“Your personality is the exact opposite of mine.”
Park Jin-man, head coach of the Samsung Lions, has designated a man as the head coach to assist him. That man is Lee Byeong-gyu, a legend of the LG Twins and called ‘The Red Horse’.
Many fans were surprised when he brought in coach Lee Byung-gyu, who only wore an LG uniform in Korea, unlike himself, who was a player and coach at Samsung. Also, even if I don’t care much about age these days, coach Lee Byeong-gyu is two years older than Park Jin-man.
The head coach can be a position with more pressure and responsibility than the head coach. You have to act as a bridge between the manager and the players, and there are times when you have to act as a link between the manager and the coaching staff. 안전놀이터
Coach Park Jin-man took on the role of manager for the first time in his baseball life, not as an acting manager. After his retirement, he started as a defensive coach for the first team of SK Wyverns (currently SSG Landers) and has been a leader at Samsung since 2017. After serving as the 1st team defensive coach and 1st team operations coach, he served as the futures manager last season, and then took over as acting manager after coach Heo Sam-young resigned. And ahead of the 2023 season, he was appointed as the 16th manager of Samsung.
This is also the first time coach Lee Byeong-gyu has been appointed head coach. After retiring in 2016, he worked as a commentator for one year in 2017, and since 2018, he served as the 1st team hitting assistant coach, hitting coach, remaining team field coach, and 2nd team hitting coach at his parent LG. After the end of the 2022 season, he took over as coach of the Australian League Geelong Korea, but it is different from his long-term race, the KBO League.
Manager Park Jin-man said, “Coach Lee Byeong-gyu has the opposite personality to me. While I tend to be silent, head coach Lee Byeong-kyu is not a quiet person. The atmosphere is different from mine. This time, it is the first time to digest the spring camp at Samsung, not LG, and I hope coach Lee Byung-gyu’s know-how is displayed. The atmosphere in our team will improve.”