Lotte Giants fans protest in Jamsil as slump continues
Lotte Giants fans staged a protest outside Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, southern Seoul on Wednesday, calling on the company to invest in improving the Lotte Giants just days after the Busan club suffered the biggest loss in KBO history.
About 50 Lotte Giants fans paid for a truck to be parked outside Lotte World Tower and the Lotte Department Store in Jamsil, carrying a digital signboard that scrolled through a series of messages calling on Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin to invest in improving the club.
Slogans such as "Don't force Lotte fans to cheer for incompetent athletes" and "Lotte collapses in the middle of Lee Dae-ho's last dance" appeared on the screen throughout the day.
The protest comes just three days after the Giants on Sunday suffered the single worst loss in Korean baseball history, dropping a game against the Kia Tigers 23-0 at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan.
The Giants lost the two preceding games of the series against the Tigers and dropped their game against the Doosan bears 6-1 on Tuesday at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, leaving the team with four straight losses to kick off the second half of the season following the All-Star break.
Lotte are set to continue their series against the Doosan Bears as of press time Wednesday. Thursday's game is supposed to be a particularly important one for the Giants as it is the official Doosan stop on the Lee Dae-ho retirement tour. Lee, a hugely popular Lotte franchise star, retires this year at 40.
Lee had hoped to end his career with some playoff action, but with the Giants now sitting in sixth place, seven games behind the fifth-place Tigers, the chance of reaching the postseason is increasingly slim.
BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)