SSG Landers appointed Kim Jae-hyun (48) LG Power Enhancement Coordinator as its new general manager on the 15th. Kim Jae-hyun, who was called the “Cannon Heater” and played as a slugger representing the KBO League from 1994 to 2010, returned to his former team LG in 19 years as a power enhancement coordinator in January this year after retiring as a broadcast commentator, Hanwha batting coach, and national team batting coach. Not long after he helped to win the integrated championship, he was selected as the general manager of SSG and became the head of the front office.
Kim Jae-hyun also has ties with SSG. SSG is a familiar team to Kim, who led SK to three Korean Series championships, including six years of experience between 2005 and 2010. However, the team seems to have strong interest in the Twins after 11 years of experience, as it led LG to the championship with 20 home runs and 20 steals for the first time as a high school graduate in 1994.
As a result, six out of 10 KBO League team leaders are from LG, accounting for more than half. Five players are from LG in the 1990s, including Kim Jae-hyun, LG General Manager Cha Myung-seok, Hanwha General Manager Sohn Hyuk, Kia General Manager Shim Jae-hak, and Samsung General Manager Lee Jong-yeol. KT General Manager Na Do-hyun, 53, also entered the professional baseball league as frontrunner of LG.
Cha Myung-seok served as a relief pitcher of LG for 10 years from 1991 to 2001. After retirement, Cha served as a commentator on television and began coaching LG in 2004. He has been with LG since then, except for two seasons as a commentator and the time he spent as a general coach of KT’s military training in 2016. 슬롯머신
Since he was appointed as LG’s general manager in October 2018, he has been in charge of managing the club for five years, and this year, he has achieved a unified victory for the first time in 29 years to relieve his long-standing pain. He strengthened the depth by establishing a firm Futures development system, and laid the foundation stone for a sustainable strong team through timely investment.
Hanwha General Manager Sohn Hyuk-hyeok served as a LG pitcher for four years from 1996 to 1999. He was a key starter who had double-digit wins for two consecutive years from 1998 to 1999. After retiring as a player in 2004 after playing for KIA and Doosan, he worked as an instructor for Hanwha and as a commentator for Nexen (currently Kiwoom) as a pitching coach in 2015.
After serving as SK pitching coach from 2018 to 2019, he also served as Kiwoom manager in 2020. After joining Hanwha as a power-enhancing coordinator in 2022, he finished his first season as a general manager this year. He has been actively moving by recruiting four FA players for two years.
KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak joined the team as LG’s first pick in 1995 and played for five years until 1999. He was a mid- to long-distance hitter but turned into a pitcher in 1999 due to his strong shoulders. After quitting pitching in a year, Shim was traded to Hyundai after going through Doosan and KIA teams and retired in 2008.
He served as the Heroes’ coach for 10 years from 2009. After serving as a commentator and a technical member of the KBO for five years from 2019, he took the vacant position of KIA’s general manager in May. He brought in catcher Kim Tae-gun through trade, signed an extension contract, and sought to stabilize his performance.
Lee Jong-yeol, the general manager of Samsung, was a one-club man who spent 19 years with LG from 1991 to 2009. He was a defensive player who covered all positions in the infield with a switch heater when he was active. After retirement, he studied abroad in the U.S. college baseball while coaching LG, and held the microphone as a broadcast commentator for nine years from 2015.
During this period, he served as the national team’s defensive coach and head of the power analysis team, and engaged in various activities. He was appointed as the team’s first player-turned general manager in October. After recruiting FA bullpen Kim Jae-yoon, he has been busy traveling to Japan, Australia, and the United States to sell his products.
Na Do-hyeon, the general manager of KT, is not a former player. He is one of the three non-players along with Lim Sun-nam, the general manager of NC, and Park Joon-hyuk, the general manager of Lotte, but he has long experience in the baseball team. He joined the LG baseball team in 1999 and worked as an operating team and as a foreign scout. He was the first non-player scout in Korea who completed Major League scouting training in 2007 and served as the head of LG’s management team from 2010 to 2012. He moved to KT, a new team founded in 2013, and served as the head of management and data planning. He became the general manager of KT in February last year, and has supported the team’s advance to the postseason for the second consecutive year.
Other than Na Do-hyeon, the five former LG players do not have much time or experience with LG after quitting the team without Cha Myung-seok. Besides former LG players, LG also served as commentators for a long time. All of them have been recognized for their capabilities by broadcasters and baseball fans. In order to provide good commentary, beautiful speech, eloquence and speech should be supported. LG, which was enjoying its heyday in baseball in the 1990s, was a sophisticated team that led the KBO league, and players exposed more media than any other team as it is based in Seoul.
However, being recognized as a commentator is not all about being good at talking. He must have broad theories and constantly study and communicate with baseball in order to keep up with the changing trend every year. Officials say that as a commentator who must remain neutral, his objective views and views on the 10 teams have advantages over other candidates in general manager interviews. Some say that experience gained through various outside activities such as coaching the national team, technical committee members and publication of baseball books will also help him manage his entire team’s financial situation as a general manager.
