Cho In-sung (;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 趙寅成; born May 25, 1975) is a retired

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Amateur career

In November 1993, as a junior at 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 ...

, South Korea, Cho was selected as a member of the South Korea junior national baseball team and competed in the annual friendly baseball series against the Japan junior national baseball team in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Japan. In 1994, Cho started his collegiate career playing for Yonsei University. Regarded as the nation's top catching prospect in college baseball, he regularly participated in international events during his four years at the college. In 1996, Cho was called up to the

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team ( ko, 대한민국 야구 국가대표팀) is the national baseball team of South Korea. It won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. At ...

for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, United States. At the Olympics, he hit two home runs, including a two-run home run off of

Masanori Sugiura Masanori Sugiura (杉浦正則, born May 23, 1968) is a retired Japanese Olympic baseball player from Kudoyama, Wakayama, Japan. Sugiura was the ace pitcher of the Nippon Life Insurance Company baseball team, and was chosen to j ...

, with a .263 batting average and 5 RBIs.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Cho was selected by the LG Twins in the first round of the 1998 KBO Draft. In his rookie season, he played 84 games as a backup catcher for the Twins, hitting .269 with 36 hits in 134 at-bats. After the season, Cho was named to the

that won the gold medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in December 1998. Cho received a military exemption for winning the gold medal, alongside the fellow gold medalists

Park Chan-ho Chan Ho Park (; ; born June 30, 1973) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. Park was the first South Korea-born player in MLB history. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, ...

Seo Jae-weong Jae Weong Seo (; Hanja: 徐在應; ; born May 24, 1977), usually referred to as simply Jae Seo and pronounced "Jay So", is a retired South Korean professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Lo ...

and

Kim Byung-hyun Byung-hyun Kim (; or ; born January 19, 1979) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. He had his most successful years with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox. Kim is remembered for his role in the 2001 World Ser ...

. After the 1999 season, All-Star veteran catcher Kim Dong-soo became a free agent and signed with the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Champ ...

for the 2000 season. Upon Kim Dong-soo's departure through free agency to the Samsung Lions, Cho earned the full-time position behind the plate for the Twins in the 2000 season. In 2000, his first season as the full-time catcher for the Twins, Cho struggled at the plate, batting .225 with 5 home runs but exhibited strong defensive skills, leading the league in caught-stealing percentage, as he threw out 24 of 50 runners. In 2003, Cho hit a career-high 19

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s with a 257 batting average and 58 RBIs, playing in a career-high 132 games as the club's full-time catcher. Prior to the 2006 season, Cho played for the

at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006. He led his team to the bronze medal, going 2-for-9 at the plate and splitting the position behind the plate with Hong Sung-heon and Jin Kab-yong. In 2007, Cho had his most offensively productive season when he posted career-highs in

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 ...

(.282),

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(118), RBI (73), runs (44) and doubles (24) in 124 games. During a televised pennant game in August 2009, Cho and one of his teammate pitcher Shim Soo-chang arguing on the mound was caught on camera. The next day, Cho and Shim were both sent to the LG Twins minor league system.

Notable international careers

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, In-sung 1975 births Living people Baseball players from Seoul South Korean baseball players Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for South Korea LG Twins players SSG Landers players Hanwha Eagles players KBO League catchers KBO League designated hitters Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Yonsei University alumni 2006 World Baseball Classic players Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Doosan Bears coaches