Pro baseball teams choose new season slogans

○ To achieve goals

Most pro baseball teams in Korea change their catchphrases every year through a contest for fans. Six teams have or will choose new slogans this year.

The Seoul LG Twins adopted “Challenge of LG, Teamwork of LG” last year and has chosen a similar motto, “Teamwork and Challenge of LG, and Victory of LG!” this year.

In contrast, the Seoul Doosan Bears and Seoul Nexen Heroes have differing slogans. Doosan will again use last season’s catchphrase “All In V4! Hustle Doo 2010” this year, only changing the year to 2011. Desperate to win the title, the Bears will go for broke anew this year as they did last year.

Nexen is set to use the catchphrase “Go for the Championship” for the third consecutive year. Team president Lee Jang-seok said he is committed to using the same slogan until the Heroes win the title, whenever that is.

○ SK and Kia still hungry for championship

The defending champion Incheon SK Wyverns, who have won the league crown three times in four years, have not used “championship” or “V (victory)” in its catchphrases. They used “Go Green! Enjoy Baseball!” last year, and “Fan First! Happy Baseball!” in the previous three years.

This year, however, SK has adopted “Do dream! SK Wyverns! Let’s go V4,” aiming for victory this year.

The Gwangju Kia Tigers, who have won 10 titles, has picked “New Challenge! Let’s Go V11” this year to envision their goal of winning an 11th championship.

The Daegu Samsung Lions, who fired manager Sun Dong-yeol and replaced him with Ryu Joong-il, have chosen “Yes We Can.” Team president Kim In said, “We chose this catchphrase with the view to overcome concerns among our fans and show a new image of our team changing into a successful team.”

○ Short, powerful slogans in Japanese league

Japanese teams mostly use shorter and simpler slogans than those of Korean teams. The Orix Buffaloes, which signed Korean nationals Park Chan-ho and Lee Seung-yeop this season, have as its new slogan “New Golden Era.”

The Chiba Lotte Marines, of which slugger Kim Tae-kyun is a member, uses “Harmony 2011.” The team won the Japan Series last year by banking on the slogan "Harmony."

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, the former team of Lee Bum-ho, adopted the katakana character ‘ダ, meaning “achieve” or “win.”

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who have the services of Korean closer Lim Chang-yong, emphasizes “unity and teamwork” by adopting the slogan “Power of Unity.”

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles have adopted the slogan “Rakuten Smart & Spirit 2011, Righteously.”

uni@donga.com