“It’s too hard. I hit 800 today.”
Park Yong-taek (45) turned the bat again and again. The number of times he let out a sigh increased. Hard training was repeated. Even so, he couldn’t even show a hard expression. This is because coach Kim Seong-geun (81) was watching with scary eyes from right behind the batting cage.
Park Yong-taek complained, “I feel like I have blisters on my palms. If I train like this every day, I can never do it.”
After all the training, he couldn’t even properly hold the bat and gloves lying on the floor. He worried, “I have to get up tomorrow morning, but I don’t know if I can straighten my back properly. I have a lot of schedules tomorrow, so it’s a big deal.”
Jeong Geun-woo (41), who trained for an hour and a half prior to Park Yong-taek, said, “Because it’s entertainment, I expected that it would be a little different from when coach Seong-geun Kim was in charge of the professional command tower. But it’s not at all. The coach’s character hasn’t changed.” Explained.
Park Yong-taek and Jung Geun-woo, who represent the KBO League, were active as original members of JTBC’s ‘Strongest Baseball’. Jeong Geun-woo said, “I am very proud to have participated in ‘The Strongest Baseball’. Even players who unfortunately retired or left the ground without being able to properly say goodbye got a new opportunity (in this program). I really like this program that moves me.” “I want to send hope and support to fans in their 40s and 50s saying, ‘We can do it too. We are living hard,'” he said.
– The training intensity is enormous.
Park Yong-taek (hereinafter referred to as Park) =”I got blisters on my palms. I trained like this when I was in my 20s, but nothing happened when I was in my 30s. If I train like this every day, I can never do it.”
Jeong Geun-woo (hereafter referred to as Jeong) = “The coach comes almost every day and he guides so passionately that it can’t be said that it is difficult. He trains seriously like he did when he was a player.”
-What is the charm of ‘The Strongest Baseball’?
Park: At the first meeting, PD Jang Si-won said, ‘If we fail to achieve a 70% win rate, the program will be abolished.’ The expression and atmosphere of the players, who expected the level of participation in baseball as a member of society, changed completely. Everyone thought to the production team, ‘Don’t play around’, ‘I don’t intend to make this program long’. I got goosebumps and felt strange.”
Jeong: “I would have been so embarrassed if I lost the first game with Deoksu High School. Since then, no player has been able to do it. It’s a variety show, but it feels like a documentary (laughs). It’s fun to be able to do it with such enthusiasm even after retirement.”
Park: “Even professional players lose their senses after three days of rest. Even as amateur players, I thought it would be unreasonable for us, as retired players, to face each other. But don’t you have pride? Your head says, ‘I can’t win,’ but my heart says, ‘I can do it. ‘ he shouted (laughs).”
Jeong: “Although we are all getting older, we wanted to show that ‘we are not dead.’ We wanted to send a message of hope and support to fans in their 40s and 50s who have nostalgia for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, ‘We can do it too. We are working hard’. We work harder to send.”
-What is the difference between directors Lee Seung-yeop and Kim Seong-geun?
Park = (Lee) Seung-yeop hyung always had the entertainment element in mind. Director Kim Seong-geun has none of that. There are already many players who complain that it is ‘too hard’. Coach Lee Seung-yeop turned the rotation in a relaxed situation, but coach Kim is the one who says, ‘We have to win a cold game’ even with a 9-point lead (laughs). 토토사이트
” have leadership skills. It creates an atmosphere of splendor. Director Kim Seong-geun is like a captain. If you shout out to go this way, you must follow it unconditionally. The influence and leadership are amazing.”
Park: “Coach Kim Seong-geun keeps his practice attitude and training time in his head. He is always serious about baseball.
Jeong: This is already the third meeting with the director (after SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles). I expected it to be a little different this time because it was an entertainment show. It was a misjudgment. There are only three players who have been guided by the coach: me, Yongtaek hyung, and (Shim) Soochang hyung. I wonder why everyone will realize why I was lying on the ground with my uniform covered in dirt when I was a player.”