Lee Jung-hoo Hits Massive Home Run, Cheers for World Cup Team

[Anchor]

Major Leaguer Lee Jung-hoo, who has been on a hot streak lately, is joining all of us in cheering for the national World Cup team. Today (June 24), after hitting the longest home run of his career since moving to the U.S., he shouted "Dae-han-min-guk!" (South Korea!) toward the camera.

Reporter Bae Jeonghun has the story.

[Reporter]

In his first at-bat against the Athletics, Lee Jung-hoo launched a solo home run—his fifth of the season—over the deepest part of the right-center field wall at his home stadium, Oracle Park.

The ball traveled 126 meters, marking the longest home run among the 15 he has hit since his debut in the U.S.

After confidently returning to the dugout and high-fiving his teammates, Lee turned toward the broadcast camera following him and shouted:

[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: Dae-han-min-guk!]

At his moment of glory, he sent a message of support to the national World Cup team ahead of their match against South Africa tomorrow.

[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: It just came to me spontaneously. I always check the results. I know they have a match tomorrow (against South Africa).]

In the following defensive inning, Lee missed a routine fly ball, which led to a run, but he recorded a multi-hit game by using his speed to secure an infield hit in the fourth inning. He also reached base on a walk in the sixth and successfully stole his fifth base of the season.

During that play, he collided hard with the opposing second baseman and remained on the ground for a while, but he shook it off and stood up to applause from the home fans.

Lee led his team to end a three-game losing streak, raising his season batting average to .331 and maintaining second place, just 6 points behind the leader, Lopez.

San Francisco manager Bob Melvin praised Lee's fighting spirit.

[Melvin/San Francisco Manager: (The opposing second baseman's) elbow accidentally hit Lee in the chin, causing a momentary impact and some mild headache symptoms. But Lee is a player with a truly strong mentality. Sometimes he is so tough that I even worry about him.]

After the game, Lee once again sent his sincere support to the national World Cup team.

[Lee Jung-hoo/San Francisco Outfielder: First of all, I believe they will definitely win tomorrow. I heard that if they advance as the second-place team in the group, they will play in Los Angeles, where many Korean residents live. I am cheering for them from here, and I just hope they play a good game without any pressure.]

Reported by Bae Jeonghun | Video edited by Jo Mu-hwan | Designed by Han Song-yeon
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.