Park Kyung-oan (born July 11, 1972 in

Jeonju Jeonju () is the 16th largest city in South Korea and the capital of North Jeolla Province. It is both urban and rural due to the closeness of Wanju County which almost entirely surrounds Jeonju (Wanju County has many residents who work in Jeonju) ...

Jeollabuk-do North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...

, South Korea) is a former South Korean

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 tea ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

and former Olympic bronze medalist. A four-time Golden Glove winner, Park is considered by many to be one of the best catchers in Korean baseball history. Playing for the Ssangbangwool Raiders, 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 ...

, and 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 ...

during his career, his teams won five

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 ...

championships.

Professional career

Park started out his career as a member of the Ssangbangwool Raiders, playing for that team from 1991 to 1997, almost its entire existence. Park was then traded to the

, where he played for the next five seasons. It was there, in the year 2000, where he had arguably the best season of his career, hitting .282 with 40 home runs, and 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 League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock ...

. Park represented the Korean national baseball 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 ...

, leading his team to second place. In the 2010 season, Park became the first catcher in Korean baseball history to hit 300 career home runs. Park's 166 career hit-by-pitches are second-most in KBO history, after

Choi Jeong Choi Jeong (Hangul: 최정; born February 28, 1987 in Icheon, South Korea) is a third baseman who has played his whole career for the SK Wyverns (known as the SSG Landers beginning in 2021) in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throw ...

. Since 2013, Park has worked as the bench coach for the

.Yonhap
"KBO manager's collapse shows how stressful the job is,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (June 28, 2020).

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 ...

Profile
from databaseolympics.com 1972 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games Hyundai Unicorns players KBO League catchers KBO League Most Valuable Player Award winners Living people Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball People from Jeonju SSG Landers players South Korean baseball players Ssangbangwool Raiders players Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Sportspeople from North Jeolla Province {{SouthKorea-baseball-catcher-stub

Professional career

See also

References

External links