Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who has been on an extensive campaign to win the bid for the 2030 Busan Expo, visited Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan and stayed until the end to celebrate the victory.
The Lotte Giants pulled off a thrilling 7-5 come-from-behind victory over the Hanwha Eagles in the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League at Sajik Baseball Stadium on Wednesday after nearly four hours of action.
Chairman Shin Dong-bin, along with Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, ‘intuited’ the game until the end. It was their first visit to Busan this season since Oct. 8 against the LG Twins last year. At that time, Chairman Shin Dong-bin comforted and encouraged “franchise star” Lee Dae-ho, who was holding a retirement ceremony, and gave him a commemorative gift (a permanent number ring).
Chairman Shin Dong-bin, who recently invited rookie players and their families to Lotte World Tower in Jamsil to present them with gifts, is known as ‘Dong-bin’s older brother’ and shows a ‘love of baseball’ that is no less than that of Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, the owner of ‘retail rival’ SSG Landers.
They are literally sparing no effort to support the team.
The company provided ‘live ammunition’ to the Lotte Giants, who are bolstering their roster ahead of the 2022 season. With their support, Lotte signed Park Se-woong to a five-year, up to 9 billion won non-free agent contract. In the free agent market, the team signed Yoo Kang-nam (four years, up to 8 billion won), Noh Jin-hyuk (four years, up to 5 billion won), and Han Hyun-hee (four years, up to 4 billion won). These players have revolutionized Lotte’s rise this season.
Prior to the game, Lotte provided a “momentum lunch” for the first team, the Futures (second team), and all employees and partners. “This is to express our hope that the Lotte players and staff will keep up the good momentum and do their best until the end of the season,” said a club official.
Lotte players expressed their gratitude for the 토토사이트 gift. Lotte veterans Jeon Jun-woo and pitcher Na Kyun-an posted photos of the bento boxes on their social media accounts, writing, “We will eat deliciously and do our best until the end of the season, owner. Thank you!”
After eating the “momentum bento,” Lotte won the owner’s intuition game. After a nine-game winning streak at the start of the season, its longest in 15 years, Lotte suddenly slumped to 1-5 last week and dropped to fourth place. Just when momentum seemed to be slipping away, they got off to a good start by taking the first game of the midweek.
Lotte starter Charlie Barnes was pulled early after giving up three runs (three earned) on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 3.1 innings, but the bullpen from Jin Seung-hyun (1.2 innings, two runs) to Koo Seung-min (one scoreless inning) held on for the win. Jin Seung-hyun, who is also known as the son of KIA Tigers head coach Jin Gap-yong, earned his first win in the KBO. At the plate, Yoon Dong-hee went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, including his second home run of the season. Hwang Sung-bin had a “four-hit” game with three hits, one walk, one RBI and two runs scored.
Manager Larry Sutton said after the game, “I’m even happier that we won the game when the owner came to visit.”
After winning against Hanwha on July 13 and LG on October 8 last season, Lotte has now won three straight games in the new owner’s home stadium. It will be interesting to see if Lotte’s momentum, which seemed to be slowing down, will steeply increase from this day.