Lee Ho-Joon (born February 8, 1976 in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

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 former

n professional baseball

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

and

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. He bats and throws

right-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 ...

. Lee ranks fourth all-time 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 ...

in both home runs and runs batted in.

Amateur career

While attending Gwangju Jaeil High School, Lee was considered one of the top high school hitting pitchers, batting fourth in the team's batting order and pitching No.1 in the starting rotation. In November 1993 Lee was selected as a member of the South Korea junior national baseball team along with Cho In-Sung and competed in the friendly baseball series against the Japanese regional high school all-star teams. Lee helped Team Korea sweep the six-game series as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

and first baseman.

Professional career

Haitai Tigers / Kia Tigers

Lee made his KBO debut as a pitcher with 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 ...

in . He made eight appearances as a

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 (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the Tigers, posting a 10.22 earned run average and allowing seven home runs in 12 1/3 inning pitched. After his horrendous rookie season, Lee converted his position to

first base 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 ...

. In , his first season as a

position player In baseball, a position player is a player who on defense plays as an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. In Major League Baseball (since 1973 in the American League and since 2022 in the National League), there is also a designated hitter, who ba ...

, Lee batted .167 having three

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s in 18

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s. He had a respectable season as a position player in the , batting .278 in 58 games. The next year () was Lee’s break-out season. He hit .303, the first .300 season of his career, and smacked 19 home runs with 77 RBI, becoming a fixture at first base and batting fourth in batting order for the Tigers. Lee had another solid season in , but his statistics declined from the previous year. He finished with a .276 batting average, 16 home runs and 55 RBI playing in 107 games as a first baseman.

SK Wyverns

During the season, Lee was traded to 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 ...

. His breakout season in the SK Wyverns happened in , when he slugged a career-high 36 home runs (fourth in the league), batted in 102 runs (fifth) and hit .290 for the Wyverns. In , Lee batted .280 with 30 home runs (third) and 87 runs (eighth); he led the league in RBI with a career-high 112. Lee won his second

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 ...

in as the Wyverns defeated the

Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears ( ko, 두산 베어스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and ...

in six games. Lee won his third Korean Series in as the Wyverns swept four-game series against 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 ...

. Lee set a KBO record on May 20, when he was walked in six consecutive

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

(a record tied by Kim Tae-kyun in ). He accomplished the feat in one game. In 127 games, Lee batted .300 with 78 RBI (seventh), 18 home runs (seventh) and a career-high 72 walks (third).

NC Dinos

The KBO Expansion Draft for the newly founded

NC Dinos The NC Dinos ( ko, NC 다이노스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Changwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Since 2019, their home stadium is Changwon NC Park. NC Dinos are owned by video game developer NCSoft Corpo ...

was held after the 2012 season. Lee was picked up in the expansion draft by the Dinos and became the Dinos' everyday designated hitter. In 2013, he was selected as a captain of

. In 126 games, Lee batted .278 with 87 RBI (seventh), 20 home runs (seventh) and 60 walks. He had a remarkable season at age 39 in 2015, when he hit .294 with 24 home runs and 110 RBI. He hit 21 home runs in 2016, his fourth consecutive year with at least 20 home runs, and accomplishing the feat at age 40. Lee retired from professional baseball at the end of the 2017 season.

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