"Why is it only held in Seoul?"
NC Dinos captain Park Min-woo (32) demanded that the professional baseball media day be held in local areas. The media day is an event where the managers and representatives of the 10 teams participate to share their aspirations and goals for the season ahead of the opening. It is also a stage for reporters and fans to enhance the ambiance of the professional baseball opening. The event has been held since the mid-2000s and has only taken place in Seoul historically.
Park Min-woo became the hero in the second opening game against the KIA Tigers held on 4th at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in 2025. He hit a decisive two-run triple against Yang Hyun-jong in the tightly contested 4th inning, tied at 2-2. The team won 5-4, and he became the player of the game. He led the team to its first opening win as captain and gifted the new head coach Lee Ho-jun a valuable first win.
Immediately after, during an interview with reporters, he talked about his condition and brought up the media day. "Former teammate Jang Jae-ho also mentioned it, but I don’t understand why the media day has to be held only in Seoul. The All-Star Game rotates between local areas. Next time, the media day should also rotate between Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, and Changwon," he stated in a strong tone.
He added, "It was held two days before the opening. I couldn’t practice on Thursday because I was going back and forth between Seoul and Changwon. Please have some consideration for the local teams. I hope you listen to the players as well. That day, I went to Seoul and then came down to Changwon, and the next day I came to Gwangju for the opening game. We have a long travel distance, so please consider our convenience."
Koo Ja-wook also expressed a desire for the media day to be held earlier. "I regret that the media day is held two days before the opening. For local teams, the round trip takes about 8 to 9 hours. Since it affects condition management, I believe consideration for local teams is necessary," he said. KIA captain Na Sung-bum also suggested the idea of a rotating local event. "I would like to see the media day held in local areas as well. If given the chance, it wouldn’t be bad to hold it while rotating between local areas," he said. In reality, players from Lotte, NC, and KIA who participate in the media day have long travel times and cannot train at all. This means they are losing one of the most critical days for managing their condition ahead of the opening. Attention is being drawn to whether the players’ repeated demands for a rotating media day will become a reality.
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