Na Jiwan (, born May 19, 1985) is a South Korean former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. From 2008 to 2022, he played for the

Kia 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 ...

. He batted and threw

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 ...

Amateur career

While attending Shinil Junior High School in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, Na was a

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 could throw 88-mile fastballs. In , he was selected for the South Korean national youth baseball team (under-16). The team won the gold medal at the inaugural Asian Youth Baseball Championship, and Na was named MVP of the competition, appearing in all the games as a pitcher. In , he entered the Shinil High School baseball team, but converted to 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 ...

due to elbow injuries. After three years at Shinil High School, Na went undrafted in the KBO Draft. Instead, he continued his baseball career in

Dankook University Dankook University (commonly referred to as Dankook), abbreviated as DU or DKU, is a prestigious private research university in Yongin and Cheonan, South Korea. The university was established in 1947. It was the first university established after ...

. While attending college, Na was considered one of the top sluggers in the South Korean collegiate baseball league, winning

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

titles in and . In October 2007, as a senior in

, Na was selected for the South Korea national baseball team to compete in the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

. He was the only amateur

in the South Korean roster. In the tournament, Na batted .385 with 3 RBI as a starting

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

Notable international careers

For the 2014 Asian Games, he reportedly hid an injury.

Professional career

Selected by the

with the 5th pick in the 2nd round of the 2008 KBO Draft, Na made his pro debut in the Tigers opening game against the Samsung Lions on March 29, . He was the first rookie player to bat

cleanup Cleanup, clean up or clean-up may refer to: * Cleanup (animation), a stage of animation workflow * Clean-up (environment), environmental action to remove litter from a place * Cleanup hitter, a baseball position * Clean-up Records, a record label ...

in the opening game in the Tigers' history. In his first at-bat, Na struck out swinging against

Bae Young-Soo Bae Young-Soo (; born May 4, 1981, in Daegu, South Korea) is a former South Korean starting pitcher who played 18 seasons in the KBO League. He batted and threw right-handed. He was well known as a franchise player for his former hometown club, ...

. He was 0-for-3 with 1 RBI in his first professional game. Na fell into a slump, showing a weakness against

breaking ball In baseball, a breaking ball is a pitch that does not travel straight as it approaches the batter; it will have sideways or downward motion on it, sometimes both (see slider). A breaking ball is not a specific pitch by that name, but is any ...

s, and was demoted to the second (reserve) team of the Tigers at the end of April. In June, he returned to the 26-man first team roster but played as a platoon or backup outfielder. Na finished his rookie season with a

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 ...

of .295, 6

s and 30 RBI, playing in 73 games. In , Na became a fixture at

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

for the Tigers as starting

Lee Yong-Kyu was sidelined due to an ankle injury in the beginning of the season. His

dipped to .263, but he had 482 plate appearances, which enabled him to qualify for the

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

(ranked 39th in the league), and smacked 23

s (11th in the league). Besides, Na was 18th in walks (66), 19th in RBI (73) and 23rd in slugging percentage (.474). On October 24, , Na hit a game and series-winning solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning off Chae Byung-Ryong during Game 7 of the 2009 Korean Series. The dramatic homer gave the Kia Tigers a 6–5 victory over the two-time defending champion SK Wyverns. Na's home run was the third

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will no ...

in Korean Series history. Earlier in the game, when Kia was trailing 5–1 in the sixth inning, Na smacked a two-run home run off Wyverns'

reliever 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, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

Lee Seung-Ho. Na's big bat in Game 7 helped earn him MVP honors in the Korean Series, although Tigers' starting pitcher Aquilino López arguably deserved the award. Lopez was the winning pitcher in Game 1, a 5–3 Kia victory, then hurled a shutout in a 3–0 Tigers' win in Game 5. The former major-leaguer also got two outs in relief, with an SK runner on second base and the game tied at five, in the eighth inning of Game 7. In 2016, he qualified as a free agent and remained with a total of 4 billion '' won'', including 1.6 billion ''won'' in four-year down payment and 600 million ''won'' in annual salary.

Awards and honors

*2009 Korean Series MVP

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Na, Jiwan Kia Tigers players Korean Series MVPs KBO League left fielders South Korean baseball players Dankook University alumni 1985 births Living people Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea