baseball player-milestone
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| ▲ Choi Hyoung-woo of the Kia Tigers hits an RBI single against the NC Dinos during a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 17, 2023. The hit gave him his 1,498th career RBI, tying him with former Samsung Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop for the most in KBO history. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ The scoreboard at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, celebrates the 1,498th career RBI by Kia Tigers player Choi Hyoung-woo during a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game against the NC Dinos on June 17, 2023. It put him in a tie with former Samsung Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop for the most in KBO history. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Choi Hyoung-woo of the Kia Tigers returns to the dugout after flying out against the NC Dinos during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 18, 2023. (Yonhap) |
baseball player-milestone
Veteran slugger Choi Hyoung-woo on verge of becoming KBO's all-time RBI king
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- Kia Tigers veteran slugger Choi Hyoung-woo is on the verge of making South Korean baseball history, as he sits one RBI away from becoming the all-time leader in that category.
Choi is currently tied with his former Lions teammate and current Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop with 1,498 RBIs on the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) career leaderboard. Choi pulled even during Saturday's game against the NC Dinos and had a couple of chances to break the tie Sunday at home, Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul.
Choi will resume his pursuit of the record on the road, with a three-game set against the Hanwha Eagles starting Tuesday in the central city of Daejeon.
For the first game of the series, the Eagles will start right-hander Han Seung-ju. It will be Han's first start of 2023 and just the fourth of his career. In 26 relief appearances so far in 2023, Han has a 1-1 record with a 3.06 ERA across 32 1/3 innings.
Choi, at age 39, is enjoying a late-career renaissance. Through 58 games, Choi is batting .308/.407/.493 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs -- the second most on the team behind Socrates Brito.
Choi had 71 RBIs in 132 games in 2022 and 55 in 104 games in 2021. He batted below .300 in both seasons, after surpassing that mark every year from 2013 to 2020.
Choi is proving his doubters wrong this year, and doing so is hardly new for this late bloomer, who once got pushed out of baseball and resorted to manual labor to make ends meet.
The Lions drafted Choi in the sixth round in 2001 as a catcher, but he was considered a defensive liability. Choi played in just four games in 2002 and two more in 2004, before the Lions released him in 2005.
Choi started his mandatory military service with the new National Police Agency team in the Futures League -- KBO's minor league --in 2006. He converted to outfielder there and developed into one of the most feared hitters in the Futures League. In 2007, Choi led the North Division of the league in seven major offensive categories in 2007 -- batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage.
After Choi was discharged, the Lions gave him a second chance. Choi hasn't looked back since.
Choi led the Lions with 19 home runs and 71 RBIs in 126 games in 2008 en route to earning the Rookie of the Year award. About a month shy of his 25th birthday, Choi became the oldest winner of the top rookie prize at the time.
He played for the Lions through 2016, winning four Korean Series rings, one batting title, one home run title and two RBI crowns along the way.
Choi signed with the Tigers as a free agent after the 2016 season and made an immediate impact, putting up at least 20 home runs and 100 RBIs in three of his first four campaigns.
Though he will probably never be the 30-homer, 120-RBI threat from his prime years, Choi has shown so far this year that he can still be a productive bat in the middle of the Tigers lineup.
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