KBO legend appointed GM for cadet baseball team

By Kang Seung-woo

Lee Man-soo, a Korean baseball great, has been named the general manager of the Korea Military Academy's (KMA) baseball team.

Lee Man-soo / Korea Times file

“At the request of KMA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Chung Jin-kyung, with whom I have kept up an acquaintance for years, I have accepted the offer,” Lee said.

The 61-year-old believes baseball and military spirit have something in common.

“Given that baseball is the only sport to use the term sacrifice (such as sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly), baseball and the military are alike,” he said.

“I plan to teach players five things that make up the spirit of baseball ― sacrifice, consideration, cooperation, patience and manners ― and they will be able to learn the value of sacrifice.”

Lee, who played for the Samsung Lions from 1982 to 1997, was one of the best hitting catchers in the league.

He's famous for hitting the very first home run in the Korea Baseball Organization's (KBO) history in 1982. Lee was also the first player to reach 100 and 200 career home runs and to win the batting Triple Crown as the league leader in home runs, runs batted in (RBI) and batting average. Lee retired with 252 career home runs after 16 seasons.

In his post-playing career, Lee worked as a bullpen catcher for the Chicago White Sox during the 2005 World Series championship season and later managed the SK Wyverns in the KBO from 2011 to 2014.

Lee is also serving as vice president of the Laos Baseball Federation.