Lee Dae-ho watched the 2023 Nippon Professional Baseball Softbank Hawks vs. Chiba Lotte Marines head-to-head match held at PayPay Dome in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan on the 27th (hereinafter Korean time). Softbank won the game 6-5 with a hit to end the game in the 12th inning of overtime.
Lee Dae-ho left a huge impact while playing for Softbank from 2014 to 2015 during his active career. Lee Dae-ho played in 144 games in the 2014 season, recording 170 hits, 19 home runs, 68 RBIs, and 60 runs, a batting average of 0.300 and 0.816 OPS, contributing greatly to Softbank’s victory in the Japan Series. And it is safe to say that the 2015 season was literally the ‘Year of Lee Dae-ho’.
In 141 regular season games,토토사이트 Lee Dae-ho wielded 144 hits, 31 homers, 98 RBIs, 68 runs, and a batting average of 0.282 OPS of 0.892. And in the Japan Series against the Yakult Swallows, he replaced Seiichi Uchikawa, who suffered a rib fracture, as the fourth hitter, and showed off his ‘one-man show’ performance with 8 hits in 16 at-bats and 2 home runs in 5 games. And, as of the Japanese Series that ended in Game 5, he scored the most RBIs, tying 8 RBIs, and won the Japan Series MVP title for the first time as a Korean player.
After the 2015 season, Lee Dae-ho signed a contract with the Seattle Mariners of the major leagues and stopped playing for Softbank. However, Softbank did not forget Lee Dae-ho and invited Dae-ho Lee to celebrate the club’s 85th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the opening of PayPay Dome. On the 28th, Lee Dae-ho pitched the ‘ceremonial first pitch’ before Softbank and Chiba Lotte faced each other.
Lee Dae-ho, who visited Fukuoka prior to the ‘Ceremonial Throw’ event, had time to reunite with his former colleagues on the 27th. At the news of Lee Dae-ho’s visit to the PayPay Dome, Softbank’s “superstars” rallied. Lee Dae-ho was welcomed by Yuito Mori, who has a career record of 24 wins, 24 losses, 105 holds, and 127 saves, former manager Koji Akiyama, who served as the command tower in the first season Lee Dae-ho joined Softbank, and Yuya Hasegawa, the first-team hitting coach who played together as a player in the past. .
Among the many people, the one who welcomed Lee Dae-ho the most was Yanagita Yuki, who has the nickname of ‘strike master’. Yanagita participated in 1296 games in his career, recording 1425 hits, 246 home runs and 159 stolen bases with a batting average of 0.315. He is especially well known as a player whom Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom Heroes) considers as a role model.
Yanagita revealed his unusual father by leaving a video letter at the All-Star Game, where Lee Dae-ho’s retirement tour began in earnest last year. When Lee Dae-ho appeared on the ground prior to the match, Yanagita rushed forward and bowed at 90 degrees to greet the ‘Chosun’s number 4 hitter’. Lee Dae-ho also expressed his delight by holding Yanagita’s hand.
Lee Dae-ho and Yanagita hadn’t met in a very long time, but there was no awkwardness at all. When Lee Dae-ho saw Yanagita’s long hair with her hat off, he joked, “Why is your hair styled like this?” Then, Yanagita responded with a smile, saying “Korean style!” After greeting Lee Dae-ho, Yanagita moved his stretching place to Lee Dae-ho, and while warming up, he continued to chat with Lee Dae-ho.
Did Lee Dae-ho’s cheering on this day be his strength? Yanagita started as right fielder and batsman number 4, hit left field in the first at-bat, and got a hit toward right field in the second at-bat, then hit home with Kawase Hikaru’s timely hit. After that, in the third at-bat in the fifth inning, he failed to produce a hit, but after reaching base with a grounder from second baseman, he homered on Taisei Makihara’s home run.
Yanagita did not produce a hit afterwards, but led Softbank to a come-from-behind victory with a finishing hit against Yusuke Azuma in the bottom of the 12th inning, with one out on first and third base, with a score of 5-5. Yanagita, who received a lot of energy from Lee Dae-ho, fluttered.