps the players uplifted by encouraging the players on the bench. It is a different advantage from me.” “he explained. He also said, “Although it is the head coach, it will also help the players’ batting. One of the biggest strengths of this coach is that he holds the mental part of the players well.”
Coach Lee Byung-gyu is currently the head coach of Geelong Korea, a Korean team that plays in the Australian professional baseball league. When Geelong Korea’s 2022-2023 season ends on the 22nd, he plans to join ‘Park Jin-man’ in earnest to help. Coach Lee said before leaving for Australia, “I will focus on Geelong Korea first, and then I will do my best to show a good performance in any team.”
Coach Yeom Gyeong-yeop, who returned to the LG command tower after working for Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes and SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers), 헤라카지노 also recruited an unexpected person as head coach. This is coach Kim Jung-jun, who served as the head of the data center for SSG, the winning team last year. He is well known as the son of former Hanwha Eagles manager Kim Seong-geun. Manager Yeom explained the reason, “I wanted to use someone who can fight with me as the head coach.”
Coach Kim Jeong-joon’s performance during his active career was shabby. All he did was record 2 hits in 14 at-bats in 5 games for LG in 1992. However, after receiving an offer from LG and transforming into a power analyzer, he put on new wings. He has been reborn as a power analysis expert trusted by clubs and players with his unique data analysis and utilization skills. Even after LG, he worked for SK and Hanwha, and was also in charge of analyzing the national team’s strength in the 2006 and 2013 WBC and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He also served as a broadcast commentator.
Director Yeom Gyeong-yeop and head coach Kim Jeong-joon are a more unusual combination because they have never had a meal together before. Manager Yeom said, “I have never belonged to the same team as coach Kim, and I have never had a separate meal. Last year, while taking a walk in the United States, I made up my mind and contacted him. did,” he said. He also said, “I asked Coach Kim to ‘look at baseball widely.’ Coach Kim would have learned how to manage the game under (father) coach Kim Seong-geun, so I may come up with another plan.”