KIA Tigers introduce new manager

For the first time in Korea's professional baseball league history, the MZ generation manager is appointed by KIA Tigers. Known for its conservative team culture among the league's 10 professional teams, the Tigers have chosen a manager from the Zen Generation.

On Tuesday, the KIA Tigers promoted their hitting coach, Lee Bum-ho, born in 1981, to the manager position. The contract spans two years, with a total compensation of 900 million Korean won, including a three million signing bonus. The Tigers are completing the appointment process within 15 days following the dismissal of former manager Kim Jong-kook on January 29, who faced an investigation for alleged bribery and breach of trust.

The KIA Tigers stated that Lee possesses a comprehensive understanding of the team, having served as both minor league team coach and major league team hitting coach. They deemed Lee the ideal candidate to unite the team during challenging times.

KIA Tigers' General Manager Shim Jae-hak highlighted Lee's innovative leadership ideas and noted that CEO Choi Joon-young also praised him for presenting data-driven solutions to effectively address the Automated Balls and Strike System and improve low-performing hitting cycles during the team strategy seminar in January.

Lee, a former active baseball player until five years ago, was born just 230 days earlier than SSG Landers' Shin-soo Choo, the current oldest professional baseball player in the league. Lee is only two years older than KIA Tigers' oldest player, Choi Hyung-woo (41). After graduating from Daegu High School and starting his professional career with the Hanwha Eagles in 2000, Lee gained free-agent status in 2010 and briefly played for Japan's SoftBank Hawks before returning to Korea with the KIA Tigers in 2011. Throughout his career, Lee hit 17 grand slams, still a league record, and won the Korean Series Championship with the KIA Tigers in 2017.