San Francisco held a “Korean Night” event at its home stadium, Oracle Park in San Francisco, California on the 27th (Korea time). San Francisco announced in an official press release that the event will be held to honor the culture and heritage of Koreans.
San Francisco is one of the western largest cities in the U.S. with the largest population in Asia along with Los Angeles. The city holds various events to attract Asian fans and engage with Asian society in San Francisco. It was Korean Day, and many events including K-POP were prepared even before the game. There was also an event where fans visiting the stadium were presented with a T-shirt with the name of Lee Jung-hoo for free. 토토사이트 추천
Coach Lee Jong-beom, Lee Jung-hoo’s father and one of the legends of Korean baseball, hosted the first pitch on the day. Coach Lee Jong-beom was called the “son of the wind” when he was an active member of the Hota Junjok. Lee Jung-hoo, the son of coach Lee, was naturally named the “grandchild of the wind.” When Lee signed a six-year contract worth $113 million with San Francisco, his relationship with coach Lee Jong-beom drew much attention in the U.S. media as well. It also drew attention as an example of “blood ball,” one of the recent trends in the Major League.
Lee threw the first pitch on the day, and his son Lee Jung-hoo caught the ball. After the opening ceremony, Lee smiled brightly for the first time in a long time. Lee Jung-hoo and Lee Coach on the mound wrapped up the event by giving a light hug. They also raised their hands to the fans, and the fans congratulated the father and son on the first pitch at Oracle Park with applause. Lee Jung-hoo, who did not have much to laugh about this year, seemed to symbolize that his recent mood and will are alive.
In fact, it could have been a more meaningful event. His father could have seen his son play. However, Lee couldn’t afford to participate in the game on the day due to his injury. Lee, who had high expectations as San Francisco’s biggest reinforcement factor this season, suffered a serious injury on his left shoulder after hitting a fence while sprinting to catch a homerun in a home game against Cincinnati on May 13.
Lee Jung-hoo returned from a minor injury and played enthusiastically, but was hurt from the defense in the first inning, sending the team disappointed. It happened to hit an away team bullpen session and a spot where fence protection was weak. Lee immediately collapsed and was replaced. As a result of the checkup, he was found to have major damage to his left shoulder, and eventually went to the operating table. Lee reportedly tried to survive through rehabilitation and considered surgery after the season. It was to benefit his team as much as possible. However, the team did not want to take risks.
The club hoped Lee would join the spring training next year after completing six months of rehabilitation. Lee had previously had surgery on a similar part after the season and joined the opening game of next season normally, but as he got hurt again, San Francisco wanted more thorough rehabilitation. After undergoing surgery in Los Angeles, Lee returned to his base in San Francisco and began full-fledged rehabilitation. Recently, there have been scenes of him coming out of his home stadium, Oracle Park, to talk with his teammates.
Lee Jung-hoo’s season this season was quite important. It was the first year of his six-year contract. He needed to adapt himself to the Major League stage, which is a top-tier league. Aside from his performance, he played in as many games as possible to see as many balls as possible and learned from failures. He also showed good enough performance in contact ability, raising expectations. Since his batting speed was not bad, expectations were high that hits would continue to be made if the right angle of launch was adjusted. However, his injury took away everything.
Lee played in 37 games before the injury, posting a batting average of 0.262, an on-base percentage of 0.310, two homers and eight RBIs. He garnered good reviews in terms of his pioneering skills, including 10 walks while striking out 13. Although his batting average and on-base percentage were not satisfactory, he clearly showed sufficient possibilities. For now, it is important for him to perform thorough rehabilitation and stand on the ground healthy next year.