New coach Beom-ho Lee, born in 1981, is two years older than Hyeong-woo Choi, the team’s top official.
Now, a ‘manager born in the 1980s’ has appeared in professional baseball.
On the 13th, the KIA Tigers announced that Beom-ho Lee (42), current first-team batting coach, was appointed as the new manager.
The contract period is 2 years, and the total contract amount including down payment and annual salary is 900 million won. 온라인카지노
The KIA club, which immediately withdrew its baton when former coach Kim Jong-guk was investigated by the prosecution on charges of breach of trust on the 29th of last month, handed the baton to coach Lee after intense review.
Coach Lee, who is currently attending spring camp with the players as a batting coach in Canberra, Australia, will immediately take on the role of manager.
Coach Lee, who was born on November 25, 1981, the day the first club owners’ meeting to found the Korean Professional Baseball League was held, is the first official manager of the KBO League born in the 1980s.
Previously, Lotte Giants coaches Moon Kyu-hyun, born in 1983, and Hank Conger (Korean name Choi Hyun), born in 1988, briefly served as acting head coach in the absence of former coach Larry Sutton, and Kiwoom Heroes head coach Kim Chang-hyun, born in 1985, resigned in 2020 when former coach Son Hyuk voluntarily resigned.
He led the team for the remainder of the season.
However, Lee is the first coach born in the 1980s to sign a formal coaching contract and rise to the position of head of the team.
Coach Lee was born only a year before the current KBO league’s oldest players, Seung-hwan Oh (Samsung Lions), born in 1982, Shin-soo Choo (SSG Landers), and Kang-min Kim (Hanwha Eagles).
He is two years older than Choi Hyeong-woo, born in 1983, the oldest KIA player.
If Choo Shin-soo, who was once rumored to be appointed SSG coach, had taken the reins, he could have become the ‘first KBO League coach born in the 1980s,’ but it was literally just a rumor.
Manager Lee’s strengths include his broad understanding of the club and his ability to communicate.
Coach Lee, who retired as an active player in 2019 and started anew as a KIA scout in 2020, took on the position of general coach of the KIA 2nd team in 2021.
And in 2022 and 2023, he coached players as the KIA 1st team hitting coach.
The KIA club entrusted the baton to Coach Lee, who was considered the ‘next head coach’ due to his rich experience encompassing the first and second teams and the leadership he has shown since his active years.
The club expects him to become a coach who communicates freely with the players, as befits a young coach in his early 40s who was working with young players in their early 20s in the second team just three years ago.
If you look at professional sports other than the KBO, several coaches born in the 1980s stand out.
In professional soccer, there is coach Yeom Ki-hoon, born in 1983, who served as acting coach of Suwon Samsung and took off his ‘acting role’ early this year.
In professional volleyball, coach Kwon Young-min, who leads the men’s KEPCO, was born in 1980, and Korean Air coach Tommy Tilikainen (Finland) was born in 1987, making him the youngest in the league.
In women’s professional basketball, Incheon Shinhan Bank coach Guna Dan, born in 1982, is Korean-Canadian.
