Kim Seong-han (; born May 18, 1958) 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 ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played for the

Haitai Tigers Kia Tigers ( ko, KIA 타이거즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are ...

of 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 ...

. Kim played all 14 seasons for the Tigers, winning the

KBO League Most Valuable Player Award The KBO League Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player judged the most valuable player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League. The most recent winner is Ariel Miranda of the Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears ( ko, 두산 베어� ...

twice, in 1985 and 1988. He was the first KBO player to hit 30 home runs in a season. Kim was considered the best first basemen in the KBO from 1985 to 1991, winning the

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 ...

every year at that position. His Haitai Tigers won seven

Korean Series The Korean Series is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play in ...

titles with him as a player. Kim attended

Dongguk University Dongguk University (Korean: 동국대학교, Hanja: 東國大學校) is a private, coeducational university in South Korea, fundamentally based on Buddhism. Established in 1906 as Myeongjin School (명진학교; 明進學校) by Buddhist pioneers ...

Playing career

An infielder for most of his career, Kim was also a pitcher for his first few seasons. His most frequent appearance as a pitcher was in 1982, his first year in the league (and incidentally the first year of the KBO), when he went 10–5 with a 2.79 ERA. As a hitter that year, he batted .305 with 13 home runs and 69 runs batted in, leading the league in RBI. In 1985, Kim won his first MVP award, hitting .333 with a league-leading 22 home runs and 75 RBI, second in the league. That year he also led the KBO in hits with 133 and doubles with 29. In 1988, Kim won his second MVP award, hitting .333 (third in the league), smacking a league-leading 30 home runs and 89 RBI, and leading the Tigers to their fourth KBO championship. His 30 home runs that year was the first time anyone in the KBO League had reached the 30-homer milestone (particularly impressive because the season was only 108 games). In 1989, Kim won his third home run title, with 26, and also led the league in runs with 93 and walks with 84. Kim was the first KBO player with multiple MVP Awards and is one of only five players in KBO League history to win the MVP Award more than once.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1995, Kim stayed on as a Tigers coach from 1996 to 2000. He was the Tigers' manager from 2001 to 2004, during which time the team made it to the playoffs three out of four years. Kim was the bench coach of the runner-up South Korean national team in 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 ti ...

. Kim worked as a coach for 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 ...

from 2013 to 2014.

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 ...

(hitting)
Career statistics and player information
from

(pitching) Hanwha Eagles coaches Kia Tigers managers Kia Tigers coaches Haitai Tigers players KBO League infielders KBO League pitchers South Korean baseball players KBO League Most Valuable Player Award winners Dongguk University alumni People from Gunsan 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province {{SouthKorea-baseball-bio-stub

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links