Lee Ho-Joon | |
---|---|
Designated hitter / First baseman | |
Born: | February 8, 1976|
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
KBO debut | |
1994, for the Haitai Tigers | |
Last appearance | |
2017, for the NC Dinos | |
KBO statistics (through 2017) | |
Batting average | .282 |
Home runs | 337 |
RBI | 1265 |
Teams | |
| |
Career highlights and awards | |
Lee Ho-joon | |
Hangul | 이호준 |
---|---|
Hanja | 李昊俊 |
Revised Romanization | I Hojun |
McCune–Reischauer | I Hojun |
Lee Ho-Joon (born February 8,1976,in Gwangju,South Korea) is a former South Korean professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Lee ranks fourth all-time in the KBO League in both home runs and runs batted in.
While attending Gwangju Jaeil High School,Lee was considered one of the top high school hitting pitchers,batting fourth in the team's batting order and pitching No.1 in the starting rotation. In November 1993 Lee was selected as a member of the South Korea junior national baseball team along with Cho In-Sung and competed in the friendly baseball series against the Japanese regional high school all-star teams. Lee helped Team Korea sweep the six-game series as a starting pitcher and first baseman.
Lee made his KBO debut as a pitcher with the Haitai Tigers in 1994. He made eight appearances as a relief pitcher for the Tigers,posting a 10.22 earned run average and allowing seven home runs in 12 1/3 inning pitched. After his horrendous rookie season,Lee converted his position to first base.
In 1996,his first season as a position player,Lee batted .167 having three hits in 18 at-bats. He had a respectable season as a position player in the 1997,batting .278 in 58 games.
The next year (1998) was Lee's break-out season. He hit .303,the first .300 season of his career,and smacked 19 home runs with 77 RBI,becoming a fixture at first base and batting fourth in batting order for the Tigers.
Lee had another solid season in 1999,but his statistics declined from the previous year. He finished with a .276 batting average,16 home runs and 55 RBI playing in 107 games as a first baseman.
During the 2000 season,Lee was traded to the SK Wyverns.
His breakout season in the SK Wyverns happened in 2003,when he slugged a career-high 36 home runs (fourth in the league),batted in 102 runs (fifth) and hit .290 for the Wyverns.
In 2004,Lee batted .280 with 30 home runs (third) and 87 runs (eighth);he led the league in RBI with a career-high 112.
Lee won his second Korean Series in 2007 as the Wyverns defeated the Doosan Bears in six games.
Lee won his third Korean Series in 2010 as the Wyverns swept four-game series against the Samsung Lions.
Lee set a KBO record on May 20,2012 when he was walked in six consecutive plate appearances (a record tied by Kim Tae-kyun in 2013). He accomplished the feat in one game. In 127 games,Lee batted .300 with 78 RBI (seventh),18 home runs (seventh) and a career-high 72 walks (third).
The 2013 KBO Expansion Draft for the newly founded NC Dinos was held after the 2012 season. Lee was picked up in the expansion draft by the Dinos and became the Dinos' everyday designated hitter. In 2013,he was selected as a captain of NC Dinos. In 126 games,Lee batted .278 with 87 RBI (seventh),20 home runs (seventh) and 60 walks. He had a remarkable season at age 39 in 2015,when he hit .294 with 24 home runs and 110 RBI. He hit 21 home runs in 2016,his fourth consecutive year with at least 20 home runs,and accomplishing the feat at age 40.
Lee retired from professional baseball at the end of the 2017 season.
Hee-seop Choi is a South Korean former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers. He was the first Korean-born position player to play in the major leagues.
The KBO League, officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most successful team, having won 11 of the 40 championships.
Kia Tigers are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are the most successful team in Korean baseball, having won the national Korean Series championship 11 times with a perfect 11–0 record. Their home stadium is Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
Park Jae-hong is a retired South Korean outfielder in the KBO League. Park was considered one of the best five-tool players in the KBO. He was the first player in KBO history to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases and the only player to have more than two seasons of 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases, doing so a record three times:. He was a 30-30 player in his debut season (1996), the only person to do so until Mike Trout, who did it in 2012.
Lee Jin-young is a South Korean former right fielder. He batted and threw left-handed. He is now a coach for the South Korea national baseball team.
Lee Hyun-Gon is a South Korean infielder who plays for the NC Dinos of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Dae-ho Lee is a former South Korean professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. During his career, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Lee Bum-ho is a South Korean former third baseman who played primarily in the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Choi Jeong is a third baseman who has played his whole career for the SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Choi's 429 career home runs rank second on the KBO all-time list. His 313 career hit-by-pitches (HBP) is the most in the KBO as well as the world record. He was hit by his 288th pitch in 2021 and surpassed Hughie Jennings' 287 hit-by-pitches.
Jung Soo-bin is a South Korean outfielder for the Doosan Bears of the KBO League. He bats and throws left-handed.
Na Jiwan is a South Korean outfielder from Seoul who plays for the Kia Tigers of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
An Chi-hong is a South Korean infielder who plays for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Eric Allyn Thames is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, and Washington Nationals, in the KBO League for the NC Dinos, and in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants.
Mo Chang-min is an infielder who plays for the NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Na Sung-bum is a South Korean outfielder for the Kia Tigers of the KBO League. He bats and throws left-handed. Na was selected tenth overall by the NC Dinos in the 2012 KBO Draft.
No Jin-hyuk is a South Korean shortstop for the NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.
Cho Young-Hun or Jo Young-Hoon is a South Korean former first baseman, who played 11 seasons in the KBO League with the Samsung Lions, Kia Tigers, and NC Dinos. He bats and throws left-handed.
Kim Seong-han is a retired South Korean professional baseball infielder and pitcher who played for the Haitai Tigers of the KBO League. Kim played all 14 seasons for the Tigers, winning the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award twice, in 1985 and 1988. He was the first KBO player to hit 30 home runs in a season. Kim was considered the best first basemen in the KBO from 1985 to 1991, winning the KBO League Golden Glove Award every year at that position. His Haitai Tigers won seven Korean Series titles with him as a player.
Ha-seong Kim is a South Korean professional baseball second baseman for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kim was drafted 41st overall by the Nexen Heroes in the 2014 Korea Baseball Organization Draft. He made his KBO debut with the Heroes in May 2014 and won the Golden Glove Award in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In December 2020, Kim signed with the San Diego Padres.
The 2018 Korean Series is the championship series of the 2018 KBO League season. The Doosan Bears, as the regular season champions, automatically advanced to the Korean Series, where they faced the SK Wyverns. The series ran from November 4 to November 12.