Star chef Son Jong-won will throw the ceremonial first pitch at the season opener.
The professional baseball team SSG Landers said, "Starting with the home opener against the KIA Tigers on the 28th as the starting point for the 2026 season, we will全面expand events for 'fan experience innovation' and 'on-site immersion.' In particular, this season we focused on greatly strengthening the club's representative core events and organically consolidation nongame-day events and SNS communication so that fans can more closely enjoy the Landers' culture," it said on the 27th.
At the opener on the 28th, star chef Son Jong-won will throw the ceremonial first pitch to wish for victory. Son Jong-won is the executive chef of Shinsegae Group's Chosun Hotel & Resort (Itaewon Garden & Lamang Secre), and recently appeared on major cooking competition programs such as Culinary Class Wars 2 and Please Take Care of My Refrigerator 2, building popular recognition.
SSG said, "As a member of Shinsegae Group, we invited Chef Son, who demonstrates the highest level of expertise in his field, and planned this first pitch to share the team's energy toward victory and the championship with fans this season," it said.
Chef Son Jong-won, who will throw the ceremonial first pitch at the opener, said, "I am honored to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the 2026 season opener. As a member of the Shinsegae family, I will also cheer hard so that SSG Landers win every game with good energy and can surely become champions this season," he said.
On the second game on the 29th, Yoo Jeong-bok, mayor of Incheon, will throw the ceremonial first pitch, and Jeong Hae-gwon, chairman of the Incheon City Council, will throw the ceremonial first throw.
SSG will全面expand core events through weekdays to amplify on-site enjoyment. It will expand the fireworks event, which used to be held only on Saturdays, to include every other Wednesday games so that weekday spectators can also have special memories.
Also, the 'Frontier Square night market,' which received a good response last year, will be regularized for Friday and Saturday games to establish it as Landers' unique integrated cultural space where performances and gourmet food come together.
In addition, to strengthen the sense of belonging and convenience of cheering for fans attending away games, starting this year the club will dispatch cheering squads to all away games. Fans will be able to deliver unified Landers-style support at any stadium nationwide without feeling left out, and the team will pass on the fans' unwavering energy for victory to the players.
Participatory programs that allow fans to feel closer to players will also be newly established and strengthened. The 'dugout photo tour,' debuting this season, is planned to open the players' pregame space, the dugout, to fans so they can directly experience the on-site atmosphere. Along with this, experiences that make fans the protagonists of the ballpark will be offered, such as the 'red parade' where the cheering squad and fans participate together on the field, and 'signing sessions' where fans communicate directly with players.
Non-game-day content has also been prepared substantively so that fans can use the ballpark routinely even on days without baseball games. Plans include 'yoga classes' held inside Incheon SSG Landers Field, a 'group cheering program' to cheer for away games together on the large screen, 'Landers Field tours' that explore every corner of the ballpark, the 'Eusseuk-i & Dog Academy' and 'cheerleading class with Bae Su-hyun' for people with pets, making the ballpark a space full of everyday enjoyment.
The club's SNS will be reorganized as a two-way communication channel that listens to fans' voices beyond simply delivering information. In particular, starting with live broadcasts of practice games that drew a favorable response during the second Japan spring camp, in the 2026 season the club plans to greatly expand live content that captures vivid on-site scenes and behind-the-scenes stories inside and outside the stadium to strengthen real-time communication with fans.
The 2026 season home game event schedule and detailed participation methods will be announced sequentially through the club's official application and SNS channels.
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