Professional baseball fans, of course, but also players, managers, coaching staff, front office, and those who live on and off the field…
And I have a story to tell everyone involved in the professional sports business.

For the first time in Korean professional sports and professional baseball, an essay written by a scout is being published.
The book, "Scout - Everything in Professional Baseball Starts with Scouting," is a story about the professional baseball ecosystem that Jin Sang-bong, a scout for SSG Landers who is soon to retire, has seen, heard, and felt over the course of his 25 years of front office experience and 35 years of professional baseball experience.
Jin Sang-bong, a scout, is a baseball player who has been active in the Korea Professional Baseball (KBO) league for about 35 years, and began his professional career by joining the Binggrae Eagles (now Hanwha Eagles) in 1990.
Although he did not stand out as an active player, after retirement, he worked in the field as a trainer and performance analysis coach before moving to the front office and finding his calling as a scout.
He humbly says that he was simply given a job and that the job naturally followed him, but it cannot be said that his life as a scout for nearly a quarter of a century was not a calling.

He started his career as a scout at the front office of SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) when the team was founded, and worked until July 2025, taking charge of scouting, operations, and development.
During this period, he is credited with drafting and developing a string of significant players who will remain in the club's history, contributing significantly to the team's five Korean Series championships. Excluding the three founding members of professional baseball—KIA (formerly Haitai), Samsung, and Doosan (formerly OB)—the SSG Landers are a powerhouse with the most championships.
As it is a club with a relatively short history, having been founded in 2000, it can be seen as the team that has won the most championships in the shortest amount of time based on the period of activity in the KBO League.
In particular, it is a team that created a brilliant dynasty from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, including advancing to the Korean Series for six consecutive years from 2007 to 2012 and winning three championships.


Most of the key players who played a pivotal role in the team during this glorious era, as well as those who represented the team for a total of 25 years in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, were recruited through the eyes of scout Jin Sang-bong.
Representative players include Kim Kwang-hyun, Choi Jeong, Kim Kang-min, Yoon Hee-sang, Jeong Keun-woo, Chae Byeong-yong, Jeong Woo-ram, Yoon Gil-hyun, Park Jae-sang, Park Hee-soo, and Kim Seong-hyeon. Foreign players such as Merrill Kelly, who returned to the major leagues based on his performance in Korea and became the protagonist of the KBO reverse export success story, as well as Jamie Romak, Angel Sanchez, and Wilmer Font were caught on his radar and set foot on Korean soil.
He wrote the book in the hope that baseball fan readers could enjoy the fun of professional baseball in a more diverse and deeper way.
Of course, before that, I also had a strong desire to make a small contribution to the development of Korean professional baseball by sharing my know-how and insights with my senior and junior colleagues in the baseball world, including players, managers, coaching staff, and front office.
Above all, he devoted a lot of space to recruiting foreign players and shared his experiences.

He shared and expressed his thoughts and experiences without reservation about which players are more likely to succeed in the Korean professional baseball league and which players are more likely to fail, and he also described in detail the factors he considers important in addition to skill.
It also details what to focus on when recruiting promising rookies or negotiating with big-name players who have acquired free agency from their team or other teams.

It is full of episodes and behind-the-scenes stories that professional baseball fans will find interesting to read in many ways.
And for those who want to learn more about the Korean professional sports business, not just professional baseball, and who hope to enter this world and build a career in the future, it will be able to provide information and knowledge that goes beyond entertainment.
This will be an interesting and practical book that will increase your understanding of professional baseball in general.


The two SSG Landers franchise stars who have worked with the author for a long time also gave the readers the following recommendations.
First, player Kim Gwang-hyun said, "This book contains the knowledge and information that the author has accumulated over a long period of time.
He said, "I believe that baseball fans who read this book will gain useful information about professional baseball."
Choi Jeong said, "This book contains various stories hidden behind the bright spotlight of the baseball field.
He added a comment, "Fans will also be able to feel the charm and value of baseball from a new perspective through the book."
Readers will also be able to easily understand the meaning contained in the recommendations of the two players.

The decision to release a player is made by comprehensively considering the opinions of the coaching staff, but ultimately, the club decides whether or not to give the player more opportunities.
Players who are considered candidates for release are usually those who have been unable to play normally for a long time due to injury, and those who have been in the minor leagues for most of their careers despite having been given some opportunities due to their seniority.
Although not common, players who are perceived as having a negative impact on the team may be included regardless of skill level or age.
In a broad sense, when it is determined that a player has lost all his value as a player, he is put on the list of candidates for release, but a decision is not made right away. Instead, he is closely observed for several months.
To avoid unfairly disappointing players, we carefully review, confirm, and verify the results through a series of procedures before making a decision.
--- From "Always Heartbreaking Selection of Released Players"

Directors who are born with a stroke of luck overcome these crises like a shaman with a spear and establish themselves.
In this world, directors who fail to do so are quickly branded as lacking in ability and sadly step down from the stage.
My questions continue and the questions and answers I exchange with myself continue.
Can a rookie manager lead his team to victory solely be attributed to exceptional coaching ability? Commonly, there are three types of managers: brave, fierce, virtuous, and fearsome, but the most fearsome is said to be the lucky one.
I don't have the skills to handle that 'luck'.
The outfit, born with the spirit of victory, cannot help but give off the feeling that the ghosts ahead of us are sweeping away all the crises along the way.
--- From "The Shackles of a Professional Baseball Manager"

No one can predict how much the value of free agent players will rise in the future.
A club that longs for the championship could either pay a huge sum to bring him in, or they could jump into the market as a risky move, hoping to bolster their roster among the top five teams eliminated each year.
If such phenomena overlap and demand expands, the price could rise exponentially.
The reason why it is difficult to predict the market itself is that if an economic recession hits and the parent companies face a financial crisis, they will have to withdraw from the FA market, and if there is no demand in the market economy, it will naturally lead to deflation.
Even during his playing career, he had a very lucky year in which he achieved great results in both his team and personal performance during the season in which he became a free agent, but unfortunately, the global economy crashed and the free agent market itself could cool down.
How could a player or a club predict something like this in advance?
--- From the "Project to Keep FA Players Affiliated"

The player I wanted to observe was right-handed pitcher Campos, the ace of a team called Campeche.
As I was about to leave for Mexico to see the player, I got a call from an agent who seemed to be a broker.
'Don't touch this player.
Do not enter Mexico.
The warning was, 'If you come into contact with this player without my permission, I will kill you without anyone knowing.'
No, it was a death threat itself.
I was both shocked and dumbfounded, and I couldn't understand what was going on. He just kept repeating the same threatening words.
I was just going to test a baseball player's skills, but my life could be in danger?! The more I thought about it, the more absurd and disheartened I became.
The worries didn't last long.
I immediately took a flight to Mexico and headed through Yucatan to Campeche, where the games were being held.
But something still left me feeling uneasy.
To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, I contacted the Mexican consulate first and then went to the baseball stadium.

--- From "A Risky Visit to Mexico"