Lotte Giants held a memorial event to honor the late Choi Dong-won, the number 11 iron arm.

Lotte held the ‘Choi Dong-won Memorial Day’ event ahead of the NC Dinos game in the ‘2023 Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League’ held at Sajik Stadium on the 12th. In attendance were Choi Dong-won’s mother Kim Jeong-ja, Lotte acting manager Lee Jong-woon, captain Ahn Chi-hong, and general manager Sung Min-gyu.메이저놀이터

The event began with a wreath-laying ceremony in front of the Choi Dong-won statue at Sajik Stadium Square at 3:40 p.m. In addition, starting with the story of Lotte’s first manager Park Young-gil (who personally scouted Choi Dong-won to Lotte in 1982), invited by the Choi Dong-won Memorial Society, a fan signing event was held with legendary pitchers Yeom Jong-seok and Joo Hyung-kwang.

Just before the game, a memorial video was shown on the electronic display board, and the players and spectators took a moment of silence together. In addition, the Lotte team wore a memorial patch with Choi Dong-won’s uniform number 11 and silhouette from his time as a player on their uniforms.

Choi Dong-won is Lotte’s first team legend to have his number retired. In 1984, he led the team to its first Korean Series championship by winning 4 wins alone in the 7-game, 4-win Korean Series. His career records are 248 games (81 complete pitches), 103 wins, 74 losses, 26 saves, 1,414 ⅔ innings, and an ERA of 2.46. He was selected as the person with the most votes along with Sun Dong-yeol, Lee Jong-beom, and Lee Seung-yeop in the ‘Legend 40’ for the 40th anniversary of the KBO League, which was released last year.

Lotte has been holding Choi Dong-won Memorial Day since 2012. This year marks the 11th anniversary, excluding the 5th anniversary of 2016, when there was no home game and a memorial event was held hosted by the Memorial Association.

Acting coach Lee said before the game, “(Choi Dong-won) was our senior and a great player. I think the event itself will have something special in the players’ hearts,” and pledged to win.