The ‘Strongest Baseball’ team, which announced a new season in 2025, drew attention by reporting on the current status of Jang Won-sam, who had left the program after the drunk driving controversy.

On the 15th, JTBC released a behind-the-scenes video of the ‘Strongest Baseball’ team titled, ‘[Unreleased] 2025 Season Confirmation Dinner★ Appearance of Surprise Guest ‘Jang Won-sam’!!’.

The video included the ‘Strongest Baseball’ team attending their first dinner of 2025 to ‘comemorate achieving 21 wins.

While Park Yong-taek was hosting the show and giving warm and touching remarks, PD Jang Si-won said, “We have a guest now,” drawing the players‘ attention.

The person who appeared next was Jang Won-sam. Last August, Jang Won-sam collided with a car behind him while backing up on a road in Gwangan-dong, Suyeong-gu, Busan. The police who arrived at the scene measured Jang Won-sam’s blood alcohol level, and the result was reported to be at a level that would have his driver‘s license revoked. As a result, Jang Won-sam dropped out of the show ‘Strongest Baseball’, which he was appearing on at the time.

Jang Won-sam, who made an appearance about 5 months after leaving the show, said, “I feel like I’m causing trouble on such a nice day,” and “First of all, I‘m not doing well, and I think I couldn’t properly greet the ‘Strongest Baseball’ production staff, the manager, the coaches, and my fellow players. I want to say I‘m sorry.”

He continued, “I’ve been quietly reflecting and introspecting at home since the incident,” and said, “I‘ve been reflecting a lot through the incident, so I hope you know. I heard that you’ve confirmed your spot in the 2025 season through today‘s game, so I hope you play the remaining games well without getting injured.”

PD Jang Si-won explained the reason for inviting Jang Won-sam by saying, “In my opinion, although Jang Won-sam apologized to each player individually, I felt that he needed to officially apologize to the fans of ’Strongest Baseball‘, so I came out today.”

PD Jang then asked Jang Won-sam, “You voluntarily left. Do you want to come back?” and Jang Won-sam smiled and said, “You should come back.” PD Jang said, “We should do a tryout,” causing laughter, and Won-sam Jang responded, “Isn’t life a challenge?” drawing attention.

After the behind-the-scenes video was released, attention is focused on whether Won-sam Jang will return to “The Strongest Baseball.”
Reporter Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com misty82@donga.com