What kind of fateful prank is this? As soon as the opening, the first place → second place → third place team will face off

Jan 27, 2025

Director Lee Ho-joon is talking to reporters at Changwon NC Park. Photo = Reporter Na Yuri

What kind of joke is this. The first, second, and third-place teams made their debut as new coaches last year.

The NC Dinos, who unfortunately finished ninth last season, are preparing for the 2025 season under the newly appointed coach Lee Ho-joon. NC's first-team squad began team training at Changwon NC Park ahead of their departure from Tucson, Arizona, on the 30th. Among them, the players listed on the first U.S. camp list prepare to leave the country, while the rest continue to train at Masan Stadium.

Coach Lee Ho-joon, who has been complicated in his head with his season plan since taking office, is more headache due to the opening game schedule. NC has a tough opponent from the opening game of the regular season.

NC will play two consecutive games against the KIA Tigers in Gwangju for two days from March 22 to 23. KIA is the winner of last year's regular season and Korean Series and is considered the strongest team with the highest probability of winning this year.

A match between the KIA Tigers and the Samsung Lions in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 28th. KIA Tigers players who won the Korean Series are cheering. Gwangju = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2024.10.28/

He will then move to Daegu and play three consecutive away games against the Samsung Lions from the 25th to the 27th. Samsung is also a team that can challenge for the presidential election. It ranked second in the regular season last year and also had a tight race with KIA in the Korean Series.

After the opening five consecutive away games, another difficult enemy is waiting to return to home Changwon NC Park. It is the LG Twins, the third-place team in the regular season last year and the unified championship team in the 2023 season. NC will play three consecutive home games against LG at NC Park from March 28 to 30.

KIA and LG are also teams with deep ties to coach Lee Ho-joon. Lee Ho-joon, a Gwangju native, joined the Haitai Tigers as a high school graduate in 1994 after graduating from Gwangju Jeil High School. It is still connected by a string called the hometown team.

In addition, LG is a team that has built a relationship as a coach since leaving NC. After announcing his retirement from NC, he began his leadership career at NC, but moved his team ahead of the 2022 season. Coach Lee Ho-joon assisted manager Yeom Kyung-yeop by taking charge of the first-team batting coach, QC coach, and head coach at LG. He was the head coach of LG until just before the NC manager took office, so he is also a team that knows each other better than anyone else.

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However, apart from that, the variable is that he meets opponents who are too difficult for a beginner director from the beginning. Coach Lee Ho-joon said, `I am worried about what will happen to the KIA starting rotation. It is not yet clear whether James Nail and Yang Hyun-jong will come out or two foreign players will come out in a row. Even if I asked my close friends about KIA, they would never tell me.

NC, which has shown a particularly weak performance in Samsung, is also burdened by the away match in Daegu. Coach Lee Ho-joon also said, `When I was a player, I think it was the opening game of Daegu when Kim Kyung-moon was around, but it collapsed by allowing almost 10 runs from the beginning. During the game, the coach called a meeting and the atmosphere was really bad. I haven't been able to solve it since then. There were jinxes like that, but now I think I should prepare with the thought of making a new one, thinking that it's all gone"He expressed his determination.

Coach Lee Ho-joon told the head coach 'Before the season's schedule was announced 'You're not going to meet KIA and LG, are you? I did, but the season opener is KIA and the home opener is LG. What can I do. I'll work hard to prepare well," he smiled.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.