“I really needed 1 point…”
Doosan Bears entered a ‘great change’ ahead of this season.
After leading the team for 8 years from 2015, he parted ways with coach Taehyung Kim, who led the team to advance to the Korean Series for 7 consecutive years, and newly appointed coach Lee Seung-yeop, the “national hitter”.
Coach Lee hit 467 home runs during his active career, ranking first in his personal career home runs.
During his active career, he was a ‘star player’ who represented the KBO League to the extent that he won the MVP and Home Run King 5 times and the Golden Glove 10 times.
Although he was a home run king, at the time of his inauguration, manager Lee declared that he would play ‘precise baseball’ emphasizing strategy and running rather than ‘thick baseball’ with home runs. He said that during his active career, he also had the influence of playing on the Japanese stage.
Signs of change began from spring camp. Coach Jung Soo-seong, who has rich know-how in strategy and running, was recruited, and play that went one base further was emphasized for hitters.
‘Lee Seung-yeop’s detailed baseball came out from the opening game. At the end of the 8th inning, where the score was 8-8, Yang Seok-hwan picked out a walk and was replaced by runner Jo Soo-haeng. While Jo Soo-haeng was aiming for second base, the pitcher checked and threw an error, and he became second base safely.
In-tae Kim’s sacrifice bunt resulted in a 1st out and 3rd base situation. Lee Yoo-chan, who was at bat, bunted a surprise bunt toward first base. Pitcher Seung-Min Koo hurriedly ran and caught the ball and threw it home, but Jo Soo-haeng’s sliding was faster. Doosan took a 9-8 lead.
Manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “I really needed one point, and I thought that the preparation for the squeeze would be a little lax because I pulled the defense forward. I signed because I thought it could be a match.”
Even in the 11th overtime, Doosan’s strategy saw the light. With the score 9-10, lead hitter Su-bin Su hit and went out. Then, a run-and-hit operation was held in Heo Gyeong-min’s at-bat, and Heo Gyeong-min’s hit came out. Sue-bin settled on third base.
The follow-up hitter, Jose Rojas, stood at bat with a much lighter mind and hit a walk-off home run. Rojas smiled, saying, “I thought of a sacrifice hit to tie the score in the last at-bat, but luckily a mistake came in and it led to a home run.” 스포츠토토
‘Baseball of faith’ also existed. At the time of his appointment, coach Lee pointed out Kim Jae-han as the ‘key player’. He expected that synergy would be created across the batting line if he centered on the batting line as the fourth hitter. Even at the spring camp, he said, “Saving Kim Jae-hwan is Goto’s special duty as hitting coach.” Kim Jae-hwan clearly showed off his presence as a ‘Geopo’ by shooting a three-run home run that made it 5-8 to 8-8.
Director Lee won his debut match at the command tower as both the detailed strategy baseball and the bold strategy baseball melted together. In the first year of the league, Lee was the 28th coach to win in his debut match, excluding acting coaches. It is the 4th at Doosan. Director Lee said, “I feel better than when I was a player. When I was a player, I only had to do well, but now I feel sad no matter who the 9 players do well. I feel more affection for them as they are between a teacher and a student.”