A backup player when he was an active player, he started his second baseball career at the bottom of the front desk after retiring in 2000, but after being on a roll as a scout, management team leader, and coach, he became the general manager and helped the SK Wyverns (the predecessor of SSG Landers) win the Korean Series in 2018.
However, as a coach, he failed to reach the ‘best' position. He had a reputation for being a resourceful leader, but he repeatedly suffered at the championship threshold.
He led the Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom Heroes), who are weak in life, to the Korean Series in 2014, but was runner-up to the Samsung Lions, the strongest team of his time, with two wins and four losses. Since then, he has taken the helm of the “defending champion” SK, but he suffered bitterness in 2019 and 2020.
Coach Yeom, who still had a chance to win, prepared for the next opportunity, and received a love call from LG, which had not won for nearly 30 years at the end of last year. And in his first season as a manager, he led LG to the Korean Series after winning the regular season.
He said, “When I signed with LG, I felt quite a lot of pressure. If we fail here again, everything we have built up so far will collapse. “LG was determined to be the last team, so I put everything on the line,” he said. “I've been going through a lot of trials, but this victory has compensated me a little for the bloody efforts of the past 23 years.”
“Our coaching staff and the team filled in what I lacked, making me the winning coach,” he said, adding, “I will be a leader who can help by paying back even a little to everyone who was with me during my time at LG.”
Coach Yeom also waved his hands saying his ball was not big. He said, “LG was already a team that could win the championship. I was like putting a spoon on a well-done table,” he said modestly.
As he said, LG has maintained its top spot by steadily reaching the postseason since 2018. However, it was a team that failed to make the final point every time. However, coach Yeom won the championship, which was so difficult as soon as he took office.
After taking office, Yeom tried to establish LG's own culture. He said, “We paid attention to removing fear and hesitation from the players and allowing them to play LG's own aggressive baseball. “I thought I couldn't win LG if I didn't create such a culture,” he said.
Another emphasis on the squad was the importance of ‘one point'. Coach Yeom said, “I made him feel very heavy about the weight of one point. When they were pushed by one point, they had to be able to turn it over and win, and when they were ahead by one point, they somehow managed to keep it. He explained, “I thought that that would make it possible to win the regular season.”
LG showed a strong performance until the end under coach Yeom. Of the 86 wins (2 draws and 56 losses) in the regular season, 42 wins, more than half of them, were upset wins. As such, the LG team gained confidence to do so, and based on this, they even won the Korean Series.
There was also a crisis. At the beginning of the season, the starting lineup and the bullpen were shaken at the same time, and manager Yeom focused while operating Plan B. And this judgment was right, and LG got stronger by sweeping 16 wins (1 draw and 6 losses) in May of crisis. As both coach Yeom and players overcame this crisis, they gained confidence that they could take the top spot in the regular season.
In other words, the focus on the results turned into a positive trend. Coach Yeom said, “It is said that the result is good when the process is good, but in the world of professionals, a good process is seen through results. “I changed my mind (as a result) because of the failure I experienced at SK, and it gave me a tremendous nourishment to play this season,” he explained.
If the power that overcame the crisis that came in May determined LG's regular season farming, the second game after one loss in the Korean Series was a game that changed its fate.
LG was in a tight spot when starting pitcher Choi Won-tae left the mound with four runs in ⅓ innings, but seven bullpen pitchers followed and blocked the opponent's KT Wiz's attack. And he followed one point each and turned the tide with Park Dong-won's two points in the eighth inning. It was the moment when the flow of the series changed.
Coach Yeom said, “The second game of the Korean Series was a game where we got a lot of things regardless of the victory. LG had an image that the bullpen was strong, but it was more of a question mark whether it would work on the big stage. It's because everyone was young and had little experience. However, the bullpen combined for a come-from-behind victory with eight ⅔ scoreless innings. This gave me a lot of confidence. “I've been able to overwhelm my opponent in the fight against him, and I've got more strategic choices,” he said.
LG, which changed the atmosphere of 13, turned the tables in Game 3, and then turned the tables again with Oh Ji-hwan's three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning. With this victory, the flow completely moved to LG.
Coach Yeom said, “The third game is a game that really doesn't come out once a year. Fans may have enjoyed watching the game, but it was a bloody game for me and the players. It was such a lucky game. But I was able to follow him because he also had a good result in the second game,” he said.
The Korean series, which had a series of dramatic matches, was more exciting than ever. What if we had to continue to play this kind of game in the Korean Series. “It was really hard as a coach, but if I can win again, I think it would be okay to play such a bloody Korean series,” he said with a smile.
After beating KT with four wins and one loss in the Korean Series to lift the trophy, coach Yeom vowed to open the era of the LG dynasty, saying, “I will run next year and the year after next.”
“This year was important, but we won the unified championship, instilling great confidence in the players. It was an opportunity to become stronger mentally, he said. “It's not the end, it's the beginning. LG currently has conditions to become a prestigious club,” he said.
He emphasized the role and harmony of leaders. Head coach Yeom said, “Front doctors, coaching staff, and each leader of the team play their role and have good ideas. LG could become stronger next year if it has a manual and system that connects each leader well. In addition, if the harmony is so good, it can be a team that can steadily advance to the Korean Series for the next 10 years and challenge for the championship, he said.
When asked for an additional explanation, director Yeom's eyes flashed. “One of LG's biggest advantages is that they have a lot of good leaders in the squad. Kim Hyun-soo, Oh Ji-hwan, Park Hae-min, Lim Chan-kyu and Kim Jin-sung are having a positive influence on their juniors. Moon Bo-kyung, Moon Sung-joo, and Hong Chang-ki, who have seen and learned, will again influence young players such as Kim Bum-seok, and players will grow in the process. It is important to establish a culture that is inherited through good leaders. LG is a very visionary team because the system is well equipped, he added.
“The same goes for the director.” When I leave the team, the leader who will take over the system should come from within. That way, the team can move forward with continuity in the long run. Through people-to-people leadership, we must solve the failures while taking advantage of our existing strengths. If that happens, LG will become a prestigious club leading the trend of the KBO league, he said.
