New KBO club unveils uniform, mascot, talks postseason

▲ Members of the SSG Landers baseball club pose for photos during their uniform unveiling ceremony in Seoul on March 30, 2021. (Yonhap)

▲ This image provided by the SSG Landers shows the baseball club's new mascot, "Landy," earing the team's home and road jerseys. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ This image provided by the SSG Landers on March 12, 2021, shows the baseball team's emblem, inspired by a spaceship. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

baseball-club

New KBO club unveils uniform, mascot, talks postseason

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- The newest club in South Korean professional baseball unveiled its uniforms and mascot on Tuesday, while also setting sights on making the playoffs in its inaugural season in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

The retail giant Shinsegae Group took over the SK Wyverns from the mobile carrier SK Telecom in January and renamed them the SSG Landers. SSG comes from the name of Shinsegae's online mall, and the nickname is a nod to the team's home city, Incheon, being home to Incheon International Airport, the country's main gateway where many visitors "land."

The new sets of uniform have retained the Wyverns' main colors of red and white. The home jersey has the white top and the white pants, while the road jersey features the red shirt and the white pants. They also have an alternate home jersey, to be worn for home games on weekends, with "Incheon" written on the front of the white top.

In all three sets, the caps feature the logo "L's," short for the Landers.

Their mascot is a Cane Corso dog named "Landy." The Landers said they wanted their mascot to be the best friend for their players and fans alike, and they were inspired by the loyalty and courage of dogs.

The Landers are the first KBO club to adopt a dog as a mascot.

The Wyverns won the Korean Series championship in 2018 and made the postseason again in 2019, but then stumbled to ninth place among 10 clubs last year. The tumultuous season saw their manager Youm Kyoung-youb fall ill in the middle of a game and ultimately resign, while the injury bug also bit them hard.

To show they mean business this year, the Landers signed former major league All-Star Choo Shin-soo in February, by far the biggest offseason splash. They also added other veterans in free agency or in trade, and brought in two former major league pitchers, Artie Lewicki and Wilmer Font.

Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, also the Landers' owner, said at Tuesday's ceremony that he expects the club to return to the postseason this year.

"I have a strong feeling that SSG will play more than 144 games this year," Chung said, referring to the number of regular season games. "And I will be with the team every step of the way, until the very last game."

Choo, already the face of the franchise barely a month into his tenure, said he had "goosebumps" when he heard Chung talk about playing beyond the regular season.

"I absolutely love the color red on our uniform," Choo said. "I think we will all be able to get positive energy from red. We'll have faith in each other as we move toward our goal."

Landers manager Kim Won-hyong said his players are ready to hit the ground running when the regular season opens on Saturday.

"We'll not waver in the pursuit of our goal," Kim said. "We're ready for a fresh start this year."

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