“Lee Heung-ryeon will complete his professional baseball career and start anew as an analyst at his team’s away team,” SSG said in an official announcement on Wednesday. The reason was chronic shoulder pain. Lee left Yatago-Hongik University and was drafted by the Samsung Lions 47 times in the fifth round of the 2013 rookie draft. During his high school and college years, he had to endure and play throughout his career, and after repeatedly agonizing over his retirement and extension after the end of the 2023 season, he announced his intention to retire to his club in December.
In response, SSG highly appreciated Lee’s understanding of baseball and exemplary and sincere attitude, and suggested an away player, and plans to start front office work in the 2024 season. Lee was famous as a player who boosted his winning spirit during his active career.
He joined Samsung in 2013 and experienced two championships, and in 2014, he played in the Korean Series himself and won his first championship ring. Ahead of the 2017 season, he moved to the Doosan Bears as a compensator for Lee Won-seok (38) and experienced his second Korean Series victory in 2019. In 2020, he transferred to SSG through a 2-2 trade, and though he did not play, SSG reached the top of the Korean Series in 2022. His overall performance was .233 (174 hits in 747 at-bats) with 15 homers, 101 RBIs, 86 runs scored, and a 0.296 slugging percentage. 스포츠토토
“Twenty-five years have passed since I started playing baseball, including 11 years of professional baseball career. I thought that I would not be able to show good performance and competitiveness due to chronic shoulder injury to continue my career as a player. I want to prepare for the second life a little faster. I thank my fans for their support, and I thank my wife and parents for their support. I want to do my best to help the team based on the capabilities I have accumulated so far,” Lee said.