Foreign-born managers break through baseball team hierarchy

SK Wyverns Manager Trey Hillman, left, encourages his players to do their own swing as opposed to following the directions from their coaches, which happens at other baseball clubs led by Korean managers. Kia Tigers Manager Kim Ki-tae, right, is well-known for his "brotherly leadership" and being the most approachable manager in the Korea Baseball Organization League. / Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Whenever a slugger of the opposing team stands at home plate, SK Wyverns manager Trey Hillman asks his players to shift their standard positions and move to certain areas on the field to help them more easily catch a ball hit by the player.

The defensive realignment — called the "Hillman shift" among baseball analysts here — is based on odds drawn from accumulated data about the direction and distance a ball travels from the slugger's bat.

The Hillman shifts have been executed 132 times as of May 18 since the March 31 opening games and about 67 percent of them were successful. Wyverns players have been able to outplay the sluggers of the opposing teams, thanks to the realignments.

Infield and outfield shifts are in vogue after Hillman joined the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League early this year.

Data-based baseball strategy is one of the new baseball trends brought by foreign-born managers and coaches, including Hillman, and it has a real impact on the league.

Foreign-born coaching staffers are also agents of change in breaking through hierarchical manager-player relationships in the KBO League.

Outfielder Jung Eui-yoon's home run celebration on May 4 gave a sneak peek into Wyverns' players' up-close-and-personal relations with the American manager.

After arriving in his team's dugout following his two-run homer off Eagles pitcher Yoon Kyu-jin, Jung tapped Hillman's upper belly with his clenched fist as a friendly gesture. Hillman, who was trying to high-five his player, laughed and responded to Jung by tapping his back.

Baseball analyst Ahn Chi-yong commented such a "bold" home-run celebration wouldn't have happened in a team led by a Korean manager because hierarchy dominates and players are cautious not to cross the line.

He said conservative Korean managers would have felt disrespected if the same thing happened to them and some may even consider sending the player to the minor league as punishment.

Hillman reportedly asks his players to do their own swing as opposed to follow the directions from their managers or coaches, a common practice in other KBO teams led by Korean field managers.

Baseball analysts say the self-motivated, confident Wyverns are behind the team's unrivaled status in the home run rankings, which helped the club earn the nickname — "the home run manufacturer."

The KBO League currently has several foreign-born coaches, including Wyverns quality control coach Lyle Yates.

Hillman, a former manager of Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the Kansas City Royals, is the second foreign-born manager in the league and the first who had coaching experience in the leagues of the United States, Japan and Korea.

Jerry Royster, who served as manager for the Lotte Giants between 2008 and 2010, was the KBO's first foreign-born manager.

"No fear" was his motto when he coached the Giants.

Cho Sung-hwan, a former Giants infielder (1999-2014) and now a baseball analyst for KBS Sports, said there are distinct differences between Korean and foreign-born coaches in their managerial skills.

"Mr. Royster would tell us to enjoy baseball and he stressed this all during his tenure with the Giants," he said.

Such an attitude came as culture shock, he said.

"Before him, I had never thought baseball was something we professional players could enjoy. Like other players on our team, I was a serious player and always pondered how I could improve my skills and performance," he said. "So in the early days of his leadership, there were some skeptics from within and they doubted if such an attitude would help us play better and ultimately lead to our better performances."

Royster's experiment in the KBO turned out to be a success. Under his leadership, the Giants, which had been one of the lowest-ranked clubs since 2000, finished the 2008 regular season in third and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2000. The Sajik Baseball Stadium had seen a soaring number of fans during his tenure.

"One of the things he stressed was if we players were not happy about playing baseball, fans were going to feel bored," Cho said.

Cho said Royster and Hillman are similar in terms of their relationships with their players but noted their leadership styles are slightly different as they had their own priorities in operating their teams.

Like them, he said KBO managers have their own leadership styles.

"The former Eagles manager Kim Sung-keun, for example, was a charismatic leader and he was like ‘I am the boss and you follow me.' Compared to him, Royster was an approachable and friendly manager and he treated the players just like his friends," he said.

Kia Tigers manager Kim Ki-tae is said to be one of the most approachable managers in the KBO League.

His "brotherly" leadership style helps him win the hearts of his players.

Kim is well-known for his warm, caring and interactive style when communicating with his players.

‘Brotherly' leadership

When Kim served as manager of the LG Twins' minor league team, one of his players was struggling to pay high medical fees for one of his parents was seriously ill. After overhearing his situation, Kim consoled the player and handed over some cash to use it for his parent's quick recovery.

Baseball analyst Ahn Chi-yong, a former Twin, said the Twins players were moved by Kim after hearing the story.

"Manager Kim makes his players feel that he is there for them. He's like their elder brother," he said. "One of the most embarrassing moments for the players comes when they are replaced by teammates in the middle of the game. Whenever this happens, Kim would explain in detail to his players after the game why he made such a decision to help them understand it was necessary for their team to win."

Baseball analysts say a manager's effective leadership could help players play better but it is not the single most important factor of a winning team.

Kim Sung-keun, for example, is one of the greatest managers of all time in terms of results.

He earned the nickname "God of Baseball" in 2002 when he led one of the weakest clubs — the LG Twins —to the Korean Series. When he served as manager of the Wyverns from 2007 to 2011, his team won the regular season three times. But he failed to take the Eagles to the playoffs since he took the helm in 2015. His tenure was cut short in May after a lingering feud with general manager Park Jong-hoon.

"The situations of the Wyverns and the Eagles were very different," said Ahn.

"When Kim led the Wyverns, most players there were obscure, low-paid and in their 20s and many of them were reborn as high-paid sluggers after enduring Kim's notoriously harsh training that lasted throughout the season. For those players, Kim was an effective leader and so they followed him without complaining about him."

Compared to the Wyverns, he said there are several high-paid star athletes on the Eagles and Kim's no-pain no-gain style of baseball operation didn't appeal to them.

"High-paid pitchers, for example, didn't like his style because hard training and ensuing injuries could cut their athletic careers short," he said.