It is still awkward to see Lee Byung-gyu, the ‘Red Toma’, in the third base dugout in a blue uniform. Although it was the opposing team, LG fans stood up and clapped and cheered when his name was called.
Lee Byung-gyu, head coach of the Samsung Lions, is a one-club man who only wore an LG uniform, except for the Japanese advance from 2007 to 2009. He is a legendary left-hander who debuted with the LG Twins in 1997 and won the Rookie of the Year Award and the Golden Glove seven times. Even after his retirement, he continued to wear only striped uniforms as an LG coach, except for his days as a broadcast commentator in 2017.
LG honored legendary batter Lee Byung-gyu by permanently canceling his uniform number, and even now, on days when there are LG home games, Lee Byung-gyu’s number 9 is always hung at Jamsil Baseball Stadium along with numbers 41 (Kim Yong-soo) and 33 (Park Yong-taek).
From this season, he changed into a blue uniform as Samsung’s head coach. And on the 7th, he had his first confrontation against his home team, LG. It was awkward for players and fans alike for Lee Byeong-gyu, who had used Jamsil Baseball Stadium as his home for over 20 years, to show up at the away team dugout.
On this day, as LG’s home opening game, an event was held to introduce the players of both teams before the game started. First, the introduction of the away team Samsung players began. After a while, head coach Lee Byung-kyu’s name was called. Then, cheers were heard from the LG cheering squad on first base, and LG fans stood up and applauded. LG players also clapped for coach Lee Byeong-gyu and cheered for a new start. 메이저놀이터
Coach Lee Byung-kyu first took off his hat and greeted the Samsung fans at 3rd base, then greeted the fans at 1st base and home side LG politely, thanking the fans for their welcome. Director Park Jin-man, who was next to me, smiled happily when he saw this.
Meanwhile, Samsung head coach Lee Byeong-gyu watched the hot attacking power of his former team LG players in the away team dugout. He put on a strange expression as he watched his old disciples display amazing concentration while fighting a tenacious ball count from the first inning. LG won 7-2 with 11 hits on the day.
Samsung fell into a 4-game losing streak, losing two days in a row, even though Buchanan and Suarez made one-two punches in three consecutive weekend games against LG.