Bong Jung-keun (; or ; born July 15, 1980) is a South Korean former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, and in the

KBO League 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 ar ...

with the

LG Twins LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is ...

. He batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

Career

Amateur

Bong is often considered one of the greatest hitting pitchers in Korean high school baseball history. While attending Shinil High School in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, he was a highly regarded five-tool player and

control pitcher In baseball, a control pitcher, also known as a finesse pitcher, is a pitcher who succeeds mostly by using accurate pitches, as opposed to a power pitcher who relies on velocity. By issuing a below average number of bases on balls he exhibits good ...

in the Korean High School baseball league, playing as the team's 3rd

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

and No.1 starter. In September , as a freshman at Shinil High School, Bong was named the Best Pitcher in the 50th

Golden Lion Flag National High School Baseball Championship In Korea, high school baseball (고등학교 야구) is played at a very high level by students who train year round. Unlike in Japan or the U.S. where nearly every high school fields a team, there are only about 60-70http://news.donga.com/IMAGE/20 ...

, taking 4 of the team's 5 wins. As the team's

leadoff hitter In baseball, a leadoff hitter is a batter who bats first in the lineup. It can also refer to any batter who bats first in any inning. Strategy Traditionally, the leadoff hitter has been utilized as a contact-oriented position. The leadoff hit ...

, he batted .353 with 6 hits in 17 at-bats. In May , Bong led his team to its national title at the 52nd

Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship In Korea, high school baseball (고등학교 야구) is played at a very high level by students who train year round. Unlike in Japan or the U.S. where nearly every high school fields a team, there are only about 60-70http://news.donga.com/IMAGE/20 ...

, going 11-for-16 with 9 RBIs as a batter and racking up 3 wins as a starting pitcher. He won

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

(.688), RBI and wins titles, and was unanimously named the tournament MVP. In September , Bong helped his team to capture another national title at the 51st

. He was named Best Pitcher, earning 4 out of the team's 5 wins as a utility pitcher. As a batter, Bong finished runner-up in

(.571, 8-for-14) and won the

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

title.

International

In August , Bong competed for the South Korea national junior baseball team in the

World Junior Baseball Championship The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United S ...

held in

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, Canada. In the round robin phase, he went 15-for-25 with 11 RBIs and 13 runs, and hit home runs in 4 consecutive games, playing in 5 preliminary games as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

and

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

. South Korea was eliminated by

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7–0 in the quarterfinals, but Bong additionally accumulated 3 hits and 3 RBIs in the 5th–8th classification games. He finished the tournament with a .500 batting average (18-for-36), 14 RBIs and 4 home runs, and was named the tournament MVP. He also won the home run title and was selected to the All-Star team as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

as well. Bong also helped Korea to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Bong also appeared in the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Japan as a starter, allowing 3 hits and scoring 2 strikeouts in 5 innings for a 1–0 victory.

Notable international careers

Major League Baseball career

Bong began his career with the Braves, signing with the team in 1998 while still in High school for a bonus of $1.7 million. Bong made his major league debut in pitching 6 innings in one game. The next year, he was moved to the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

and pitched in 44 games,

winning Winning may refer to: * Victory Film * ''Winning'' (film), a 1969 movie starring Paul Newman * '' Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman'', a 2015 documentary by Adam Carolla and Nate Adams Music * ''Winning'', an album by Ten Foot Pole, 2022 ...

six and losing two, and recorded his first save. With the Reds in , he pitched 15 innings, winning one game and losing one. He missed the whole season due to shoulder surgery, and the Reds outrighted him to Triple-A

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

after the season.

KBO League career

The Reds released him on May 12, 2006; he returned to Korea to continue his career. In , with the

, Bong had a 2.66

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

and 140

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. Bong retired from professional baseball on September 19, 2018, after 12 years playing for the

Personal records

Filmography

Television shows

References

External links

*
Career statistics and player information
from

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

* *
Bong Jung-keun Fancafe
at Daum {{DEFAULTSORT:Bong, Jung-keun 1980 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball players from South Korea South Korean expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast Braves players Macon Braves players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Greenville Braves players Richmond Braves players Louisville Bats players Chattanooga Lookouts players LG Twins players Olympic baseball players of South Korea Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for South Korea 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players Olympic medalists in baseball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games