"Since the day I decided to go to the U.S., the moment I dreamed of every night has become a reality. I will go for even greater challenges in the future."메이저사이트

A player who was released by a Korean professional baseball team is enjoying the second chapter of his baseball career in the U.S., the birthplace of baseball. Former Lotte Giants outfielder Heo Il (33) is the main character. He will be appointed as a coach for a minor league team under the Cleveland Guardians in the U.S. from the new season to help players advance to the big leagues.

Hur Il, who disappeared from the Korean ground after being released by Lotte in 2020, recently announced his contract to coach a minor league team through social media. "Thankfully, I joined Cleveland as a minor hitting coach," he said. "I'm going to start a new journey with the mindset that it's just the beginning."

Huril, who joined Lotte as the 12th overall pick in the second round of the second rookie draft in 2011, played only in Lotte until November 2020, when he was released, but spent seven years in the second division after failing to take advantage of his chances in two games he started in his first year.

In the middle of the 2018 season, he came up to the first team and scored his first professional hit in August of that year, and the following year, he started playing in the first team and showed good performance, but 2020 was the last time he accompanied Lotte. He, who had no place in Korea, sought to enter the Australian stage, but was canceled because the Australian government did not give him permission to enter the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic just before signing the contract.

Unable to continue his career as a player anymore, Heo Il recalled his path as a leader. "I thought a career that failed to succeed as a professional could be more helpful to my coaching career," he said on Lee Dae-ho's YouTube channel in February last year. "I had a dream to become a leader in U.S. baseball, which was not a challenge when I was in high school."

With the introduction of current Minnesota Twins bench coach Hank Conger, who worked as a player and coach at Lotte, Heo Il, who found a job as a "training assistant" for the U.S. high school baseball team in 2021, broke down the barriers of communication by reducing his sleep to four hours a day and focusing on studying English. Soon after, Azusa Pacific University of California, which highly valued Heo Il's leadership, recruited him as its chief hitting coach and defensive coach.

After five years since his release, Hoyle has successfully signed a minor coaching contract and is now looking higher. "Everyone might think, 'Is he out of his mind?' but my dream is to wear a World Series ring and go to the White House and have a meal with the president of the United States."