Why did Lee Jong-beom, unlike his son, not talk about his son-in-law's advance to the ML
"There will be something to tell you later with reporters."
"Son of the Wind" was also infinitely cautious when it came to his children's career paths. LG Twins coach Lee Jong-beom (53) cheered for their future by not talking as much as possible about his son Lee Jung-hoo (25, Kiwoom Heroes) and son-in-law Ko Woo-seok (25, LG) entering the Major League (ML)..
Coach Lee Jong-beom attended the 2023 Hope-Adding Charitable Baseball Competition hosted by the Yang Joon-hyuk Baseball Foundation at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 26th and said, "There is certainly a burden (on the family's challenge to the overseas league)." It's not my job, it's my son's job, and nothing has been decided yet, so I can't tell the media properly and give a definite answer. (Lee)I think there will be something to tell you if anything is decided after returning to the United States," he said.
Coach Lee Jong-beom has had the best year. Ilo contributed to the team's first regular season win and the Korean Series championship in 29 years as LG's first base coach, and not long ago, a lovely grandchild was born between daughter Lee Ga-hyun and son-in-law Ko Woo-seok.
On top of that, son Lee Jung-hoo and son-in-law Ko Woo-seok will advance to the Major League. First of all, Lee Jung-hoo is expected to win a contract worth at least $50 million in the U.S., even though he recorded a batting average of 0.318, six home runs, and 45 RBIs with an OPS of 0.861 in 86 games due to injury this season. Lee Jung-hoo's challenge to the U.S., which was prepared early with Kiwoom's permission to enter Major League posting a year ago, is going smoothly. On the 24th, he officially sent posting-related documents to the Major League Baseball Secretariat through the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), and soon Lee Jung-hoo will move to the United States. Coach Lee Jong-beom recently expressed his gratitude to the LG club and decided to go to the U.S. for coaching training.
Coach Lee Jong-beom said, "(Lee) Chung-hoo will leave for the U.S. between the 27th and the 28th." I go on the 30th. After Jung-hoo signs a contract in the U.S. and enters the season, it is right to find my job. The U.S. is different from Japan, where the club prepares everything, so players must prepare accommodations, vehicles, and interpretations on their own from camp to the start of the season. It doesn't matter if my coach training is late after completing all of those courses. Chung-hoo comes first," he said, revealing his future plans.
Regarding the posting of his son-in-law Ko Woo-suk to the Major League, he declined further. Ko Woo-seok joined LG as the first pick in 2017 and rose to the finish representing the KBO League and Korea with fastballs and overwhelming ball power. He had a career-high 354 games with 19 wins, 26 losses, and 139 saves, a 3.18 ERA, and 401 strikeouts in 368 ⅓ innings. Last year, he was the youngest player in the league to achieve 40 saves (24 years, 1 month and 21 days). In January this year, Lee Ga-hyun, the daughter of coach Lee Jong-beom, signed a 100-year contract, and played a big role in winning the Korean Series by blocking LG's back door this season.
He also announced his advance to the Major League after the end of the Korean Series. On the 15th, KBO announced that it had received a request for identification of Ko Woo-suk and Lee Jung-hoo from the Major League Baseball secretariat, and it has been in full swing since then. LG said on the 22nd, "We decided to grant Ko Woo-suk's challenge to post in the Major League, and we decided to make a final decision with the player after the amount of posting in the future came out."
The U.S. media MLB Trade Rumors said, "Ko Woo-suk is an interesting name that Major League fans should still pay attention to. He is quite young like Lee Jung-hoo and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In the KBO league, he has a fast ball reaching the middle of 90 miles per hour (about 144.8 kilometers). In this Korean Series, he constantly shot 94 to 96 miles per hour (about 151.3 to 154.5 kilometers)," he said.
However, unlike Lee Jung-hoo, who made his position clear a year ago, Ko Woo-seok's Major League posting was difficult to predict easily. Unlike Lee Jung-hoo, whose specific contract size and destination are constantly mentioned by the U.S. media, Ko Woo-seok's entry into the U.S. has not yet become a hot topic in the country, so his future destination is uncertain. If the size of the contract is small, the LG club, which has allowed posting, may also be reluctant. Coach Lee Jong-beom was cautious about this.
Asked about Lee Jung-hoo and Ko Woo-seok's trip to the U.S. together, coach Lee Jong-beom said, "Nothing has been decided yet. In particular, the whereabouts of (Go) Woo-suk is at the helm of the club, so it is up to the club to decide on its own, he said. Major League Baseball has a lot of things they say not to do (when this happens). So I can't talk easily because I'm afraid of misunderstanding," he said.
However, the support was consistent. Coach Lee Jong-beom said, "The culture of Japan I went to and the United States (where my son and son-in-law will go) are so different that there is nothing special to tell you. The key is to quickly adapt to the culture in the United States because famous players from many countries have come. Technically, it's all grown up, so there's nothing to advise. "You have to hit and feel it yourself," he said. "I'm also giving Jeong-hoo advice only on mental and non-experience parts, such as having to make a good body in Korea and being careful about privacy."
