“Six as a player, one as a manager”—a man blessed with championship luck: the remarkable story of manager Park Jin-man, who led Samsung to V9

[Financial News] “We’re over the 90-percent mark, but there’s no room for complacency.”
The declaration of intent he made a day earlier was no empty boast. The manager’s resolute vow, delivered solemnly right after the Korean Series Game 4 victory, became reality just a day later.
The Samsung Lions routed the kt wiz 12-1 in Game 5 of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO postseason Korean Series (KS, best-of-seven) at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 8th, claiming their long-awaited ninth Korean Series title (V9), 12 years after their previous one. At the heart of the achievement was the outstanding communication-focused leadership and cool-headed competitive drive of manager Park Jin-man, 49, who had been a “championship specialist” as a player.

Park Jin-man’s baseball career is a history of championships. As an active player, he was the KBO League’s “national shortstop” and collected no fewer than six Korean Series championship rings. After joining the Hyundai Unicorns in 1996, he led the team to four titles (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). Then, immediately after joining Samsung as a free agent in 2005, he became a key figure in the team’s back-to-back championships in 2005 and 2006. In the 2006 Korean Series, he was also named series MVP for his outstanding play on both offense and defense.
Exactly 20 years later, in 2026, he had gone from laying the foundations of the “Samsung dynasty” as a player to leading his former team to the top as its manager for the first time in 12 years. In a sense, he had brought back to Daegu the “championship aura” he had carried with him to Hyundai and Samsung as a player.
His coaching career was equally solid. He began coaching in 2016 with the SK Wyverns (now the SSG Landers) and returned to Samsung in 2017. Starting as a minor-league defense coach, he went on to coach defense and strategy at the major-league level, gaining an intimate understanding of the Samsung roster. After managing the Futures team in 2022, he became the first-team manager, initially in an interim capacity.


The first principles he instilled after becoming manager were “communication and defense.” With his characteristic gentle-but-strong nature, he spoke openly with players and steadied the team atmosphere. Drawing on his own expertise as a player, he also brought “defense-first baseball” to Samsung to perfection. As a result, Samsung built a solid balance between offense and defense this season, finishing first in the regular season for fewest errors (85) and fielding percentage (0.984).
He made no effort to hide his fierce competitive drive in short series. The bold decision-making behind his gentle leadership came to the fore this postseason. Just before the playoffs, amid the major setback of closer Kim Jae-yoon’s absence, he took the drastic step of moving ace Won Tae-in to the bullpen, easing concerns about the back end of the pitching staff. In the Korean Series, he then showed flexible management of the pitching staff, restoring Won to the starting rotation and overpowering the kt wiz. His tactical decision to start young pitcher Jang Chan-hee as a fill-in starter in Game 4 and pull off a win, proved decisive in determining the series’ fate.
Manager Park Jin-man built a “one team” by bringing together the veterans’ leadership by example and the energy of the younger players. Having reached the Korean Series summit six times as a player and now for the first time as a manager, he completed the remarkable story of rebuilding the Samsung dynasty and firmly established himself among the KBO League’s great managers.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter