Lotte coach Lee Dong-wook, who promoted ‘Smart Baseball’, “One fall baseball game in Busan”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Dae-ho Lee = "We must become a winning team, not just a team that completes the season, and a team that makes fans proud. I really want to go to the fall festival in Busan."

Lee Dong-wook, the new professional baseball coach of the Lotte Giants, who returned to lead his former team after 20 years, announced his intention to challenge the fall baseball season with 'smart baseball.'

Coach Lee received a uniform from CEO Lee Kang-hoon at the inauguration ceremony held at Lotte Hotel Busan on the 31st and began his official schedule.

At the scene, new general manager Lee Taek-geun and the players, including captain Jeon Jun-woo, Kim Won-jung, Park Se-woong, and Han Dong-hee, attended and welcomed the new head coach by handing out bouquets of flowers.

Coach Lee, who graduated from Dongrae High School and Donga University in Busan and joined Lotte in the second round in 1997, retired at an early age and began his coaching career at Lotte.

After serving as coach of the LG Twins and NC Dinos, he was appointed as NC manager in 2019 and led the team to a combined championship in the 2020 season.

He broadened his horizons by serving as a rookie team trainee under the San Diego Padres of the Major League Baseball (MLB) in the U.S. in 2023, a national team coach in 2025, and a member of the KBO power strengthening committee.

Coach Lee, who returned to the Giants 20 years after leaving Lotte in 2006, expressed his thoughts, saying, "Time has passed with Kangsan changing twice, but only Director Jo Ji-hoon, who first started as head of the cheerleading squad when I was a coach, remains the same. I want to do well again with Director Cho."

Coach Lee presented the three core values ​​of 'smart baseball', which are the milestones for Lotte to move forward, such as data and thorough preparation, solid fundamentals and routines centered on defense, and a 'one team' culture united by trust and communication.

He emphasized, "Smart baseball is not a framework that is confined to the graph on the monitor or restricts the player, but a weapon that maximizes each individual's strengths and complements the weaknesses to ensure that there is a high probability of winning. As the saying goes, offense calls for fans and defense calls for victory, we will spend a lot of time improving the completeness of defense. We will make specific execution methods a habit and create an unwavering routine."

Even in the selection of coaches, practicality and communication were chosen.

The joining of former Lotte head coach Heo Moon-hoe and defense coach Cho Won-woo was accomplished after Coach Lee directly requested the team.

Coach Lee said, “They know Lotte and the team better than me, who returned after 20 years, and have excellent technical capabilities,” and added, “I am grateful to head coach Heo Moon-hoe, who has extensive experience in batting instruction, and coach Cho Won-woo, who made the difficult decision to take charge of the outfield defense.”

We pursue both flexibility and training in the management of our team.

Coach Lee said, "Rather than a lopsided lineup, we will collaborate with the data team and coaches to flexibly combine offense and defense according to the compatibility with the opponent's starters. In order to reduce the gap between starting players and backups, we will expand the base of players with first-team experience. As for the center fielder, stolen base king Seongbin Hwang can play a sufficient role, so we are looking at the overall situation."

Veteran Jeon Jun-woo will continue to wear the captain's armband next season.

Coach Lee said, “I met Jeon Jun-woo, and he responded, ‘If you ask me to do it, I will do it as much as I can, no matter what.’” He pledged, “I will create an environment where players can understand and take initiative in training through consistency, not charisma.”