Kim Tae-kyun (

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 le ...

: 김태균,

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, ...

: 金泰均; born May 29, 1982) is a South Korean

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who plays 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 ...

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 ...

. He bats and throws right-handed. He is one of the top career hitters in the KBO, with a lifetime

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

over .320, and more than 300 career home runs and 1300

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

Amateur career

Kim attended Bugil High School in Cheonan,

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청남도, ''Chungcheongnam-do''), also known as Chungnam, is a province of South Korea. South Chungcheong has a population of 2,059,871 (2014) and has a geographic area of 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) located in ...

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 ...

. In 2000, he was selected for the South Korean Junior National Team. The team won the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Canada, and Kim led the attack alongside Lee Dae-ho, Choo Shin-soo (the eventual MVP of this event) and Jeong Keun-woo, batting .433 with 3 home runs.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Kim was a first-round pick of the Hanhwa Eagles in 2001 following a successful youth career. He made his KBO debut on April 17, 2001, as a starting first baseman against the

Hyundai Unicorns The Hyundai Unicorns () were a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They were a member of the KBO League. The Unicorns won the KBO championship four times (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). The Unicorns were dissolved after the 20 ...

. As a rookie in 2001, he hit 20 home runs and drove in 54 runs with a .335 batting average. After the 2001 season, Kim was honored with the

KBO League Rookie of the Year Award The KBO League Rookie of the Year Award is given to the player judged the best first-year player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League. The most recent winner is Lee Jung-hoo of the Nexen Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korea ...

. He became the first Eagles player to win the award. In 2002, Kim experienced a

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 students ...

, batting .255 with 7 home runs, but came back strong in 2003 to bat .319 with 31 home runs and 95 RBIs. From 2003 through 2005, he notched three consecutive seasons batting .300+. His stats dipped slightly in 2006 and 2007, but he broke out again in 2008, batting .324 with 31 home runs and 92 RBIs. He was first in home runs and slugging percentage, 4th in RBI, and 5th in batting average. Kim performed spectacularly 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 tie ...

, driving in 11 runs to lead all players, as well as scoring nine runs. As a result, he was named to the 2009 All WBC Team as the first baseman. (South Korea was the runner-up to Japan in the 2009 WBC.) Kim left the KBO for

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 ...

in 2010–2011, playing for the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

. He had success his first year in the NPB, hitting .268 with 21 home runs and 92 RBI. 2011 was not as successful, as Kim only played in 31 games and hit only .250. He returned to the Hanhwa Eagles in 2012, and has played with them ever since. In his first season back in the KBO League, Kim hit .363 to lead the league. He hit .365 in both 2014 and 2016, finishing second in the batting title both seasons. His 136 RBI in 2016 was also second in the league. On 6 June 2020, Kim became the youngest player in the KBO to reach the career milestone of 3,500

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

. Kim was the fourth player in the KBO League to reach 3,500 total bases in his career, and the first right-handed hitter to do it, after lefties Yang Joon-hyuk,

Lee Seung-yuop Lee Seung-yuop (born 18 August 1976) is a retired baseball player and the current manager of the Doosan Bears. He spent most of his career with the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball ...

, and

Park Yong-taik Park Yong-taik (Hangul: 박용택, Hanja: 朴龍澤) (born April 21, 1979) is a South Korean outfielder who has played his entire career for the LG Twins in the KBO League. With 2,504 career hits, he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO. ...

. He is also the youngest to ever do it, about two months ahead of Yang, who was 38 years old, two months, and nine days old.

Personal life

Kim was Cheongan-si Ambassador to

Chungcheongnam-do South Chungcheong Province ( ko, 충청남도, ''Chungcheongnam-do''), also known as Chungnam, is a province of South Korea. South Chungcheong has a population of 2,059,871 (2014) and has a geographic area of 8,204 km2 (3,168 sq mi) located in ...

in April 2009. He was a Neowiz Games Slugger PR Ambassador in May 2009. He was a Korean Red Cross Ambassador in 2013 and May 2014. He was a Good Driver's Mileage Ambassador in July 2013.

Awards, honors, and achievements

*2001 Rookie of the Year *2005 Golden Glove Award (1B) *2008 Golden Glove Award (1B), Home Run Title, Slugging Percentage Leader * 2012 KBO League Batting Champion, Bases on Balls Leader * 2016 Bases on Balls Leader *2017 Professional Baseball 'Sports Seoul' Record of the Year Award *2016 KBO Golden Glove designated hitter Award

Career statistics (KBO)

League-leader.

Notable international tournaments

Filmography

Television shows

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from Korea Baseball Organization
Kim Tae-kyun
at Hanwha Eagles Baseball Club *
Kim Tae-gyun Fancafe
at Daum {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Tae-kyun 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Chiba Lotte Marines players Hanwha Eagles players Sportspeople from South Chungcheong Province South Korean expatriate baseball players in Japan KBO League Rookie of the Year Award winners KBO League first basemen 1982 births Living people Asian Games medalists in baseball 2013 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games 2017 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games South Korean Buddhists