The KBO has fired umpire Lee Min-ho after 28 years of service.
The KBO held a personnel committee on the 19th to deliberate on the discipline of three umpires who undermined the fairness of the league by making mistakes and inappropriate remarks regarding ABS calls during the NC-Samsung game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on the 14th. The umpire Lee Min-ho, who was the head of the umpiring team, was terminated, and Moon Seung-hoon, who was the head umpire at the time, was suspended for three months (without pay), the maximum period of suspension stipulated by the rules, and further personnel measures will be taken once the suspension ends. In addition, the third base umpire, Choo Pyeong-ho, was suspended for three months (without pay), the maximum period of suspension.
The KBO said it considered the incident to be very serious and held a personnel committee to finalize the discipline.
The incident occurred in the bottom of the third inning of the Daegu NC Dinos-Samsung Lions game on March 14, when Lee Jae-hyun was batting in the second inning. NC starter Lee Jae-hak threw two pitches in the first inning that were called strikes by ABS, but umpire Moon Seung-hoon declared them balls.
It only became known in the 3B2S when NC manager Kang In-hwa came out on the field to protest. The umpires held a four-umpire meeting, and umpire team leader Lee Min-ho took the microphone and said, “When it was transmitted to the umpire, it was a ball. However, after checking the ABS monitor, it was ruled a strike,” indicating a possible malfunction of the ABS.
Then, the broadcast of the fourth umpire’s meeting came on, and everyone couldn’t believe it.
At first, the team manager Lee Min-ho said, “If it didn’t go through, we should sign that it didn’t go through,” but then he said, “When I stole the ball, it was a ball on the audio, but it was a strike on the monitor, and then I threw one pitch, but I appealed late. It went through, so it should go through. Tell them to check it.” He sent the second base umpire to the umpire’s office to check the rules.
Afterward, Team Manager Lee Min-ho told first base umpire Moon Seung-hoon and third base umpire Choo Pyung-ho, who were wearing earphones, “Do this. Tell them that you recognized the voice as a ball. That’s the only way we’re going to get out… That’s the only way we’re going to get out. The voice is a ball. Okay.” When umpire Moon Seung-hoon 카지노 said, “It crackled and looked like a ball,” Team Leader Lee Min-ho said, “Say it was a ball, not like a ball. And then we went to the ball, and then I looked at the monitor and it was like this…”
The ABS Situation Room representative said he heard the ABS call of a strike at the time.
As the incident escalated, the KBO moved quickly to evolve the situation. On the 15th, the umpiring team leader Lee Min-ho and umpire Moon Seung-hoon were suspended from their duties and referred to the personnel committee. The fact that they were referred to the personnel committee instead of the punishment committee drew attention. The KBO said, “If it was a simple error, a punishment committee could be held, but in this case, the error was a partial issue and the issue of how to deal with it in the future, so the punishment committee could not deliberate on all of it, so we decided to deliberate on it in the personnel committee.” The KBO said, “It is more appropriate to deliberate on the final discipline through the personnel committee while they are excluded from their duties.”
The fact that they decided to hold an HR committee shows that they recognized the seriousness of the matter, which could have resulted in termination. It was widely expected that a normal disciplinary action would not be enough to convince baseball fans, as the idea of an umpire conspiring to lie to cover up their mistakes is a discredit to the umpires and the KBO as a whole.
The result was as expected. The decision was made to terminate Lee Min-ho, the head of the umpiring team, who tried to cover up his mistakes. It was a cold parting of ways with a man who had been with the organization for 28 years. It was an inevitable decision.