Baseball's Kia appoints Lee Beom-ho, 42, born in the '80s, as commander of the baseball team

The Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) has appointed Lee Bum-ho (42), the current first team hitting coach, as its new manager.

The team announced that it signed Lee for a two-year contract with a signing bonus of 300 million won and an annual salary of 300 million won.

After firing former coach Kim Jong-guk on March 29, who was under investigation by prosecutors for allegedly taking money from sponsors, KIA promoted an internal leader to the position within days.

The new coach, who is currently coaching batting at the team's first spring training camp in Canberra, Australia, will take the reins immediately.

Lee, who made his professional debut in 2000 in a Hanwha Eagles uniform, 바카라사이트 played for Hanwha for 10 years until 2009 and then joined the SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2010 before returning to the KBO in 2011 when he signed with KIA.

He played for nine years with KIA until his retirement in 2019, winning the 2017 Korean Series under former manager Kim Ki-tae.

He finished his career with a .271 batting average, 329 home runs, 1,127 RBIs, and 1,727 hits.

His post-retirement coaching career also began with the KIA, where he served as a scout in 2020, manager of the Futures (second team) in 2021, and hitting coach of the KIA first team since 2022.

Known affectionately as "Beom-ho," he holds the record for most career home runs in the KBO (17).

"He has a good overall understanding of the team, having served as the team's futures manager and first-team hitting coach," the KIA team said, "and with his leadership and excellent communication skills, he is the best candidate to quickly turn around the team's current atmosphere."

"I am worried about taking over the managerial position suddenly when the team is in a difficult situation, but I will take on the heavy responsibility and build the team step by step," Lee said through the club. "I will be a leader who communicates with the players in a casual manner and creates a stage for them to play their baseball to their heart's content on the field."