“I am the Samsung Lions, so why do I have to talk to the opposing manager and coach?”
On the 25th and 26th, Koo Ja-wook (30), the flagship hitter of the Samsung Lions, had to attend several interviews. It was because many people were curious about how Koo Ja-wook would feel when he met Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop and head coach Kim Han-soo as enemies. Koo Ja-wook was the successor to Lee Seung-yeop and served in the first team for three seasons from 2015 to 2017. He had a relationship with senior coach Kim as a teacher and disciple since his rookie days, and served as a manager and player for three seasons from 2017 to 2019.
On the 25th, Koo Ja-wook greeted Coach Lee and Head Coach Kim, who were on their first visit to Daegu wearing a Doosan uniform. Since the match on the 25th was canceled due to rain, the Doosan team used the indoor training ground on the home team side of the Daegu Samsung Lions Park.
Koo Ja-wook said, “(Coach Lee Seung-yeop) was working out at the indoor training ground on the way home, so I said hello. Unknowingly, ‘Senior’ almost came out. But when I saw him in the uniform, he looked cool.”
My relationship with head coach Kim was a little more special. When asked what it would be like if he played an active role in the game on the 26th, Koo Ja-wook said, “I think you will think that you will do well when (head coach Kim Han-soo) is there. I think I ran with my heart. I am grateful and happy to have returned to the baseball field.”
Ja-wook Koo continued to tilt his head, saying, “It was nice to meet my mentor, coach Kim Han-soo, and my hero, coach Lee Seung-yeop.” He said, “I have to talk about our coach, but I don’t know why I have to talk about the coaches and coaches on the other side. I am the Samsung Lions, and I am grateful to our coaches. Coach Woorim and the coaches are better people. Seungri is our coach Jinman Park. I want to give it to you.”
The game went perfectly as Ja-wook Koo wished. Doosan ace Raul Alcantara and Samsung ace David Buchanan faced each other and it was not easy to score a point, but in the bottom of the 4th inning, which was 0-0, Koo Ja-wook hit a superior solo shot to take a 1-0 lead. This one point was directly linked to victory and saved Samsung from a 4-game losing streak.
In the ball count of 3-1, Ja-wook Koo did not miss the 149 km/h fastball of his opponent, Raul Alcantara, which was slightly driven into the center and lifted it up. It drew more attention as the batted ball reached near the Lee Seung-yeop mural on the wall behind the right fielder. 스포츠토토
Ja-wook Koo said, “I thought Alcantara was a very good player and had a bad record, but luckily I didn’t miss a misplaced pitch. . I ordered not to overdo it and not to be more greedy.”
Regarding the defeat of the hero and the teacher, “Because we met as enemies. I felt emotions that could not be expressed in words. As for today’s (26th) match, our team’s victory came first, and I wanted to present victory to coach Park Jin-man. I have a lot of interest, but I think the coach (Park Jin-man) could have been burdened in some way. I thought before the game that I wanted to win and present victory to the coach.”
Ja-wook Koo wanted the relationship with coach Lee Seung-yeop and coach Kim Han-soo to be viewed as normal. I thought that interpretations beyond Samsung players, Doosan coaches, and coaches were not helpful to each other.
Koo Ja-wook said, “From the morning of yesterday (25th) until the end of today’s game, I only heard (coach Lee Seung-yeop) talk. To be honest, it’s the same game. It’s not that I want to do better, the player always wants to do well. I’m just doing my best in the game because it’s a situation where I didn’t do it,” he said, vowing to focus only on Samsung’s victory in the future.