SSG Landers filled the vacant position of Futures coach.
SSG recently appointed MBC Sports Plus commentator Park Jung-kwon as the head coach of Futures.스포츠토토
After the season ended, SSG had a lot of troubles as a coach for Futures. Last year, former Futures manager Sohn Si-heon was in charge of defense coach for the first team, and the team started recruiting new faces.
The post, which remained vacant until the closing camp, was announced on the last day of 2024. SSG announced on Dec. 31 last year the appointment of Park Jeong-tae, former manager of the Lotte Giants' second division, as the head coach of the Futures team.
"Before the appointment of Future's head coach, we set the top priority for professional ability to establish a leadership image that matches the direction of the club's development and to instill professional consciousness such as basic skills, mentality, mental, physical strength, and education, as well as to provide fostering solutions according to the characteristics of each player," the club said at the time. "We expect Futures coach Park Jung-tae to present development solutions for each player based on his high understanding of the players and instill a culture of determination and persistence in the team."
Coach Park Jung-tae also said, "I am deeply grateful to the team for giving me the opportunity. I will quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of each player and help them grow customized players. I will contribute to nurturing future players along with coaches and front-runners so that they can combine basic skills and desire to win as well as wisdom to play baseball that suits their situation."
The opening ceremony and uniform presentation for the 2013 World Baseball Classic Korean national team were held at the Renaissance Hotel in Seoul on Saturday afternoon. Korean national team coach Park Jung-tae poses at the opening ceremony. Sports Chosun DB
The "Park Jung-tae Futures" did not last long. Coach Park voluntarily resigned on the 24th. His drunk driving history has been hampered.
Director Park was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, three years of probation, two years of probation, and 160 hours of community service in January 2019 for interfering with the driving of a city bus driver while drunk. At that time, it was revealed that director Park had a total of three drunk driving punishments.
In January 2019, Park was not disciplined because he was a wildebeest who was not a member of the KBO League. However, controversy arose over the application of the "drunk driving strikeout system."
Negative public opinion began to grow, and coach Park eventually decided to voluntarily resign.
Coach Park told the club, "I heard the voices of concern from fans and baseball officials after the appointment. I thought there was still some room for improvement, and I don't want to cause any concern to the fans and the club over this issue. I will consider the role I can play to develop the KBO League in the future with a low attitude," expressing his willingness to resign.
When Park's voluntary resignation left the position of the Futures head coach vacant, the SSG club moved quickly once again. As the spring camp had already begun, it was not easy to contact other club coaches and coaches.
Commentator Park Jung-kwon was also known as one of the candidates when Park Jung-tae was appointed. Park, who is not currently affiliated with another club and is well-versed in SSG's internal affairs, suggested the position of Futures coach, and the final decision was made.
The new Futures manager under the Big regime is Incheon Baseball's one-club man. Since joining the SK Wyverns (current SSG Landers) in 2004, he has played in a total of 1,308 games until 2019, posting a batting average of 273, 174 homers, 679 RBIs and 611 runs scored (OPS) of 0.807.
More than anything, he showed strong performance in the postseason, earning him the nickname "Autumn Man" and "Mr. Oktober." His overall postseason performance was with a batting average of 296 with 11 homers and 40 RBIs in 62 games. He led the team to three wins, and he was named the MVP of the Korean Series in 2009.
Retired after finishing the 2019 season, he served as a coach for the second division and assistant coach for the first division until 2023. Playing only for SK-SSG and becoming a "symbol of Incheon baseball," he briefly left the team as a commentator after the 2023 season. However, he will wear the SSG uniform again in a year after he was appointed as the head coach of the Futures League.