“The first time I came down to Daegu in a Doosan uniform…we lost the second and third games, and I couldn’t sleep.”

Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop guided his team to a nine-game winning streak in the final half of the first half to move into third place. The offense, which hadn’t been clicking, became efficient and productive. On the mound, the starting rotation and bullpen gained momentum with the return of Brandon Waddell.메이저놀이터

However, there were periods where Doosan struggled in the middle to lower levels. There were plenty of days where they didn’t make the 5% mark. There were days when they lost big with a parade of errors. What’s clear is that Lee never wavered as a new manager with no coaching experience. He trusts his players and listens to the coaching staff.

On the 19th, Lee reviewed the first half on the club’s YouTube channel, Bears TV. “We finished the first half well, but the beginning of the season was very difficult. The coaching staff and players played without giving up, and we were able to finish with nine consecutive wins.”

Lee can’t forget the three-game series from April 25-27, when he visited his hometown of Daegu for the first time as Doosan manager. This is the most regrettable moment of the first half in Lee’s mind. “I came down to Daegu for the first time in a Doosan uniform. The first game against Samsung was canceled due to rain, and we lost the second and third games. I didn’t get much sleep at that time,” he said.

It wasn’t that he wanted to show the fans who still supported him in Daegu, where he was born and raised and where he grew up to become an unheralded superstar. It was just that he was disappointed with the back-to-back one-run losses (0-1 on April 26 and 6-7 on April 27) as Doosan manager. He ended his first trip to Daegu with two losses.

Before the first three-game series against Samsung, he was 11-7-1. The team had already experienced a losing series once, but this was the first time they were swept without a win. “We want to win every game, but we always want to win a one-run game,” Lee said.

Furthermore, after losing to Samsung by one point in consecutive days, Doosan dropped back-to-back games against the Incheon SSG on April 28-29, falling into its first four-game losing streak of the season. Their win-loss margin became zero. “We lost the Friday-Saturday games against SSG, so we lost four in a row. It was really hard at that time.”

On June 18, after the 3-15 loss to LG Electronics in Jamsil, Lee had a meeting with the team. At that time, they were in danger of falling to the bottom of the standings and actually lost all three games of the home series against SSG on June 20-22. However, they bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Kiwoom in a three-game weekend series on the road.

Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, “The LG Electronics game on June 18 was a really disappointing game, and I had a dark thought that if that continues and there is no change, we will lose the whole season. Of course, the responsibility falls on the coach, but I wanted the players to be a fighting chicken. After that, the players played well.”

Doosan’s nine-game winning streak at the end of the first half not only showed off the team’s strength, but also meant that Lee had shed his rookie tee to some extent and proved his capabilities internally and externally. “Nothing has changed. The players never gave up. I waited. I waited and waited and waited. Of course I was angry and I wanted to show my emotions, but I was like, ‘I’m going to make it harder for myself, I’m going to wait a little longer. The athletes rewarded me at the end.”

A major record breaker is on the horizon. If Doosan wins its second half opener against KIA on the 22nd, it will have won 10 straight games, setting a new record for the longest winning streak in a debut season for a Doosan manager in history. It will also tie the club’s record for most consecutive wins for the third time in his career after 2000 and 2018. It also ties the record for the longest winning streak in the debut season of a Korean manager.