Refreshed Giants Have Nothing to Afraid

What is the occasion for the same old players to be changed that much?

Lotte Giants acting manager Kim Yong-cheol said abashedly, “I didn`t come up with any special plan. All I tried to do was to form an atmosphere for players to play ball eagerly.” The players weren`t able to speak out any dissatisfaction when charismatic manager Baek In-cheon (60) was present, but Kim faced them with open mind. When acting manager Kim took command of the team, he immediately allowed the players to dye their hair if they wish to. He imposed a condition that colors should not be too excessively extraordinary like red or purple, but this was indeed an exceptional case for the team regarding the former Lotte Giants atmosphere.

The team air has changed significantly after `Acting manager Kim system` launched.

The players used to whisper to one another in the locker room during the time they were suffering 15-game losing streak. On the other hand, when Lotte lost the games successively on the 6th and 7th, some players were even seen laughing aloud. In short, the atmosphere has changed, full of harmony.

Acting manager Kim said with confidence, “The atmosphere (among players) is finally on track. All is left now is to start winning.” The strategic focus on his system is the mound. Indeed, Lotte had been putting pitchers on mound senselessly in the latter half of the season. The new manager returned ace Son Min-han (28) in 2 months to the first team on the 6th, the first day he started managing the Lotte Giants. Pitchers Park Seok-jin (31), Gang Min-yeong (22), and Mun Dong-hwan all returned to the first team as well.

“We lost many games so far with our pitchers losing control of the game too powerlessly. We need more pitchers to get on the mound for a game full of guts.”In the game against LG Twins on the 19th, he committed 5 pitchers to cultivate a 2-0 shutout victory.

The acting manager said, “There are many pitchers playing in the game, but the number of pitches isn`t as high. We analyzed the batting line-up of the opponents thoroughly; hence there were more one-point games.

Kim hasn`t yet given up getting out from the bottom. “The first thing I had in mind when I became acting manager was `Never get greedy`, but I don`t want my team to stay in the tail. I will not give up.”

Chang Jeon jeon@donga.com