Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Lee Chan-won made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.
Chan-won Lee made a surprise appearance as a baseball caster.

On the afternoon of the 1st, the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League match between Samsung Lions and Doosan Bears was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Chan-won Lee made a surprise appearance at the broadcast booth in the top of the 6th inning when Doosan was ahead by 1 point, 1-2. On this day, Lee Chan-won was caught on camera coming to watch a baseball game with Hwang Yun-seong and Romeo Ma Jae-kyung. MBC SPORTS+ caster Jeong Byeong-moon and commentator Lee Sang-hoon, who were in charge of the on-site broadcasting, invited Chan-won Lee to the broadcasting table, and Chan-won Lee accepted.

Caster Jeong Byeong-moon said, “I saw Chan-won Lee at the stadium and asked him a difficult favor, so thank you for coming.” Chan-won Lee said, "Thank you for inviting me. Many of my friends checked the broadcast screen and contacted me."

Chan-won Lee is famous for his extraordinary love of baseball. In particular, he is known to be a fan of the Samsung Lions, which is based in his hometown of Daegu.

Chan-won Lee appeared as a special commentator on MBC SPORTS+ in a game between the Samsung Lions and SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) in October 2020, and had a close relationship with caster Byeong-moon Jeong and commentator Jun-hyuk Yang. He also served as a commentator for the ‘Hope Plus Charity Baseball Tournament’ held by the Yang Jun-hyuk Baseball Foundation in 2022 and 2023.

The broadcasting team asked Lee Chan-won to broadcast on the spot. Lee Chan-won impressed people with his broadcasting that was as high-quality as that of professional broadcasters. While Lee Chan-won was broadcasting in the beginning of the 6th inning, Samsung turned the tables. Caster Jeong Byeong-moon said, "It seems like you've appeared upgraded from three years ago. You're almost going back and forth between two casters and one commentator, or one caster and two commentators," and added, "At that moment, the atmosphere became interesting." Afterwards, Samsung continued to score additional points.

After finishing the commentary at the beginning of the 6th inning, Chan-won Lee said, "To all the baseball fans who love KBO professional baseball, I was happy to greet you today for the first time in a long time. If you have a chance next time, please call me and I will be with MBC SPORTS+ at any time."

On this day, Samsung came from behind to win 9-2 over Doosan.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr