Jong Hyun-Wook (; born December 2, 1978, in

Goryeong Goryeong County (''Goryeong-gun'') is a county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Goryeong is a historical center of the ancient kingdom of Daegaya. Administrative divisions Goryeong County is divided into 1 eup and 7 myeon. Climate ...

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

), nicknamed "Slave Jong ()", is a former

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, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

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 ...

Amateur career

Jong attended Dongdaemoon Commerce 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 of ...

. In 1995, he was selected to the South Korea national junior team, and participated in the 1995 World Junior Baseball Championship in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, United States, along with future Major League pitchers Kim Sun-Woo,

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.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Signed by the Samsung Lions in January 1998, he temporarily left the Samsung Lions for the two-year military service In the 2005 season, and returned to the team in August 2007. Many baseball fans describe him as a "whatever-is-needed utility pitcher" because of his ability to fill in as a starting pitcher or

as needed. In the 2008 season, Jong took a role as a utility pitcher for the Lions, pitching 127 innings in 53 games, starting 7, going 10–4 with an ERA of 3.40 and 11 holds in the process. His 3.40 ERA ranked 9th in the league, pitching over the required innings to qualify for the ERA title. After the 2008 season, Jong was called up to the South Korea national baseball team for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference tie ...

. Although Jong was expected to garner nothing but mopup duties for the team, he was brought up in the five critical games as a

long reliever A long reliever or long-relief pitcher is a relief pitcher in baseball who enters the game if the starting pitcher leaves the game early. Long relievers often enter in the first three innings of a game when the starting pitcher cannot continue, w ...

because of the multiple injuries to the South Korea's bullpen. He emerged as a WBC relief hero, going 1–0 with a 1.74 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched. He tied for third in the Classic in strikeouts. In Round 2, he silenced the Mexican bats, earning the win with two strikeouts and allowing only a hit in 2.2 innings pitched. Jong appeared in the semifinal game against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and pitched a 1.1 inning no-hitter, striking out

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

sluggers Melvin Mora,

Carlos Guillén Carlos Alfonso Guillén (born September 30, 1975) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder. Guillén was signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1992. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners with pitcher F ...

and

Magglio Ordóñez Magglio José Ordóñez Delgado (; born January 28, 1974) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball right fielder. He played for the Chicago White Sox (1997–2004) and Detroit Tigers (2005–2011). Ordóñez is tall and weighs . Having p ...

. In the 2009 KBO season, Jong appeared in 62 games, taking a role as a utility pitcher and posting 8 wins, 6 saves and 16 holds. He was pitching a 2.20 ERA for a 5–4 record in 65.1 innings before the All-Star break, but his stats dipped in the second half of the season due to arm fatigue and he finished the year with a 3.42 ERA.

Notable international careers

Personal life

He is widely known as "Slave Jong" because of him being used as a starter and a long reliever in his team. Due to his good performance in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, many netizens in South Korea called him "Guk-no" which means "national slave".

References

Career statistics and player information
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Hyun-wook 1978 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players Living people LG Twins players Samsung Lions players South Korean baseball players Sportspeople from North Gyeongsang Province