Manager Yoon Kyung-yeop, 55, reflects on leading the LG Twins to their first Korean Series (KS) title in 29 years.
“I was criticized a lot at LG, and at that time, someone had to take responsibility, and I had to be the target,” Yoon said after the team clinched the KS title on the 13th. The ‘then’ mentioned here must be in the past. After working as a scout and head of operations, Yeom became LG’s first-team defense coach in 2010. However, in December 2011, he abruptly moved to the Nexen Heroes.굿모닝토토
A baseball insider familiar with the situation said, “While he was the head of the operations team, there was talk of Yoon Kyung-yeop exerting influence (control) by assigning people close to him. It was noisy as a broadcast covered the story,” he said. “Shortly after that, he left LG to coach Nexen. It’s probably true that then LG chairman Koo Bon-jun trusted him.”
Yeom became the third Nexen manager in October 2012 after serving as the operations and infield coach. In his first year, he led the team to its first postseason (PS) appearance, and in 2014, he was recognized for his leadership by advancing to the KS. He then served as SK Wyverns general manager (2017-2018) and SK head coach (2019-2020) before taking the helm of LG last November. It was a “return to the field” that surprised everyone. Due to a combination of poor performance and health issues, Yeom voluntarily resigned as SK’s head coach in October 2020 with one year left on his contract. He spent about two years in the wilderness and was forgotten for a while. His return to coaching after a short hiatus was even more eye-catching because it was with LG.
“During the two years of self-reflection, I took a break and studied not only my coaching career, but also all the seasons (I led). “When I went to the United States for training (with the San Diego Padres), I had a lot of time. I had no family and was alone. I had time to organize my notes. The good and bad experiences became nourishment,” he recalled. As a result, Yoon Kyung-yeop-pyo’s ‘New Wind Baseball’ turned back the clock on the KS championship, which had been stopped for nearly 30 years.
Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Nov. 13. After LG won the KS championship, the 20,000 fans who filled the stadium chanted the three letters of his name. Compared to 12 years ago, when he was forced to leave the team due to various controversies, it was a world of difference. He won his first KS title as a head coach and relinquished the title of “second in command. The achievement was even more meaningful as it came at LG, which is considered a “family team.
“When I left (LG), I told the owner, ‘I’ll come back later with success,'” Yeom said. I got my chance again by chance. “We had a lot of young players, and it was the closest team I’ve ever coached to winning a championship. It was a matter of how to take this good fortune and produce results. There was a lot of pressure. But my players gave me strength, and the front office gave me faith. They put their trust in the field, and that’s what made us do what we did,” he said with emotion.