Baseball teams prep for new season

[Anchor]

The ten professional baseball teams that have awakened from their winter slumber have begun preparations for the new season.

Samsung and Hanwha were the first to depart for their training camps, and particularly, the determination of new players like Choi Won-tae and Um Sang-back for the upcoming season was intense.

Reporter Heo Sol-ji has the story.

[Report]

In the early dawn, when darkness still lingers.

The Samsung team, led by their blue bags, enters the airport.

At the request of manager Park Jin-man, Samsung has started their camp in Guam for the first time in eight years since 2017.

They poured 15 tons of dirt onto the local practice field to repair the ground and even built a new bullpen training area.

Pitcher Choi Won-tae, who was acquired for 7 billion won to make up for last year's runner-up disappointment, also expressed his determination as a Samsung player.

[Choi Won-tae/Samsung: "I think it will be important to throw to the desired spots, and since the baseball field is small, I need to practice throwing the ball low a lot. (What color is your blood?) It's blue blood!"]

At a similar time, at another terminal, the Hanwha team was busy.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who is going abroad for domestic training for the first time in 13 years, and Roh Si-hwan, who has lost over 10 kg, also expressed their determination for the new season, but the tension was highest for new player Um Sang-back.

Not only in a new uniform but also in a new baseball field, especially with an 8-meter high fence being built in right field, Um is confident about making it to the fall baseball.

[Um Sang-back/Hanwha: "(Senior Ryu Hyun-jin) shook my hand a bit firmly while saying to take care of things... This year, regardless of the height of the fence, I will do my best to avoid giving up home runs."]

The defending champion KIA also sent some of their players, including manager Lee Beom-ho, to the first training camp in the United States, and tomorrow (1.23), LG, SSG, and Kiwoom will depart for the U.S.

After a short winter slumber, professional baseball is stretching for spring, and next month, six teams including KIA, LG, KT, SSG, Lotte, and Hanwha will gather in Okinawa, Japan, to hold practice games in the 'Okinawa Mini League'.

This is KBS News, Heo Sol-ji.