Hillman thanked the other managers for "being so professional and welcoming to me" in the preseason and said he expects his players to be the same during the regular season.

"We want to be the most professional we can be for our fans, for SK and for the game of baseball," he said. "We also want to have as many exciting nights for our fans at home and on the road as possible."

The Wyverns missed the postseason in 2016 under former manager Kim Yong-hee, finishing sixth among 10 clubs with a record of 69-75, and Hillman has been tasked with reversing the fortunes of a former dynasty that has fallen on hard times of late.

The Wyverns reached six straight Korean Series from 2007 to 2012, winning it all in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

They didn't reach the postseasons in 2013 or 2014, finishing under .500 in both years. The Wyverns grabbed the wild card spot as the fifth seed in 2015, despite a 69-73-2 (wins-losses-ties) record, and lost to the Nexen Heroes in the wild card game.

Hillman, who led the Fighters to the 2006 Japan Series title, said he couldn't have asked for a better group of players.

"I've enjoyed our players very much, their enthusiasm and their efforts," he said. "I look forward to going to the battle with them every night."

SK captain Park Jung-kwon, accompanying Hillman to the media day, said the new boss is "a great communicator," language barrier and all.

"It's easy to see he is trying so hard to reach out to all players," he said. "Our relationship with him is not so much top-down. He's such a friendly man and he pulls a lot of pranks on us. Sometimes I think it's just too much but we know it's all in good fun." (Yonhap)