The 12th anniversary memorial event for the late Choi Dong-won (former Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions), who passed away in 2011, will be held in front of the statue of Choi Dong-won at Sajik Stadium. The Choi Dong-won Memorial Business Association (hereinafter referred to as the business association) announced on the 8th that it will hold the memorial event under the theme, “It has already been 12 years since the hero left.
This year’s event will also be meaningful. With the cooperation of the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education and Lotte, 300 elementary school students and elite baseball dreamers will be invited to attend a special lecture, and a group viewing of the Lotte-NC Dinos game at Sajik Stadium will also be held on the day of the event.
In addition, former Lotte manager Park Young-gil, who was in charge of Lotte in 1982, the first year of the KBO League, and personally scouted Choi Dong-won after the season ended that year, will also be present.
“Park is a living testament to Korean baseball,” the business association said, “and he will talk about Choi Dong-won, as well as tell the youth players about the character and attitude they should have as baseball players.” Park will be a lecturer at a special lecture organized by the business association.
Choi Dong-won’s teammates, Yeom Jong-seok and Joo Hyung-kwang, who were part of Lotte’s 1992 Korean Series victory, will also be at the event. They will also sign autographs for fans.
Also attending the memorial event will be Choi Dong-won’s mother, Mrs. Kim Jung-ja, as well as baseball players from the Choi Dong-won Youth Baseball Team, Yangjeong, Suyeong, East Central, and Gamcheon elementary schools, as well as undergraduate students. All of them are invited by Lotte to watch the NC and home games for free that day.
The business association erected a 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, which is presented annually to the baseball player who performed the most outstandingly that year. This year marks the 10th edition.
Since 2015, the bank has operated the Choi Dong-won Youth Baseball Team, and since 2018, it has awarded the ‘Daesae High School Choi Dong-won Award’ and the ‘Choi Dong-won Indomitable Hero Award’ for the development of amateur baseball.
Choi was one of the league’s leading pitchers in the early days of professional baseball. He was part of Lotte’s 1984 Korean Series victory, and his four wins in that series are still a record that will never be broken.
He attended Gyeongnam High School and Yonsei University before making his KBO debut in 1983 in a Lotte uniform. He retired after the 1990 season with Samsung, finishing his career with a 103-74 record, 26 saves, and a 2.46 ERA in 248 games and 1414.2 innings pitched.토토사이트
After his retirement, he served as the first and second team pitching coach for the Hanwha Eagles and was the head coach of the Future Team. He also served as a baseball commentator for SBS, Busan MBC, and KBS N Sports, and was a member of the KBO game management committee. He passed away on September 14, 2011, after battling colon cancer. Lotte became the first club to permanently retire Choi Dong-won’s number 11.