Seventeen days after being demoted to the second team, Bae Young-soo (42), the Lotte Giants’ second team general manager, finally appeared in front of fans.
“There’s a lot of talk about this and that, but it’s not about ‘good or bad,’ it’s just something that can happen,” Bae told reporters before the 2023 KBO Futures All-Star Game at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Thursday. The most important thing is for the team to do well,” he said.
Previously, Bae resigned from his position as first-team pitching coach and moved to the position of second-team general manager before the game against Samsung on March 27. Lotte said, “We made changes to the coaching staff to refresh the team atmosphere,” as the reason. Lee Jong-woon (57), the former head coach of the Futures, was moved to the first team and Kim Hyun-wook (53), the conditioning coach, was promoted to the main pitching coach position.
However, the process was so abrupt that various stories began to emerge. Some even talked about a “resignation”. In response, a Lotte representative said, “It’s true that there was an argument between Sutton and the coaching staff, but it’s hard to see it as a protest.”
Coach Bae, who appeared in public for the first time after the change of position, said, “Please feel free to ask me anything.” He added, “I have a lot of words, but what can I do? “There’s a lot of talk, but what can you do, I don’t care because I worked hard,” he said, adding that the situation was “not a conflict.” “There’s a lot of talk about it, but it’s just something that happens,” he said.
“I’m sure there are a lot of people who are wondering, but I’m working harder than anyone else in my position, and I’m really working harder than anyone else, even though I’ve been a baseball coach for four years. I just want you to know that,” he said, adding, “I’m doing my job really well and diligently without thinking about anything else, so I hope you’ll watch.”안전놀이터
This is the first time Bae has been able to manage the entire team since he started coaching, as he has only worked with pitchers. “It broadens my horizons. I get to see the beast rather than the pitcher, and I get to ask the coaches a lot of questions. I’m getting a lot of help from the coaching staff.” As for his coaching style, he says, “I leave it up to the coaches. I don’t think I know how to pitch, but there are experts in each part, so I trust them.”
Coach Bae emphasized ‘basics’ as a leader. “I set principles based on the basics, and that’s important because I have to do my best,” he said. He also mentioned that he emphasizes ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ to the seniors.
Finally, Coach Bae wished the team well. He said, “The most important thing is that I hope the team does well. The fans want a lot, and I don’t want to think about anything else, I just want the team to do really well. I don’t care if they say this or that, I just want the team to do really well. That’s it,” he said.