“Lee Ho-jun, SSG director final candidate included”
It was confirmed that Ho-Jun Lee (47), LG Twins hitting coach, was among the final candidates for the new manager of SSG Landers.
An SSG official said in a phone call with Star News on the 5th, "It is true that Coach Lee Ho-jun has been selected as the final director candidate. We have currently narrowed down the candidates to 3-4 people and have not held interviews yet. Still, we will gradually move to the next stage with the shortened candidates starting next week. “We plan to proceed,” he said.
SSG shocked the baseball world by terminating the contract with manager Won-Hyung Kim (51) on the 31st of last month. SSG explained the reason, saying, "We decided that change and innovation were necessary, including overall team management and player generation replacement. Change was inevitable in order to renew the team and transform it into a stronger team that is more loved."
This was the most important factor when selecting candidates for a new director. This season, there was a difference of opinion between the club and the coach regarding the use and direction of young players, and this difference eventually led to the departure of a large number of coaches, including the coach. Hitting coach Lee Jin-young, pitching coach Jo Woong-cheon, and battery coach Jeong Sang-ho left SSG after receiving offers from other teams, and soon after, SSG hired pitching coach Chae Byeong-yong, defense coach Son Ji-hwan, training coach Kwak Hyun-hee, Futures Team (2nd team) pitching coach Joo-eon Park, and conditioning Jae-jun Ryu. Five coaches from the 1st team and the Future Team (2nd team), including the coach, were notified that their contracts cannot be renewed. An SSG official said, "Change and innovation were important. We tried to narrow it down to people who could well understand the direction of the club."
In SSG's opinion, this coach was one of the candidates who fit the conditions. SSG expanded its horizons beyond the field and searched for coach candidates from various fields, including those from the front office, and this coach was the most highly evaluated candidate among those from the field. However, a clear line was once again drawn against other candidates who were recently mentioned, such as commentator Park Chan-ho (50) and Choo Shin-soo (41).
An SSG official said, "Commissioner Park Chan-ho and Choo Shin-soo also suddenly appeared as candidates for coach, but they are not really the same." He added, "Coach Lee Ho-jun is the one who has a reputation and is considered to be virtuous in his own way among the coaches currently in the field. Not only this coach, but also other coaches." “We will gradually take steps to see if interviews are possible for the candidates,” he said.
Coach Lee debuted with the Haitai Tigers in 1994 and played as a cleanup hitter for the SK Wyverns, the predecessor of SSG, from 2000 to 2012 before retiring from the NC Dinos. He received coaching training at Japan's Yomiuri Giants in 2018, began his leadership career as the NC 1st team hitting coach, and has been the LG 1st team hitting coach since last year. NC is credited with helping to win the Korean Series for the first time since its founding in 2020 and helping LG have one of the best power hitters in the league over the past two years.