KBO's Hanwha Eagles name ex-nat'l team skipper Ryu Ji-hyun as new manager
The Hanwha Eagles on Tuesday named former national team boss Ryu Ji-hyun as their new manager. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club gave Ryu, 55, a three-year contract worth 2 billion won ($1.48 million), saying he was the right person to develop the Eagles into a "sustainable contender." This year, Ryu led Korea to the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic in March and then to the gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September — the country's fifth consecutive Asiad title. Ryu's previous KBO managerial stint came with the LG Twins from 2021 to 2022. On his watch, the Twins went 159-113-16 (wins-losses-ties) in the regular season, the best record in the KBO over those two years. However, they failed to mount a deep postseason run, getting knocked out of the first round in 2021 and then the second round in 2022. The Eagles decided over the weekend not to bring back manager Kim Kyung-moon after his three-year deal expired. They went to the Korean Series last year, their first trip to the championship series since 2006, but lost to the Twins in five games. This year, h
