It was past 10 p.m. and the game had just ended. There were many fans in the stands who hadn’t left their seats yet, and after a while, they all shouted one name. It was Lee Seung-yeop, 47, the head coach of the Doosan Bears.
On May 25, Doosan won 8-5 at home against the Lotte Giants at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. With the win, Doosan extended its winning streak to 11 games, the longest since the club was founded in 1982, and consolidated its third-place finish (44 wins, 1 draw, 36 losses). The previous franchise record, including the OB Bears (1982-1998), was 10 straight wins under Kim In-sung in 2000 and Kim Tae-hyung in 2018.
The star of the game wasn’t Brandon Waddell, who pitched five shutout innings with nine strikeouts, or Kim Jae-hwan, who hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the third. It was manager Lee Seung-yeop. After Doosan secured its 11th consecutive win, many fans chanted “Lee Seung-yeop” in the stands, welcoming the rookie manager’s wild ride.온라인카지노
When asked after the game, Lee said, “I realized the 11-game winning streak while high-fiving. It felt good,” he laughed. “I’ve been a coach for less than a year. I’m still not good enough. I think the team is getting better now. We had a rough start, but the players have been playing well and we’ve gotten to this point,” he said, giving credit to the players.
Indeed, 2023 was a year with many question marks. No one could have predicted the future of their leader, Lee Seung-yup.
Twenty years earlier, in 2003, Lee had broken the Asian single-season home run record by hitting 56 home runs. He went on to become known as the “National Hitter” as he continued to rise through the ranks. When he retired from active duty in 2017, he was so beloved that a retirement tour was organized for the first time in baseball.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop expresses his aspirations at the inauguration ceremony on October 18, 2022. Yonhap News1
After staying away from the field since retiring, Lee suddenly took the reins of Doosan ahead of this season. It was an unexpected appointment. Doosan, which did not even have a close relationship with him as a player, joined hands with the national team to take a new leap forward. Despite his unproven leadership skills, they trusted him to lead the players.
As the 11th manager of Doosan, Lee has enjoyed a successful debut season as the team has won 11 straight games, the most in franchise history. This is a feat that has not been accomplished by the late Kim Young-duk, the founding manager of the club, nor by other great managers who have passed through the organization, including Kim Sung-geun, Lee Kwang-hwan, Kim In-sung, Kim Kyung-moon, and Kim Tae-hyung.
Doosan won 8-5 against Lotte in Jamsil on Sept. 25, extending its winning streak to a franchise-record 11 games. Yonhap News Agency
Lee was cautious, saying, “I want to be evaluated at the end of the season. There are still 60 games to go, and I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” But he added, “There weren’t many people who picked Doosan as a top-five team before the start of the season. Maybe that made it easier for the players. We want to prove them wrong,” he said.
After setting a new club record, Doosan will meet Lotte at the same venue on the 26th. Leading the charge will be right-handed pitcher Kwak Bin. I asked Lee how much longer he wanted to continue the winning streak. His answer was simple.