Lee Jin-young (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 이진영,

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 ...

: 李晋暎) (born June 15, 1980 in

Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an int ...

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

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 ...

) is a South Korean former

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. 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 ...

. He is now a coach for 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 ...

Career

Amateur career

Attending Gunsan Commerce High School in

, Lee was considered the best high school

hitter In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to driv ...

. He was also a highly regarded

power pitcher Power pitcher is a term in baseball for a pitcher who relies on pitch velocity at the expense of accuracy. Power pitchers usually record a high number of strikeouts, and statistics such as strikeouts per 9 innings pitched are common measures of ...

who threw in the mid-90s as a starter. In 1997, he was selected for the South Korea national junior team that finished in 5th place at the 1997 World Junior Baseball Championship held in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

, New Brunswick, Canada.

Professional career

SK Wyverns

Upon graduation from Gunsan High School, Lee was drafted by the

Ssangbangwool Raiders The Ssangbangwool Raiders () were a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1990 and dissolved upon bankruptcy of the team's owner after the 1999 season. They were based in the North Jeolla Province and were members of the Korea Baseb ...

, which became the

SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a member of the KBO League. B ...

after the 1999 season, in the first round of the 1999 KBO Draft. Lee made his debut in the pro league against the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

on May 10, 1999. Appearing in 65 games, he finished his rookie year in 1999 with a .258 batting average, 4 home runs and 13 RBIs. Next season, Lee became a fixture in

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

for the

, appearing in 105 games. However, his batting average dipped to .245, stealing a career-low 2 bases. In 2001, Lee bounced back from the

sophomore slump A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the relatively high standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of student ...

, batting a respectable .280 with 90 hits, 7 home runs, 16 doubles and 9 stolen bases. From 2002 through 2004, he notched three consecutive seasons batting .300+, and won his first

KBO League Golden Glove Award The KBO League Golden Glove Award is an award given out annually by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to the best overall player at each position in the KBO League. It is also commonly known as the KBO Golden Gloves. The award was established i ...

in 2004. Along with his batting accuracy, the strong left-armed Lee, the former power pitcher prospect, is also well known for superb defensive skills in right field, which enable him to collect many outfield assists every season. At the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, his defensive skills drew international attention, making acrobatic catches and outfield assists in the tournament. In the 2007 KBO season, he missed over 40 regular-season games due to injuries, but batted a career-high .350 with 77 hits in 220 at-bats. In 2008, Lee was placed on the disabled list again and missed 30 games during the season, but batted .300-plus again (.315) with 102 hits in 324 at-bats, compiling 8 home runs, 53 RBIs and a career-high 12 stolen bases.

LG Twins

Lee became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the 2008 season and signed a one-year deal 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 ...

on November 20, 2008.

Coaching career

On April 5, 2019, he join

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) as a trainee coach.

International career

Lee was selected

at the 1998 Asian Junior Baseball Championship,

2002 Intercontinental Cup The 2002 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 3 December 2002, between Real Madrid of Spain, winners of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, and Olimpia of Paraguay, winners of the 2002 Copa Libertadores. The match was ...

2003 Asian Baseball Championship The 22nd Asian Baseball Championship was contested in Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan in November 2003. The tournament is sanctioned by the Asian Baseball Federation. The top two teams of the tournament gained automatic entry into the 2004 Olympic Gam ...

, 2006 2006 Asian Games,

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and

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 ti ...

. At the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Lee batted .250 and drove in 7 runs, appearing in all 9 games. In the Team Korea's first game against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

, he smacked a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the first inning off the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

’ prospect Lee Chen-Chang to power Olympic champions Korea to a 9-0 win. In Round 2, Lee smacked a 2-RBI single off

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

in the top of the first inning to lead his team to a 4-1 victory over

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, which assured South Korea a spot in the semifinals.

References

External links

Profile and stats on the KBO official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jin-Young 1980 births Living people Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics KBO League first basemen KBO League right fielders KT Wiz players LG Twins players Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball People from Gunsan SSG Landers players South Korean baseball coaches South Korean baseball players South Korean expatriate baseball people in Japan Ssangbangwool Raiders players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province