Yang Joon-hyuk is opening up about his family’s past struggles with poverty.
In the May 17th episode of KBS 2TV’s ‘The Boss’s Ears are Donkey Ears,’ Yang Joon-hyuk visits the Uiseong High School baseball team as a one-day coach. There, he honestly shares with the aspiring student-athletes how he almost had to give up his dreams of playing baseball due to his family’s financial situation.
Recalling the time his parents opposed his passion for the sport, Yang shared a touching story: “I persuaded my parents by telling them I’d even beg in the middle of the city just to be allowed to play baseball.”
He expressed deep gratitude for his parents’ sacrifices, revealing, “My mother supported me by working as a housekeeper, cleaning motels, and even selling pickled radish. That’s why I played baseball with everything I had.” He credited their hard work for creating the legend known as ‘Yang-shin.’
Reflecting on his time with the Lions as the peak of his life, Yang said, “I was the number 3 hitter who helped the number 4 hitter, Seung-yeop, shine.” He shared a surprising detail about his earnings, saying, “When Seung-yeop’s salary rose by about 600 million won, mine jumped from 140 million to about 400 million won. My salary increase was all thanks to Seung-yeop!”
Special MC Kim Tae-kyun added that Yang Joon-hyuk used to give his record bonuses to his juniors as pocket money whenever they performed well. This prompted Jun Hyun-moo to exclaim, “He’s a total Mansour!” as he marveled at the scale of Yang’s generosity toward his juniors after overcoming his own hardships.
The episode airs Sunday at 4:40 PM.
