Twins outfielder bids emotional farewell to baseball fans

Former LG Twins outfielder Lee Byung-kyu looks at the sky and expresses his longing for his late father during his farewell speech at the Seoul Sports Complex Baseball Park, Sunday. The LG Twins announced it would retire Lee’s uniform number 9 forever to commemorate the outfielder. / Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Former LG Twins outfielder Lee Byung-kyu bade emotional farewell to baseball fans at the Seoul Sports Complex Baseball Park in southern Seoul, Sunday, after the Twins game against the Hanwha Eagles.

Despite heavy rain, over 22,000 baseball fans showed up at the stadium to share their last moment with the star athlete.

With the song “I Was Born to Love You,” playing in the background, Lee, 43, walked toward the mound from the Twins dugout.

“I was the LG Twins outfielder Lee Byung-kyu,” he said in a farewell speech with tears welling in his eyes and his voice trembling. Some Twins players, baseball fans, commentators and baseball analysts were captured on TV cameras wiping away tears as well. Some fans held a banner saying they would miss him.

Watching the big screen featuring his mother saying how proud she was of having such a great son, Lee wiped away tears again. As the short video finished, he turned his eyes to the sky and said, “He should have been here.” Lee was talking about his father who passed away in 2010.

“I know you are seeing me from there... Thanks father for everything,” he said.

Lee’s retirement ceremony was held months after Lee retired last year after the 2016 season. The Twins initially suggested holding the ceremony on Sept. 9 to commemorate his uniform number 9 which he had worn for the past 17 years while playing for the club. But Lee proposed it to be held on July 9, saying he knew Twins players would be very busy around that time in the second-half of the season.

The LG Twins announced it would retire Lee’s uniform number 9 forever to commemorate the outfielder. This is the second time for the baseball club to retire a uniform number.

The Twins celebrated their former teammate’s retirement by beating the Eagles 3-2 in the rain-shortened game.

Since joining the Korea Baseball Organization League in 1997 as a Twin, Lee played for the club for 17 years before his retirement. He also played for the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball League between 2007 and 2009.

In his first year in the KBO League, he batted .305 with 151 hits, seven home runs, 69 RBIs and 23 stolen bases and won the Rookie of the Year Award.

During the 17 seasons in the KBO League, he played in 1,741 games, had 2,043 hits, 161 home runs with 972 RBIs and 147 stolen bases.

While playing for the Twins, Lee had several nicknames. Some baseball fans called him “a bad ball hitter” to praise his ability to produce hits out of balls. He was also called “Red Hare,” a legendary horse capable of galloping across cities and leaping over moats in an old Chinese fable.

After retirement, Lee has worked as a baseball analyst for the cable channel SKY TV. Lee is reportedly pursuing a coaching career and plans to go to the United States for training.