A magical man who can't forget about Japan 'Bongyeolsa'..."I flew in for two days for a game"
Jul 22, 2024
|
The dream game between Korean and Japanese baseball legends, 'Korea-Japan Dream Players Game', will be held at Econ Field in Hokkaido, Japan on the 22nd.
Starting with head coach Kim In-sik, stars of the past, including Lee Jong-beom, Koo Dae-sung and Seo Jae-eung, entered Hokkaido on the 21st for the game.
As soon as the squad entered Sconfield for adaptation training, a welcome face greeted them. It was Bong Jung-geun. Bong Jung-geun, who said hello to head coach Kim first, was busy greeting other colleagues whether he had met for the first time in a long time.
After retiring, Bong Jung-geun left for the United States in the summer of 2022 after working as a commentator. He works as a leader at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It is convenient to explain that IMG Academy is the best private school institution for training sports talent with a one-year tuition of only 100 million won. In addition to baseball, top players are growing in various sports such as soccer, basketball, golf, and tennis.
After training, Bong smiled brightly, saying, `It took me two days to fly from the United States for this game.' When asked what he was up to, he was working as a high school manager at the IMG Baseball Academy. Some players are high school students in our team and have a 157-kilometer speed limit, and they consistently produce players in the Major League every year", he explained. Currently, Bong Jung-geun's son is also playing baseball at IMG Academy.
How did he end up taking leadership classes in an unfamiliar place. Bong Jung-geun had submitted his resume by chance. He explained, "I think very highly of myself as an Olympic gold medalist here." Bong Jung-geun entered the U.S. Major League immediately after graduating from Shinil High School and took the major stage as a big leaguer. After that, he returned to the LG Twins and played as a starter and finisher. As a member of the national team, he led the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal, and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) competed once in 2006 and twice in 2009. In particular, he showed particularly strong performance in the match against Japan and was nicknamed 「Bongyeolsa」.
Bong Jung-geun said he will go back to the U.S. as soon as this game is over and focus on his main job. Even if it's a friendly match, when he said, "If I go out, I'm doomed." I'll get ready in the back," he gleefully responded.
awesome@sportschosun.com
