Seoul: Four days after hiring a new manager, the Doosan Bears added the former skipper of a rival team to their coaching staff Friday. The Bears said Hong Won-ki will work as the bench coach, alongside new manager Kim Won-hyong. Hong was the manager of another Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club, the Kiwoom Heroes, from 2021 to July this year, when he was fired with the Heroes mired in last place in the 10-team league.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Hong, 52, managed against Kim in the 2022 Korean Series, when Kim was leading the SSG Landers. The Landers won the series in six games for Kim’s only title as manager. Hong played for the Bears from 1999 to 2005 and won the 2001 Korean Series title with them. “I am overwhelmed to be putting on a Doosan Bears jersey for the first time in 20 years. This is where I enjoyed the best years of my playing career,” Hong said. “Manager Kim and I went head-to-head in the 2022 Korean Series, and now we will begin a new chapter in our relationship. I will try to help hi
m the best I can.”

The Bears have overhauled their staff after missing the postseason for the first time since 2022. In another coaching hiring, the Bears signed their former All-Star shortstop Son Si-hyun as the quality control coach. Son, 45, spent the first nine years of his 15-year playing career with the Bears as a slick-fielding shortstop. The ex-Bears captain previously worked as a coach and a minor league manager for two other KBO clubs, the NC Dinos and the Landers. “I can’t wait to see Bears fans again, but I also feel the weight of responsibility,” Son said. “I will do everything I can to build strong defense and teamwork.”