Former baseball player Yang Joon-hyuk looked back on his childhood struggles with poverty.
In the KBS2 variety show ‘Boss in the Mirror’ aired on the 17th, Yang Joon-hyuk appeared as a one-day mentor for the Uiseong High School baseball team alongside his junior, Choi Jun-seok.
During the episode, Yang Joon-hyuk treated the Uiseong High School baseball team to a meal after finishing their lessons.
He revealed that although he started playing baseball in the 4th grade, he almost had to quit because of his family’s financial situation.
He shared, “My family’s situation was extremely difficult. When I said I wanted to play baseball, my family told me they hoped I wouldn’t because things were so hard.”
He continued, “I told my parents I would even beg for money just to be allowed to play baseball. Seeing me like that, they realized I was meant for baseball and stopped opposing it.”
Yang Joon-hyuk credited his mother’s devotion for helping him achieve his dream. He confessed, “My mother worked as a housekeeper, cleaned motels, and sold pickled radish at the market. That’s why I worked even harder, determined to succeed and lift my family up.”
Yang Joon-hyuk is a legendary hitter who led the golden age of the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). From his professional debut in 1993 until 2001, he maintained a batting average of .300 for nine consecutive years, and in 2008, he became the first in KBO League history to record 100 hits for 16 consecutive years. Since retiring, he has become a successful businessman in the aquaculture industry with annual sales of 3 billion won. In 2021, he married Park Hyun-sun, who is 19 years his junior, and they have one daughter.
