Lee Seung-yuop (born 18 August 1976) is a retired

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and the current manager of 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 ...

. He spent most of his career with the Samsung Lions 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 ...

. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball player in the world to hit 300 home runs. He formerly held the Asian home run record of 56 homers in a season, established in 2003 while playing for Samsung in the KBO. The record was broken by

Wladimir Balentien Wladimir Ramon Balentien (; born July 2, 1984), nicknamed "Coco", is a Curaçaoan-Dutch professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, and in ...

of the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the ...

, on September 15, 2013, when he hit his 56th and 57th Home Runs of the season against the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

of the

Nippon Professional Baseball League 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 ...

. He holds the KBO records for career home runs, runs scored, RBIs, total bases, and slugging percentage. Combined, across the KBO and NPB, Lee has also recorded more hits than any other native-born South Korean player.

Professional career

Lee started his career with the Samsung Lions of the

in 1995 and played with them for nine seasons. He was the first player in the KBO League to hit 50 home runs in a season when he clubbed 54 in 1999. He set the single-season home run mark with 56 in 2003. In 2004 Lee signed with 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 ...

of Japan's

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently cons ...

for two years. He signed a one-year contract with the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

for 210 million yen, including a 50 million yen signing bonus, for the 2006 season. He batted fourth and played first base there. He explicitly showed interest in making a move to

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He had a slow start in Japan. Lee hit just 14 home runs and drove in 50 runs while batting .240 in 100 games. In the next season, he greatly improved, making 30 home runs and 82 RBI while batting .260 in 117 games. He was selected to play for the

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 ...

in the inaugural

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

in 2006. He batted .333 and led all players in the tournament with 5 home runs and 10 RBI. This has increased speculation that an MLB team might eventually sign him. However, Lee was under contract to play with the

for the 2006 season. On 1 August 2006, Lee became only the third professional baseball player to hit 400 career home runs before the age of 30 (others include

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

and

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

). In the 2006 season, he batted .323 with 41 homers. On 3 August 2006, a report on MLB Radio on XM satellite radio stated that the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

and Lee had agreed to start negotiations during the offseason after the 2006 regular season. The South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo had reported on July 19 that the Yankees had expressed interest in the slugger. After the conclusion of the 2006 season, Lee re-signed with the Yomiuri Giants, citing that he wishes to win a Japan Series with the team. However, a clause allowed him to be a free agent if the Giants won the series. After being released by the Giants at the end of the 2010 season, Lee joined the Orix Buffaloes of Japan's

in December 2010. On 5 December 2011, Lee rejoined his former team Samsung Lions, signing a one-year deal. He played with the Lions until his retirement at age 41 at the end of the 2017 season. Despite his age, Lee hit 143 home runs between 2012 and 2017. In his retirement game against the Nexen Heroes in October 2017, he hit two home runs.

2008 Summer Olympics

Lee played for the South Korean national team in the

2008 Summer Olympic Games 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 Nati ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Slowed down by an injury to his left thumb, Lee struggled in the preliminary rounds, limited to 3-for-22 (.136) with two runs batted in and no home runs, before coming alive in the medal round games against Japan and

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. In the semifinal game against Japan, Lee hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever

Hitoki Iwase Hitoki Iwase (岩瀬仁紀, born November 10, 1974) is a retired Japanese professional baseball player from Nishio, Aichi, Japan. He holds the NPB record for career saves and mound appearances. In 2005, he marked 46 saves with a 1.88 ERA, ...

, which proved to be the winning runs in Korea's 6–2 win. In the gold medal game against Cuba, Lee hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Cuban starter Norberto González to help Korea defeat Cuba and win the gold medal.

Career statistics

Career statistics in KBO League

Career statistics in NPB

Filmography

Television shows

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Career statistics and player information
from Korea Baseball Organization *
South Korea's Lee could be bound for majors
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Seung-yuop 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Daegu 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2002 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Chiba Lotte Marines players Doosan Bears managers KBO League first basemen KBO League Most Valuable Player Award winners Korean Series MVPs Kyeongbuk High School alumni Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Olympic baseball players of South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball Orix Buffaloes players Samsung Lions players South Korean expatriate baseball players in Japan Yomiuri Giants players