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| Lotte and KIA won 7-6 at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 15th. Lotte players who lost are taking a disappointing step. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.15/ |
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| Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung preparing for the match between Lotte and KIA at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 15th. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.15/ |
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"Even if you win 100-0, you have to stick to the opponent to the point where you're sick of it."
Lotte Giants manager Kim Tae-hyung called a team meeting after winning 4-0 against the Gwangju KIA Tigers on the 14th. All the coaches and players gathered in the locker room. The result of the team's Young Bong-seung was good, but Kim's eyes repeatedly showed scenes he didn't like.
This year, in the second year of head coach Kim's inauguration, Lotte ranks third with 25 wins, 18 losses and two draws in the season. In the first year of his appointment, the main work was to cover up jade stones and draw sketches, but this year, he aims to produce at least the results of fall baseball.
To do that, Lotte had to be more different. Coach Kim is a coach who values fighting spirit very much on the ground. It doesn't mean much if the fighting spirit is limited to personal records. It is natural for a player to be listed in the lineup who is thinking about how to get more opportunities to play and at the same time contribute to the team's victory.
Ahead of the match against KIA in Gwangju on the 15th, head coach Kim said "He's doing well, but he's winning 3-0 and 4-0 against the other team." I had to think about going further somehow, but there were cases where I was just greedy and lost my concentration just because the game was over. If other teams are also winning by 5 to 6 points, they will lose their concentration, but it's not time for us to do that yet. Even if they win 100-0, they have to stick to the opponent enough to get sick of it. He explained the background of the set, saying, "I'm doing well, but I'm trying to concentrate a little more.'
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| Lotte and KIA match held at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 15th, and Lotte Yoon Dong-hee is comforting KIA catcher Han Jun-su who was hit by his foul ball in the top of the ninth inning. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.15/ |
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| Lotte and KIA match held at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 15th, and Lotte Reyes, with no outs and first base, hits a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning and is delighted with the leading runner Ko Seung-min. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.15/ |
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Of course, we didn't call a meeting just by looking at the results of one game. Coach Kim felt that the team's overall atmosphere has loosened despite the recent good team performance, so he thought he should deliver a message at least once.
Director Kim said "Even when we win, it's a flow. Yesterday (14th) was something untidy. The same goes for the whole game. I felt like the players were losing their concentration. I also said something to the coaches. Let's concentrate together."
Lotte lost 6-7 against KIA in Gwangju on the 15th, but it was possible to see the persistence that manager Kim wanted. KIA was leading 1-6 thanks to starting pitcher Adam Oler's good pitching, but it had to sweat from Lotte's batters' fierce counterattack late in the game. Lotte chased Victor Reyes to 6-7 in the top of the eighth inning, trailing 4-7, making it impossible to relax the tension until the end. Coach Kim's message that the opponent's team should be taken out whether they win or lose seems to have worked to some extent.
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| Third baseman Jang Doo-sung, who scored the first run in the top of the third inning when Lotte and KIA played at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on the 15th and Lotte Ko Seung-min's sacrifice fly with one out and runners on the second and third bases, is sharing his joy. Gwangju = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.05.15/ |
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
