Lotte Lee Dae-ho “Reversing Retirement? You have to take responsibility for what a man once said”

‘Chosun 4th hitter’ Lee Dae-ho (40, Lotte Giants) said he wanted to do an away signing event rather than a ‘retirement tour’.

Lee Dae-ho chose to take a step back from the controversy over qualifications for the ‘retirement tour’ that has been heating up the internet recently.

It was Lee Dae-ho’s determination ahead of the retirement season to give everything he had to win the championship, his last wish.

Lee Dae-ho met with reporters on the 12th at Sangdong Stadium, Gimhae, the spring camp site of Lotte, a professional baseball team.

At a glance, his slim figure showed Lee Dae-ho’s determination for the final season of active duty.

He said, “I lost a lot of weight,” and “This year is the last, so I worked hard to show a better image.”

When he signed a free agent (FA) contract with Lotte for a total of 2.6 billion won for two years ahead of the 2021 season, Lee Dae-ho said he would retire after the 2022 season.

When this season ends, Lee Dae-ho will end his 22 years of active duty.

After graduating from Kyungnam High School in 2001 and entering the pros, Lee Dae-ho changed his position from pitcher to hitter and became a regular infielder in 2004, keeping Lotte’s central batting line.

In 2006, he won his first career batting title with a batting average of 0.336.

In 2010, he took the first place in seven batting categories excluding stolen bases, building an unprecedented feat of ‘seven batting titles’.

In Japan, he led the Softbank Hawks to the Japan Series championship in 2015 and was the first Korean player to be selected as the MVP of the Japanese Series.

In 2016, he signed a split contract with the Seattle Mariners of the American professional baseball team, crossed the Pacific Ocean, and successfully entered the opening 25-man roster through endless competition in the spring camp.

He also announced his presence by hitting 15 home runs in the terrible platoon system.

As a professional baseball player, Lee Dae-ho had all the wealth, fame, and record, but there was one goal he couldn’t achieve.

That’s the team’s victory. Dae-ho Lee could not present the victory to the Busan fans who were longing for Lotte to win the title by shouting ‘Busan Seagull’ to their throats.

Lee Dae-ho, who had a crush on him, returned to Lotte in 2017, and is now facing his final season of active duty.

▶ Click here for a larger view

Lee Dae-ho said, “To be honest, I can’t feel it.” “I exercised a lot in winter alone, but it was sad. I was sad to think I couldn’t do it again,” he said before the retirement season.

Recently, there has been a debate on the Internet over Lee Dae-ho’s qualifications for the ‘retirement tour’.

At the KBO level, ‘national hitter’ Lee Seung-yeop’s retirement tour was held, and so far it was the first and last time.

In 2020, controversy arose regarding the retirement tour of LG Twins Park Yong-taek, who holds the record for most hits in the KBO league.

In the end, Park Yong-taek politely declined his retirement tour. Instead, each club voluntarily held a farewell ceremony.

Lee Dae-ho has built a career that is difficult to reach even as a national team member beyond the league, to the extent that he is called ‘Chosun’s 4th hitter’, but took a step back from the controversy related to the ‘retirement tour’.

Regarding the ‘retirement tour’, Lee Dae-ho said, “To be honest, I told the club that I didn’t want to even hold a retirement ceremony. I think I’m going to cry. I think I’ll cry a week before the retirement ceremony.” I didn’t even think about it (retirement tour),” he said calmly.

He said, “I would like to have an autograph session at the last game rather than a retirement ceremony or a retirement tour. Busan fans have a lot of opportunities because they are at home, but baseball fans in other areas will want to get autographs. Aren’t there a lot of Lotte fans all over the country? I want to do an autograph session at the

Although he does not want his own retirement tour, Daeho Lee thinks that it would be good to have a retirement tour for his juniors and fans.

He said, “The fans who support a team are not limited to that region. They are spread all over the country.” “So I think that’s why they want to see the last game. It’s good to have a retirement tour. ‘ I don’t think so. Fans will want to see it too,” he said.

Apart from the retirement tour, Lee Dae-ho said that he wanted to achieve the ‘beauty of the species’ in the last season.

He emphasized, “I want to retire with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a cool way.”

Regarding the possibility of overturning his retirement, he dismissed the statement, saying, “Once a man has spoken, he has to take responsibility.”

Lastly, Dae-ho Lee said, “I told my juniors to come whenever I have questions or want to learn because we only have 6 months to spend together.” I told him that I wanted to leave at least one thing.

▶ Click here for a larger view

[연합뉴스]

Copyrights ⓒ Yonhap News. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited