SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) — Huh Sam-young, manager of the South Korean baseball club Samsung Lions, resigned on Monday to take the fall for the club’s dismal performance this season.
The Lions said that Huh had offered to quit following a 5-5 tie with the Lotte Giants on Sunday, and that the club accepted the offer on Monday, the regular offday for teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). The Lions blew a 4-0 lead in that game, and they have won just three of their past 19 games.
The Lions suffered a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak last month, a skid that saw them fall from sixth to eighth in the 10-team standings. They are currently in ninth place at 38-54-2 (wins-losses-ties), a year after tying for the best record in the regular season.
Huh took the reins in September 2019 and guided the Lions to the postseason in 2021, their first playoff appearance since 2015.
Held back by injuries to key players, the Lions only managed to stay in the middle of the pack early on before taking a nosedive, which ultimately cost Huh his job.
Huh is the second managerial casualty this year, joining former NC Dinos manager Lee Dong-wook, who was fired in May.
The Lions said their minor league manager, Park Jin-man, will serve as the interim manager for the rest of this season.
Park, 45, played for the Lions from 2005 to 2010 and cemented his reputation as the KBO’s best defensive shortstop. After retiring in 2015, Park joined the Lions as a fielding coach in 2017 and took over their minor league affiliate this year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency