When the SSG Landers won the South Korean baseball championship last fall, manager Kim Won-hyong enjoyed the kind of thrill that he hadn't experienced before.
Kim said Thursday he wants to taste it again in 2023.
"Last year, with the support of our fans pushing us through, we were able to reach the pinnacle. We will do the best we can to experience that exhilarating feeling again," Kim said during the annual Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) media day Thursday in Seoul. The new regular season starts at 2 p.m. Saturday for all 10 teams across the league.
In 2022, the Landers spent the entire regular season in first place and then knocked off the Kiwoom Heroes in six games in the Korean Series.
The Heroes made a valiant run as the third seed, and their manager Hong Won-ki said he will try to take the team to the top this year.
"We shed tears of regret last season, and we want to cry tears of joy this season," Hong said. "I am looking forward to having a fun season with our fans."
Many of the 10 managers on hand picked the LG Twins as a playoff contender, based on their deep pitching staff. Their new manager, Youm Kyoung-youb, said his players are fueled by repeated postseason failures.
"We know what our fans want, and we have high expectations for ourselves as well," Youm said. "We'll try our best to meet those expectations."
At the other end of the spectrum, the Hanwha Eagles will try to climb out of the league cellar, after finishing in last place in each of the past three seasons.
Manager Carlos Subero, entering the third and final year of his contract, said this will be the year that the Eagles finally take off.
"It's been a great two years in terms of development. This year, we're definitely looking forward to going to a different phase," Subero said. "You should definitely see a team that will start to climb up. I am looking forward to seeing our development start reaping some fruits."
The KBO's one other foreign manager, Larry Sutton of the Lotte Giants, is also in the final year of his contract. He has yet to take the Giants to the postseason but said it could change this year.
"Last year, we started out really strong, but we didn't finish the way we wanted to," the American skipper said. "We want to focus on the details of the game. We've had a very strong spring training. Our players are going to give you 100 percent this year, so we can finish the way we want to and bring a championship back to Busan."
Two other non-playoff teams from a year ago, the Samsung Lions and the Doosan Bears, will have new managers in charge, with Park Jin-man getting promoted from the interim position for the Lions and Lee Seung-yuop making his managerial debut with the Bears.
Park and Lee are two of the greatest players in KBO history, Park a premium defensive shortstop and Lee a feared slugger with the KBO-best 467 career home runs.
The two close friends and former Lions teammates said they will embrace opportunities to engage in managerial duels against each other.
"Park Jin-man was a great player and has already been a great manager," Lee said. "I am going into this season trying to learn from the nine other managers. I will make sure not to let our fans down."
Park said he expects Lee to make a smooth transition to the dugout after spending post-retirement years in the broadcast booth.
"We've known each other for so long, and I've always thought he'd make a great manager," Park said. "I know both Doosan and Samsung are not seen as contenders this year, but we're both going to beat the odds."
Source: Yonhap News Agency