If Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop shows the same performance as this year next season, he could completely lose the confidence of his fans.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop was the best legend of the Samsung Lions when he was an active player. Wearing a Samsung uniform in 1995, Lee had been a professional player at Samsung until 2003. Afterwards, Lee continued his career with the Chiba Lotte Marines, the Yomiuri Giants, and the Orix Buffaloes in Japan, before returning to Samsung in 2012 and playing until 2017. Lee Seung-yeop, who hit 467 home runs at Samsung, has become a permanent member of the team.
Lee Seung-yeop, who announced his retirement from Doosan in 2017, started his career as a coach at Doosan, not Samsung. Lee took the helm of Doosan in October 2022. Since Lee had no experience as a coach or a coach, there were concerns.
Lee Seung-yeop, who debuted as a manager for Doosan, did well in the 2023 season. Doosan, which was ranked ninth in the 2022 season, advanced to the postseason with 74 wins, 68 losses and two draws under Lee. Although the team was eliminated by a 9-14 loss in the wild card against the NC Dinos, it succeeded in halving the success given that it was in its first year.
In the second season of 2024, Doosan also ranked fourth, confirming its advance to the wild card market. Doosan faced off the KT Wiz in the wild card game, but Doosan under Lee Seung-yeop was lethargic. In the first game, starting pitcher Kwak Bin collapsed by allowing five hits, two walks and four runs in one inning, losing 0-4. In the second game, the team’s batters kneeled down 0-1 after remaining silent, becoming the scapegoat for the first time in the wild card game. 먹튀검증
Angered Doosan fans gathered around Jamsil Stadium and shouted, “Lee Seung-yeop, get out!” as the team was disqualified for the wild card game. Some fans sang cheering songs for Lee when he was with Samsung. Manager Lee Seung-yeop was not criticized for simply allowing an upset game. The team ranked fourth in the league clearly, and Doosan hitters who scored no runs in 18 innings were more responsible than Lee for the loss against the wild card game.
Doosan fans got mad at Lee because of his frustrating game management during the regular season. As Lee played extremely small ball and operational baseball throughout the season, fans began to complain.
The biggest problem was overusing the bullpen. Doosan’s must-winners, including Kim Taek-yeon, Lee Byung-hun and Lee Young-ha, played more than 65 innings. Notably, rookie Kim Taek-yeon vowed to manage around 40 innings before the season’s opening due to controversy over his overwork during his high school years, but he pitched 65 innings, raising concerns among Doosan fans. Compared to the 2023 season (27 innings), Lee Byung-hun also saw his innings count increase sharply (65 ⅓ innings) this season.
Doosan’s bullpen set a new record for the largest number of appearances (628 times) in a single season. As a result, Lee was ridiculed as a “tumakase (pitcher + omakase)” in his pitching style. He silenced his complaints by ranking fourth during the regular season, but his anger exploded all at once due to the wild card matchup.
Lee said, “Next year is the last year of our contract with Doosan. If problems that appeared in 2024 are repeated in the 2025 season, Doosan fans may become even angrier. If Doosan fans turn their back on him, Lee could face a bigger crisis in 2025.
