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“Being the team leader was a huge turning point in my life.”

SSG Landers' new coach Lee Soong-yong had a hectic weekend. After an interview, I received a 'notification of acceptance' from the club on the 16th, and went to the home stadium early on the morning of the 17th and signed an autograph. And as soon as the news of the director contract was announced, calls poured in. And he also had constant discussions with the club. The most urgent part is forming a coaching staff. First-team key positions coaches must explore with the new manager. Coach Lee Soong-yong smiled and said, "I'm looking for a coach that the team needs, a coach with a good personality, a coach who sets a good direction and studies, but it's not easy." He expressed regret, saying, "There were a few coaches I had in mind, but due to the timing, their roles were decided elsewhere." However, it is not a matter to be concluded hastily. We are in careful and close discussions with the club as we select partners for Coach Lee Soong-yong's first start.

As is known, coach Lee Soong-yong was selected through an in-depth interview with the SSG club. “While preparing for the interview, I asked for advice here and there,” he said. “Being the leader was a huge turning point in my life. There were a lot of things I thought about while being the leader. It would be nice to run the team like this, the field and communication would be like this. "I felt that I had to do it. I even created a manual. During the interview, I thought I needed to know the direction the club was going in and what SSG's culture was, etc.," he said. Having the experience of being a general manager who stepped back from the field and looked over the entire front office was a great opportunity to broaden my horizons.

When he was a player, he had a strong image of a charismatic ‘captain’. In addition to being a member of the Hyundai Unicorns, which was a symbol of powerful baseball, he was always known as a leader during his 18 years as a player for the Heroes through Hyundai. So there was also a ‘scary’ image. Coach Lee Soong-yong said, "When I was a player, I had to go to war first. Since I was the captain five times, I always thought that I should not be shaken. What I value is 'one team'. No matter how good I was at baseball, I had a tendency not to forgive anyone who harmed the team. . I presented an exact justification to my juniors, and I also tried to do the same. You must always play at your best on the baseball field. Otherwise, you are deceiving the fans. Of course, I had many shortcomings, but because I approached it with that mindset, it was not scary. "I think I had an image. But I didn't hit him or give him a harsh look. I think he was afraid of what he said or the feeling he gave off," he said.

After serving as a player, general manager, and general manager of training, he has now taken over as manager. SSG needed the right person for generational change, renewal, and new changes, and that was Lee Soong-yong. He made a manual book out of the many things he felt during his experience as general manager, and even before this manager interview, he read it again to organize his thoughts. Coach Lee Soong-yong said, "Playing must be done by the players. I think coaches should respect the players and build trust. I will try to keep what I said, and we must respect each other. I think the atmosphere of the coaching staff is especially important." He revealed his first mindset.

There are many decisions to be made, including not only the selection of a coach, but also foreign player contracts, second draft and free agency strategies, and power planning. Although I will be able to see SSG players training in person during spring camp next year, I plan to have close communication with Futures coach Son Si-heon during the remaining two months. Although coach Lee Sung-yong and coach Son Si-heon have never played on the same team, they are surprisingly close friends.

Coach Lee Soong-yong said, "I really liked that friend, or rather Coach Son, since I was a player. He was a player I liked so much that even though we were on different teams, we became attached, ate together a few times, and got along well. It's great that that friend is the second-team coach. Coach Son is kind, but strong, and speaks with conviction. We decided to meet as soon as he returns from the closing camp. We will ask Coach Son a lot of opinions and learn more about the players together. We will also listen to the opinions of the second-team coaches. “I will open a lot of doors. It is not easy to recommend a player, but if the second team recommends it, I will actively use it,” he said.

SSG Landers, who won the combined championship last year and went through a lot in the past year, made the decision to change their coach. What does Landers baseball shown by Lee Soong-yong look like?