"Born in the 80s." What's the secret of Lee Beom-ho's "leadership"?

■ Host: Anchor Jung Ji-woong
■ Starring: Lee Bum-ho, KIA Tigers coach

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News Special Report-2024 U.S. Choice] when quoting.

[Anchor]
Baseball fans are already looking forward to next year. It's only been a week since the Korean series ended. This is because professional baseball this year was fun and touching. We have the main character of the fun and touching moment in the studio. This is Lee Beom-ho, the head coach of the winning KIA Tigers. Hello,

[Lee Beom-ho]
How are you?

[Anchor]
Let me congratulate you first.

[Lee Beom-ho]
Thank you.

[Anchor]
Did you get a lot of congratulations?

[Lee Beom-ho]
You're sending me so many congratulations these days, so I personally think I'm having a very meaningful and good time.

[Anchor]
I wrote several records. Kia's first win in seven years, the first win by a coach in the 80s, and the third time ever, the first year of a coach. You've done a lot of great things. I think you'll realize it a lot now.

[Lee Beom-ho]
After winning the championship, I feel like it's been so long that I don't know how it's been, but it was a season where I could return the support of many good fans with such a good time, so I think I have nothing to say but happy these days.

[Anchor]
I'm sure there are people who answered "Happy birthday" a little while ago, but I'm sure there are people who couldn't answer while celebrating. Please take this opportunity to express your gratitude at that time.

[Lee Beom-ho]
When I heard from a lot of people, I answered all of them. Personally, I don't think there's anyone who needs to give it to someone. However, I really want to take this opportunity to say thank you to many fans who came to Gwangju, which is 1.26 million people, because there are no people I can contact personally.

[Anchor]
Let's talk about the Korean series first. You won lightly with 4 wins and 1 loss in the series. When did you think that you could win some games in the middle of the game?

[Lee Beom-ho]
After we brought the victory in Game 4, we have 5, 6, and 7 left, and I think I thought a lot that I would be able to win the championship when I go back to Gwangju, which Gwangju fans have longed for, and I think I thought I could win after we made it 3-1 at 2:1.

[Anchor]
In the case of the opposing team, so it's Samsung that came out in the Korean Series. The bad luck continued a little bit. If Conor or Koo Ja-wook played the game, the result might have been different, do you see it like this?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Baseball is missing important players, so I think it may be a bit of a waste for Samsung. I don't know what the game will be like, but we've prepared for a situation where Koo Ja-wook or a corner player is accordingly, so I personally think the results would have been similar, but I think it would have been a very difficult Korea series.

[Anchor]
In the Korean Series, it was his first year as a coach, but he showed a lot of seasoned performances. I wonder what kind of effort you have made to become a director like this, whether you are conscious or not.

[Lee Beom-ho]
When I first started as a coach, I started with the idea of trying as a coach who didn't hurt the hearts of the players, but it was very difficult to do it. However, I think the players followed me well because I had the title of championship, and I think I was able to create a situation where the players could perform well, so I think I did enough baseball this season. I think I need to prepare well with the players so that I can achieve a performance comparable to this season next season.

[Anchor]
Wasn't the process of appointing the director a little urgent and fast? Were you surprised or very nervous at the time?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Since I conducted the director interview through a video interview in Australia, I was a little nervous about that and I thought that what I had to say was a situation where I had to keep what I said, so I prepared that with a lot of thought. However, many people liked my interviews there, so I think it was the driving force for me to perform well with the players as a result of my best efforts this season.

[Anchor]
Throughout the season, your leadership received a lot of attention. The decisive scene is July. When Yang Hyun-jong ordered a steel plate with one out count left at the time, there was a scene where he went to the dugout and gave a back hug from behind, so please explain what this situation is like.

[Lee Beom-ho]
Yang Hyun-jong has a fighting spirit that he really wants to win against his opponent. However, I didn't exclude Hyun Jong because of the winning pitcher in the two-out, but it was a very important situation because we played against the second place at 9:5 and we had to win, so we chose a player with a higher probability than Yang Hyun-jong, so we dropped Yang Hyun-jong, and I'm glad that he finished well after the game.

[Anchor]
We just showed you on the screen, but I think Yang Hyun-jong said something when he hugged from behind in the dugout. What did he say?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I'm sorry.

[Anchor]
Is that what the director said?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I'm sorry. I said the team came first because it was a game with the runner-up, so let's understand. And since we came to the room after the game and talked well, I think the most important thing is to think about the team first from the perspective of the player and the coach. I think Yang should take it well without any problems in that regard and take care of the player's mind when such a situation occurs in the future.

[Anchor]
We'll continue to talk about your leadership. The players' testimonies followed one after another. Let's listen to it ourselves.

Also, pitcher Kwak Do-gyu said this. Before this year, there were times when I worked out to show my superiors. This year, I worked harder without caring who was watching. If I needed a break, I didn't notice and took a rest. Coach Lee Bum-ho created the atmosphere. If we summarize a little bit, if we look at the essence of coach Lee Bum-ho's leadership, we give the players autonomy and confidence through praise, but we make decisions quickly when we need to make decisions. I think I can organize it like this, right?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I think that's the most important part of professional sports. I think the best condition is the most important thing for a player to play in the game, and I think the coach should match it to the player, not the player, but if the players are not prepared for it, I think the players must have known all the baseball I'm pursuing, so I'm very happy as a coach these days because the way players prepare on their own seems to be rooted in our team.

[Anchor]
I can't help but talk about Kim Do-young. We've almost achieved 40-40 degrees this year. How much more do you think you'll grow since you showed your MVP performance?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I think Kim Do-young has shown his ability to the maximum this season. So, since it's MVP season every year, if Kim Do-young tries to put more pressure on her to achieve more results, injuries or slumps can come again. In the case of Kim Do-young, if she keeps her routine as she did this season, I think she will be able to continue to grow into a player who can always produce 30-30 club results every year.

[Anchor]
When you look at the players, aren't there some people who are not much older than the actual coaches? I heard that you are doing something to maintain this friendship and not lose your authority again. What's that?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I think the players will try to fit the manager, and I think there is a part where they try to fit the players, and many coaches help in the middle, but I think players can perform well only when they practice or train without press at all. That's why I think I try to make the players exercise mainly, and I don't know that the coach prepares all the consideration so that the players don't get hurt, but I don't know, because the players have had such good performances this season, all the players may think good, but I think I need to make more efforts to match it to become a better person.

[Anchor]
Then we'll give you a few short answer questions. The questions will come out through the video. You can write your answers on the sketchbook in front of you. Even if you ask a difficult question, please write it down. Please give us the first question. Who is the MVP of the Korean Series in my heart? That was the first question. It's written in the sketchbook. Please show us from now on. He wrote Kim Tae-gun as a player. Didn't you hit a grand slam in Game 4, which you thought you could win at this point? Why did you use Kim Tae-gun when you did a pretty good job?

[Lee Beom-ho]
I lost the MVP by one vote, so after winning, Kim Tae-gun asked me, "Director, don't you personally have MVP?" As I said this, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell Kim Tae-gun that the MVP in my heart is Kim Tae-gun, so I wrote it like this.

[Anchor]
Wouldn't Kim Sun-bin be sad if he heard it?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Kim Sun-bin won the MVP, got a car, and Kim Sun-bin took all the arrogant things rather than Kim Tae-gun, so I think Kim Sun-bin probably won't envy him.

[Anchor]
I see. Let's look at the second question. The question is that the most threatening team next year is. That's what they wrote. Please show it to the front. You wrote down Samsung. You wrote down that Samsung, which came in second place in the regular league, which came out to the Korean Series this time, why is that?

[Lee Beom-ho]
He's very aggressive and there are a lot of good starters. And since Koo Ja-wook was also absent, I think it would be a very difficult team to get back together. I thought it was similar when looking at the overall teams this season, but since the Samsung Lions ranked second, I think young players who have played big games this season will be able to grow further next year, so I think it will be more embarrassing next year.

[Anchor]
Please show us the third and last short answer question, thinking that Samsung's director Park Jin-man will like this answer. I think this question might be a little difficult. If other teams had to bring in at least this player, which player could they pick? I think you wrote a player from Samsung. He wrote Reyes. Please explain.

[Lee Beom-ho]
I want to bring both players, Won Tae-in and Reyes, but Won Tae-in is a symbol of Samsung. That's why I put Won Tae-in on hold. In the game with us, Reyes threw well, and I thought the Korean Series was very difficult, so I thought that if the player came to our team, we could have a better situation in our team's rotation, so I used Reyes who threw well in the Korean Series.

[Anchor]
The FA market is actually open. Kia also has Jang Hyun-sik, Lim Ki-young, and Seo Geon-chang. If you think you should catch not only the house soil, but also the Santo, which players would you have in mind?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Now that the FA market itself is ready and it's just begun, I haven't thought about which players to catch, and I think Jang Hyun-sik or the players in our team are going to the market, so they have to negotiate with us. I think you'll do your best to prepare everything because you've been moving very quickly this season, and I think it's my job to only think about which players to be with in the event that they come in and prepare.

[Anchor]
Professional baseball received a lot of love this year. If you look at the total audience, 10.88 million people came. In total, there are more than 11 million people in the postseason. So, in order to continue to enjoy this popularity, what do you have to fix as a player or manager or what do you want from the audience?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Since baseball is enjoying huge popularity these days, we want to take this opportunity to thank you. There was a time in the past when the team came close to 8 million or 9 million people. Since the popularity of professional baseball has subsided little by little, if players focus more on fan service and various games, it will be a time to continue enjoying the current popularity. I think it will be a professional baseball where players' participation for their fans will become a little better.

[Anchor]
Director, congratulations once again. When you were a player, your nickname was Kkotbumho. As a director, I hope you only go on the flower road.

[Lee Beom-ho]
Thank you.

[Anchor]
If you win, you'll come out again, right?

[Lee Beom-ho]
Of course. We'll do our best to make it next year.

[Anchor]
I see. This has been Lee Beom-ho, manager of the Kia Tigers. Thank you.