Lotte underwent a great transformation this winter. The CEO himself recruited Kim Tae-hyung, and a new general manager Park Joon-hyuk took the helm. However, Lotte did not forget its legendary performance.
Kim Tae-hyung is a “winning contractor” who made it to the Korean Series for seven consecutive years during his time at the Doosan Bears. Starting with the Korean Series title in 2015, his first year as a coach, Kim has won three championship cups. It is an unprecedented career. 메이저 토토사이트
Park is the first “regular worker-turned-general manager” in the Giants’ 43-year history. Since joining the company in 2007, Park has been promoted rapidly and has worked in all major departments, including the management team leader. He is well versed in every corner of the team’s work, and soon after he took office, he reshuffled the team through massive personnel changes and division of duties.
There is a point where the two people have a consensus. It is ‘Giants Blood.’ It is an effort to embrace Lotte’s past glory as a ‘heritage.’
Among the coaches last year, acting manager Lee Jong-woon and former coach Jeon Joon-ho, who shared the honor of winning the Lotte Marines, left. However, Lotte’s second division super star Kim Yong-hee joined the team and first division pitching coach Joo Hyung-kwang, who dominated the 1990s. “Aren’t they Giants legends? We have invited representatives of Busan baseball,” Kim Tae-hyung said of their recruitment.
For Lotte players, their existence itself is a source of pride. Notably, coach Joo Hyung-kwang has returned after a five-year absence. Young pitchers such as Park Se-woong, Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min, who were taught one by one at the beginning of their professional debut, have come back as middle-aged and veterans. They are the main pillars of the Lotte mound this year.
Earlier, Park said, “He taught me so much when I first came to Lotte. He is the real ace who led Lotte to the Korean Series twice.” Koo Seung-min also said, “I’m glad that Coach Joo Hyung-kwang is back. I’ll take this as an opportunity to learn new things.”
Just like his nickname “Mr. Giants,” Kim Yong-hee is also Lotte’s own name. Choi won the Korean Series in 1984 as a player, and the Korean Series in 1992 as a coach led by Yeom Jong-seok. After taking the helm in person, he led the team to advance to the Korean Series in 1995 along with Joo Hyung-kwang when he was an active player. He is also an expert in fostering the Korean pro baseball league.
This winter, Lotte focused on maintaining its power rather than strengthening its power. It retained franchise star Jeon Joon-woo for four years at 4.7 billion won (3.98 million U.S. dollars), but lost An Chi-hong, the team’s No. 2 hitter and captain last year. Only veteran left-handers such as infielder Oh Sun-jin and Choi Hang-soo, who were added through the second draft, and newly recruited Jin Hae-soo and Lim Joon-seop have been added. However, it is confident that young players who have grown to become the core of the team, such as Kim Min-seok, Yoon Dong-hee, Na Gyun-an and Choi Jun-yong, will take a step further.
On the other hand, the LG Twins enjoyed the Korean Series title for the first time in 29 years since 1994. On the other hand, Lotte still has a long way to go since its victory in 1992 led by Yeom Jong-seok, coach of the Dongui University of Science and Technology. Yeom is also the last winner of the Rookie of the Year award.
It has also failed to advance to the fall baseball league for the past six consecutive years. In the last 11 seasons, the fall baseball season has been played only once in 2017, when Lee Dae-ho returned. Now, the two men who jointly advanced to the Korean Series in 1995 are dreaming of playing in the fall baseball with the “victory” coach Kim Tae-hyung. Can we expect a wave of “Giants Blood” that will cover Busan’s fall this year.