KIA Tigers ‘Living Legend’ veteran outfielder Choi Hyung-woo expected an interesting showdown with ‘Korean Monster’ Ryu Hyun-jin’s return to the Hanwha Eagles. Choi Hyung-woo has been strong against Ryu Hyun-jin in the past. However, I hope that Choi will have a showdown with his juniors based on the idea of learning, rather than a tip to target.
The Kia Tigers finished its first spring camp in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 1 and returned to Korea via Incheon International Airport on Tuesday. The team will move to Okinawa, Japan, on Tuesday, and start its second spring camp focusing on actual matches.
KIA appointed Lee Bum-ho as its head coach in the middle of the first spring camp on Feb. 13. The contract period is two years, and the contract amount is a total of 900 million won, including 300 million won for down payment and 300 million won for annual salary.
“I think being a manager of the Kia Tigers is a very important task,” Lee Bum-ho, who met with reporters after finishing his camp in Australia, said. “I feel pressured because the team has a lot of good players and strong performance from the outside. Still, it is an even bigger honor for me to be a manager when I have good players. After taking over as a manager, I only changed to watch pitchers next to the bullpen and the mound, and nothing else changed.”
Asked about the novice coach, coach Lee Bum-ho then said, “I think I start as a coach when I’m not good enough. In the end, I think the most important thing is what kind of players I meet. I think it’s very different whether you start with good players or in a difficult situation. I think it’s a little more advantageous for me because I’m a manager of KIA who has a lot of very good players in that regard. I’m a novice coach, but I trust and try to have fun because there are a lot of veteran players,” he nodded.
Veteran Choi Hyung-woo also expressed great satisfaction with the atmosphere of the team led by Lee Bum-ho. “I had so much fun during the camp. A really good coach came and I exercised comfortably. I am doing well with him as before. I tried to avoid him on purpose just because I was afraid he would call me an older brother (laughs). He said, “Just because I became a coach, nothing will change.” I don’t think the atmosphere will change whether I win or lose this season. I think we will be able to enjoy this season with the best atmosphere regardless of our performance.”
Coach Lee Bum-ho, who was informed of Choi’s remark, also said, “I hope that the mood and mood of the team will not change (laughs). We used to be coaches and we treated each other the same way even after we became coaches. Honestly, I don’t plan on letting our team lose consecutive games, but I don’t want to make them lose the mood. There are many players who take care of themselves even if our players don’t do it. If someone tells us not to do it, we will do more. We will understand the characteristics of the players and prepare for this season well.”
Choi also expressed his thoughts on Ryu, who returned to the Korean pro baseball league. Choi once faced off with Ryu while playing for the Samsung Lions, displaying strong performance by posting a batting average of 0.400 (16 hits in 40 times at bat) with four homers and nine RBIs.
Choi Hyung-woo said, “Ryu Hyun-jin seems excited, but I’ve played a lot (laughs). When Hyun-jin said he was coming, I thought I played baseball for too long (laughs). Even after playing in the Major League, I was there for him. KBO league players must have a lot to learn from him. Did he think he was an easy target before going to the U.S.? I hope we can have fun while playing the game, thinking that I’m just learning, without any tips on how to hit the ball?” 여우알바
KIA and Hanwha will have their first showdowns of the season with KBO exhibition games in Daejeon on March 11 and 12. I wonder if Ryu and Choi will have a showdown from March.
