As Lunar New Year falls on January 1st of the lunar calendar, the Year of the Dragon in 2024 has fully dawned. Who will be the baseball player who will receive the energy of the dragon in the new year?

Currently, there are Dragon baseball players who are active in the baseball world, born in 1964, 1976, 1988, and 2000. They are actively working across the industry and contributing to its development.

Among baseball players born in 1964, Cho Gye-hyun, chairman of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Power Strengthening Committee, stands out. Chairman Cho, who served as general manager of the KIA Tigers until 2021, was appointed as the first chairman of the Power Enhancement Committee, which the KBO reorganized the existing technical committee in April last year. Starting with the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, he prepared player selection and national team development plans for the 2023 Asian Professional Baseball Championship (APBC).

The list of 'Team Korea' that will face the Major League Baseball (MLB) San Diego Padres and LA Dodgers in March was also prepared by the Strengthening Committee. In this game, young players were selected as the main players with a mid- to long-term perspective. Chairman Cho said in a phone call with Star News, "The composition of this 'Team Korea' squad was calculated by looking at the WBC in 2026 and the LA Olympics in 2028 and calculating age. The players who are currently 22 to 25 years old will reach their peak skills by then. “It can be seen as a mid- to long-term plan to build a competitive national team by gaining experience like that,” he said.

Those born in 1976 include the two first-team head coaches, Doosan Bears coach Lee Seung-yeop and Samsung Lions coach Park Jin-man. The two coaches are former star players who were selected for various national teams during their playing days and worked hard to promote national prestige. Coach Lee distanced himself from the professional ranks after retiring as a player in 2017, but was surprisingly appointed as Doosan's head coach ahead of last season. Coach Park, who began his career as a coach in 2016, served as acting coach after then-coach Heo Sam-young resigned in 2022, and also became the official coach ahead of the 2023 season.

Coach Lee, who entered the fall baseball season by finishing 5th in his first year in office, entered the 2024 season without a major loss of power as the club captured both internal free agents Yang Seok-hwan and Hong Geon-hee. Coach Park, who finished the season in 8th place last year, recruited external free agents Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min, and renewed a contract with internal resource Oh Seung-hwan, playing strong baseball through the back door.

In addition, hitting coach Lee Ho-jun, who played a supporting role in last year's LG Twins championship, and Doosan Bears' defensive coach Cho Seong-hwan were also born in 1976.

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