Emotional goodbye to Daegu Baseball Stadium

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Emotional goodbye to Daegu Baseball Stadium

On Friday, the Daegu Baseball Stadium was packed with fans to watch the game between the Samsung Lions and KT Wiz. As well as the game, fans wanted to mark the last KBO game that the Lions will be playing at the Daegu Baseball Stadium, which had been their home ground since 1982.

The Lions move to Samsung Lions Park next year, which is under construction in Suseong District, southeastern Daegu.

Playing their last home game at the stadium was a special event. While many legendary players appeared to support the team, Yang Joon-hyuk featured as the ceremonial hitter with ceremonial pitcher Park Choong-sik and ceremonial catcher Lee Man-soo.

For the game, the Lions thought they would have an easy win against the league worst Wiz, but it ended with a dramatic win after a wild pitch from the Wiz’s Cho Moo-keun in the 10th inning allowed Choi Min-koo to score the winning run.

At the Daegu Baseball Stadium, the Lions played a total of 2,066 games and collected 1,192 wins, 835 losses and 39 draws.

After the game, a video showing memories from the Lions’ 34 years at the stadium was shown in the stadium as part of other farewell celebrations.

The Daegu Baseball Stadium is the nation’s oldest baseball stadium, having first opened in 1948. But gradually, its age became a problem. In 2006, the stadium received a collapse warning from local authorities, which forced the installation of H-beam buttresses. In 2011, the lights went out during a game and forced it to be postponed.

The Lions’ new home is expected to be completed in February. Samsung Group and Daegu are investing 166.6 billion won ($142.2 million) to build the 24,000-seat stadium.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]
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