Chae Eun-seong, who has been reborn as ‘Hanhwa Man’, wears the number 22 in the new season. This is because the number 55 used by LG already had an owner. Pitcher Kang Jae-min, who debuted in 2020, has been wearing number 55 since his second year. The number 55 in Hanwha is significant because it was the number worn by team legend pitcher Jeong Min-cheol, former general manager, before advancing to Japan.
Chae Eun-seong chose number 22, which was empty. He says he likes numbers that have the same number in a row. Coincidentally, the original owner of number 22 was Lee Tae-yang, a one-year junior at Hyocheon High School in Suncheon, who returned from SSG to Hanwha this winter. Chae Eun-seong got the number 22 thanks to Lee Tae-yang’s will and consideration to make a fresh start with a new uniform number.
The uniform numbers that met the new owner in the 2023 season contain various stories.
Lee Yong-gyu, the oldest at Kiwoom, changed his uniform number from 19 to 15. Number 15 is a special number that symbolized his heyday in the KIA and the national team. Lee Yong-gyu wore a Kiwoom uniform after being released from Hanwha after the end of the 2020 season. He played 133 games in 2021, and he made a big success with a batting average of 0.296, 1 home run, 43 RBI, 17 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.765.
However, due to injuries and sluggishness last year, he had a batting average of 0.199, 21 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.547 in 86 games. It was the first time since 2004, his debut season, that Lee Yong-gyu failed to exceed 20% in batting average. 메이저놀이터 Lee Yong-kyu wears a uniform number in his professional heyday and aims for a rebound in the 2023 season. The number 19, which he used until last year, was his freshman year at Deoksu Commercial High School, and it contained the meaning of not losing his original intention.
Park Jin-man, the new Samsung coach, wore the number 70 shirt. Number 70 was the number used by former Hyundai Unicorns coach Kim Jae-bak, who was Park Jin-man’s first professional teacher and role model, the ‘original national shortstop’. When coach Park Jin-man joined Hyundai in 1996, former coach Kim Jae-bak was wearing number 70. Coach Park has finally fulfilled his wish to wear number 70 someday.
Even if he inherited his idol’s uniform number, he plans to create his own coaching style. Coach Park said at the inauguration ceremony in October of last year, “We will operate a combination of coach Kim Jae-bak and Seon Dong-yeol and Kim Seong-geun’s baseball.”
Lee Seung-yeop, the new Doosan coach, chose 77 instead of 36 for the rest of his active career due to Samsung’s permanent absence. He says he chose the number 7 because he likes it.