KIA confirmed its regular season win in the 2024 KBO League on the 17th. KIA lost 0-2 to SSG in the KBO League regular season away game at SSG Landers Field in Incheon, but at the same time, Samsung lost to Doosan in the Samsung-Doosan match held in Jamsil, and "Magic Number 1" disappeared to secure the championship.
Hence, Lee Bum-ho, who was named the winning coach alongside Sun Dong-yeol and Ryu Joong-il. Based on the single league standard, only two coaches have led the team to win the regular season title in the first year of its inauguration. They are coach Sun Dong-yeol (2005, Samsung) and manager Ryu Joong-il (2010, Samsung).
He became the second coach to set the record of becoming the youngest coach to win the title. Lee became the winning coach at the age of 42 years, nine months and 23 days, just one month shy of the record of 42 years, eight months and 12 days set by coach Sun Dong-yeol in 2005.
It is also the third time in history that a player and a coach have won the regular season on the same team.
Lee, who has played for KIA since 2011 and retired in 2019, became the head coach who experienced wins as both a player and a manager following Kim Tae-hyung (then Doosan) and Kim Won-hyung (then SSG).
Lee, who was Kia's batting coach until 2023, has become a hot topic of conversation since his inauguration. Ahead of this season, Lee took the helm of Kia, which has been vacant due to allegations of bribery by its former coach Kim Jong-guk.
Lee, who was born in 1981, is the first professional baseball coach born in the 1980s and has opened a new wind in professional baseball.
He led the team by displaying cool-headedness and warmth. He is extremely cold during games, but greets players as an elder brother after games as he did before. He is a fighter with leadership of an elder brother.