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Is happy only when he participates in the game."

Joined SSG through sign and trade Report your membership at the fan festival

Jiyoung Lee greeting SSG fans

SSG Landers catcher Lee Ji-young is greeting fans at the fan festival held at Songdo Convensia in Incheon on the 21st.

Jiyoung Lee (37) took the microphone and introduced herself, saying, “I am Jiyoung Lee, a rookie catcher for the SSG Landers.”

Although she is a veteran catcher in her 17th year of professional baseball, Lee Ji-young met fans with the 'attitude of a rookie' at the fan festival held at Convensia in Songdo, Incheon on the 21st.

Lee Ji-young, whom we met after the fan festival, said seriously, "This was my first time attending an SSG event. I attended my first SSG event with the attitude of a rookie."

On the 12th, Lee Ji-young wore an SSG jumper and took an ‘entry photo’.

It was a transfer in the nature of a ‘sign and trade’ in which Kiwoom Heroes, the original team, signed Lee Ji-young as a free agent (FA) for a total of 400 million won for two years, and then traded Lee Ji-young to SSG.

Only a few days after signing the contract, Jiyoung Lee had the opportunity to personally greet SSG fans.

Jiyoung Lee said, "I was surprised by the scale of the event. As I went up on stage and said hello, I realized that I was now an SSG player."

SSG acquires catcher Lee Ji-young through sign and trade

National team catcher Lee Ji-young (37) joined SSG Landers through a sign-and-trade.

Professional baseball team SSG announced on the 12th that it acquired Lee Ji-young through a trade by giving 250 million won in cash and a 2025 third-round rookie pick to Kiwoom Heroes.The photo shows catcher Lee Ji-young (right), who joined SSG Landers, shaking hands with SSG general manager Kim Jae-hyeon.

Lee Ji-young was considered a 'top catcher' during her time at Jemulpo High School and Kyungsung University, but was ignored by the pros and struggled to enter the professional stage as a training player for the Samsung Lions in 2008.

Lee Ji-young, who debuted in the first team in 2009 and played in 23 games, became Samsung's starting catcher in 2013 and played for Samsung until 2018.

Lee Ji-young, who wore the Kiwoom uniform through a triangle trade in December 2018, signed a three-year free agent contract with Kiwoom for up to 1.8 billion won in November 2019.

Ji-young Lee obtained free agency status again after the end of the 2023 season and settled in SSG.

Lee Ji-young, who has played with number 56, will make a new start wearing number 59 for SSG.

He explained, "Jeon Eui-san, who plays for SSG wearing the number 56, seems to have an attachment to the number. Since I came to a new team, I chose 59 because I thought it would be nice to play with a new number with a new mind."

Lee Ji-young's hometown is Incheon.Incheon is also the hometown of SSG.

He said, "When I graduated from college, I was not drafted as a pro, so I took a tryout with SK Wyverns (predecessor of SSG). I thought my relationship with Incheon would end like that, but I was surprised and happy to end my career as a player in my hometown, Incheon."

After recruiting Jiyoung Lee, SSG also signed a contract with Minsik Kim to remain as a free agent.

Dae-on Park and Beom-soo Shin were also selected in the second draft.In addition, Cho Hyeong-woo was identified as the 'future starting catcher' and a plan was made to increase his playing time.

SSG, whose catcher lineup has become thicker, asked the sincere and experienced Lee Ji-young to ‘nurture juniors.’

However, expectations are high for Lee Ji-young on the field.

Lee Ji-young also expressed motivation, saying, “Players feel happy only when they participate in games.”

He said firmly, “Actions rather than words will help the juniors grow,” and “My biggest goal is to train hard, participate in as many games as possible, and help SSG win.”