"Expected after mid-May" Jung Hoon's retirement ceremony finally postponed... Unseasonable spring rain cancels Busan, Daegu, and Changwon games [Busan]

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants franchise star Jung Hoon (39) could not hold his retirement ceremony due to the unseasonable rain. The Hanwha Eagles, suffering significant internal damage from a six-game losing streak, finally caught their breath.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) officially announced on the 17th that the Lotte-Hanwha regular-season game scheduled at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium was cancelled due to rain. Along with this, the NC Dinos-SSG Landers game at Changwon NC Park and the Samsung Lions-LG Twins game at Daegu Samsung Lions Park were also cancelled due to rain, with rescheduling to be announced later.

The cancellation of the Busan Lotte-Hanwha game was the most regrettable. On this day, Lotte had planned to hold Jung Hoon's retirement ceremony, who has played exclusively for the Lotte Giants since his 2010 first-team debut. After joining Lotte as a developmental player in 2010, Jung Hoon recorded a KBO career batting average of 0.271 (4,211 at-bats, 1,143 hits), 80 home runs, 532 RBIs, 637 runs scored, 76 stolen bases, an on-base percentage of 0.353, and a slugging percentage of 0.389, all with the Giants, establishing himself as a franchise star.

Sajik Baseball Stadium was packed with fans early in the morning to witness Jung Hoon's retirement ceremony. Anticipating rain forecast for the Gyeongsang region from the afternoon, the Lotte organization had already laid out large waterproof tarps on the field in preparation. However, as the rain intensified unlike the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, the game umpire decided to cancel the game around 5:20 p.m.

According to a Lotte organization official, Jung Hoon's postponed retirement ceremony is expected to take place sometime in May. Considering the scheduling conflicts of both the Lotte organization and Jung Hoon, who had already confirmed April's ceremonial first pitch and related events, it will be difficult to hold the ceremony in the near future. A Lotte official stated "The retirement ceremony will be scheduled after consultation with the player".

Lotte announced Jeremy Biesler as the starting pitcher for the 18th game, the same as on this day. Hanwha, which had started with Park Jun-young, plans to replace him with Ryu Hyun-jin to break their losing streak.

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*This content was translated by AI.