Lee Jong-beom, "I left LG to pursue my dream of coaching son Jung-hoo to many teams"

LG's Park Hae-min shares his joy with coach Lee Jong-beom after hitting a two-run double with runners on first and third base in the bottom of the third inning during the baseball game between LG Twins and KT Wiz in the fifth game of the Korean Series of the '2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO Postseason' at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 13. 

LG coach Lee Jong-beom (53), who won the Korean Series four times as a player for the Kia Tigers and once as a coach for LG, is leaving for baseball training in the United States with the dream of becoming a manager.

"Honestly, it was because I had the biggest dream of becoming a manager," he said on YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' on Sunday, explaining why he announced his farewell after securing the LG Twins' first championship in 29 years.

"I decided to go to the U.S. to train to become a coach, and to train in conjunction with (son) Jung-hoo's entry into the major leagues," he said.

"I felt that I needed to study to fill in the gaps, and only then would the opportunity come, so I invested a little more in myself," he added.

As for which team he would like to manage after his time in the U.S., he said, "It doesn't matter where it is."

Regarding the fact that many Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are targeting Lee Jung-hoo, the coach was asked, "Which team does your son want to play for?" "He always says, 'I want to play a lot of games,'" Lee said, "He's very greedy, so he has to play a lot of games, but he adapts quickly, so I think it will be as he thinks."

This means they'll pick a team where they're guaranteed a starting spot and there's less competition for positions.

LG second team coach Lee Jong-beom poses for a photo with his son Ki Ung-hoo during a legendary event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the KBO League before the game between the Dream Team and the Nanum Team at the '2022 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League All-Star Game' at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on July 16, 2022. 

"My wife made a lot of sacrifices and I didn't teach him how to play," he said of his son, Lee Jung-hoo, a junior baseball player.

"I thought it would cause a lot of confusion in elementary, middle, and high school," he said. "If you follow a professional baseball player's form, you won't be able to keep up at that age when you need to learn the basics. So I just said, 'Do your most unique hitting or defense,' and didn't coach them."

Meanwhile, the coach cited captain Oh Ji-hwan and Park Hae-min, who played great defense, as the main reasons for the Korean Series victory.

"When Oh Ji-hwan hit the game-winning three-run homer in the third inning," he said, "I could feel it." 슬롯