January 16, 2019
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has formed a Technical Committee of six individuals to select the next manager of the Korean National Baseball Team, which is currently ranked third in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
All-time home run leader Lee Seung Yuop is the face of the committee, which includes four other former star players: Park Jae Hong (the only player in KBO history with at least 250 home runs and 250 steals), pitcher Choi Won Ho, outfielder Lee Jong Yeol and infielder Ma Hae Young. The sixth member of the Commission is Kim Jin-seob, a renowned orthopedic surgeon and the former vice chairman of the Korea Baseball Softball Association. Kim will also serve as the National Team Doctor.
The new manager will take over a programme that is the defending WBSC Premier12 champion and defending Olympic gold medallists.
The Premier12 in November 2019, a qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will be the first major international competition for the new national team skipper.
Pitching legend Sun Dong Yol had been contracted as the Korean Baseball National Team manager until Tokyo 2020, but resigned in November after controversy arose on his Asian Games roster selection.
The KBO said it picked “relatively young minds, who aren’t too far removed from their playing days and who have an understanding of modern baseball trends”, according to the Korean Times.
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