The 12th anniversary memorial event for the late Choi Dong-won (former Lotte Giants, Samsung Lions), who passed away in 2011, will be held in front of the Choi Dong-won statue at Sajik Stadium on the 12th. The Choi Dong-won Memorial Association (hereinafter referred to as the Association) announced on the 8th that it would hold a memorial event under the theme, ‘It has already been 12 years since the hero left.’메이저놀이터

This year’s event will also feature meaningful events. With the cooperation of the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education and the Lotte Club, we prepared a special lecture by inviting 300 elementary school youth and aspiring elite baseball players, and we also plan to hold a group viewing of the Lotte vs. NC Dinos game held at Sajik Stadium on the day of the event.

In addition, former coach Park Young-gil, who took over as Lotte’s head coach in 1982, the first year of the KBO League’s launch, and personally scouted Choi Dong-won after the end of the season that year, will also be present on this day.

The business association said, “Former coach Park is a living witness to Korean baseball,” and added, “Along with stories about Choi Dong-won, we will also spend time listening to youth players talk about the character and attitude that a baseball player should have.” Former director Park will appear as a lecturer in a special lecture prepared by the business association.

Choi Dong-won’s team juniors Yeom Jong-seok and Joo Hyung-kwang, who are considered key players in Lotte’s 1992 Korean Series victory, will also visit the event venue on this day. Yeom Jong-seok and Joo Hyung-kwang also attend the fan signing event.

In addition, about 400 people, including Choi Dong-won’s mother, Kim Jeong-ja, Choi Dong-won’s youth baseball team, Yangjeong, Suyeong, Dongil Joongang, and Gamcheon elementary school baseball players and parents, will attend the memorial event. All of them are invited by the Lotte team to watch the home game against NC that day for free.

The business association erected a bronze statue of Choi Dong-won at the second anniversary memorial ceremony in 2013, and established the ‘BNK Busan Bank Choi Dong-won Award’ in 2014, awarding it annually to the professional baseball player who performed the most outstandingly that year. This year marks the 10th anniversary.

Since 2015, we have been operating the Choi Dong-won Youth Baseball Team, and since 2018, we have been awarding the ‘Daesun High School Choi Dong-won Award’ for the development of amateur baseball, and since 2020, the ‘Choi Dong-won Indomitable Hero Award’.

The 2023 KBO League All-Star Game was held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the afternoon of the 15th, and the Nanum All-Star team won 8-4. Mrs. Kim Jeong-ja, mother of the late Choi Dong-won, is receiving the coach award from Kiwoom Heroes coach Hong Won-ki. [Photo = Reporter Jeong So-hee]

Choi Dong-won was one of the league’s leading pitchers in the early days of professional baseball. He played a leading role in Lotte’s Korean Series win in 1984, and his four wins in the series at the time are considered a record that will not be broken in the future.

He graduated from Gyeongnam High School and Yonsei University and made his KBO League debut wearing a Lotte uniform in 1983. He retired at the end of the 1990 season with Samsung and appeared in 248 games in his personal career, pitching 1,414.2 innings, leaving a record of 103 wins, 74 losses, 26 saves, and an ERA of 2.46.

After his retirement, he served as the first and second team pitching coach for the Hanwha Eagles and also served as the manager of the Future Team. He also served as a baseball commentator for SBS, Busan MBC, and KBS N Sports, and also served as a KBO game operations committee member. He passed away on September 14, 2011 while fighting colon cancer. Lotte was the first club to permanently retire Choi Dong-won’s number 11.