Park Yong-taik (

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 ...

: 박용택,

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, ...

: 朴龍澤) (born April 21, 1979) is a South Korean

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 ...

who has played his entire career for the

LG Twins LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is t ...

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 ...

. With 2,504 career hits, he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO. He bats

left-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 subject ...

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 ...

Amateur career

Park attended Whimoon 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 ...

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 , he was selected for the South Korea national junior team that finished in fourth place at the

World Junior Baseball Championship The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

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 ...

. Upon graduation from high school in , Park entered Korea University instead of turning pro directly. In , his sophomore year at Korea University, he made his first appearance for the South Korea national baseball team in the Intercontinental Cup held in Sydney, Australia. In , Park competed in the

Asian Baseball Championship The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. South Korea won the silver medal, and Park was selected to the All-Star team as an outfielder.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Signed by the

, Park made his

debut on April 2, . In the 2002 KBO season, he batted .288 which was the highest

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 ...

among the rookie players. In , He had a .300-plus batting average for the first time (.300), amassing 16 home runs and 58 RBIs. Park was well known as a base-stealing

cleanup hitter In baseball, a cleanup hitter is the fourth hitter in the batting order. The cleanup hitter is traditionally the team's most powerful hitter. His job is to "clean up the bases", i.e., drive in base runners. Theory The thinking behind the us ...

. While batting fourth in the order of his team since his rookie season, he stole 40-plus bases in two seasons ( and ), and won the stolen base title with a career-high 43 in 2005. In , Park was called up to the South Korea national baseball team for the inaugural World Baseball Classic. He appeared in four games as a pinch hitter, going 1-for-4 with one RBI. In Team Korea's second game of

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. ...

against China, Park hit a RBI triple to drive in

Lee Bum-Ho Lee Bum-ho (; Hanja: 李杋浩; born November 25, 1981) is a South Korean former third baseman who played primarily in the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed. Lee is considered one of the best defensive third basemen in the KBO league ...

as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh. In , Park fell into a horrendous slump. He batted a career-low .257 with a career-low two home runs, missing 30 games due to injuries. In 2009, Park had his best career in batting average. He won the KBO batting title with a career-high .372 averageKIM HYO-KYUNG
"Pushing 40, LG Twins’ Park Yong-taik proves that age is no obstacle,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (August 28, 2016). and hit 18 home runs. On December 11, 2009, he won the Golden Glove Award as an outfielder. In 2012, Park received another Golden Glove award. From 2009 to 2018, Park hit over .300 every season.Wolfe, Tony
"Buried in the LG Twins’ Lineup, a Korean Baseball Great,"
''FanGraphs'' (May 14, 2020). From 2013 and until 2017, and despite playing in his mid- to late-thirties, Park batted over .320 and reached at least 150 hits in each season, and was widely regarded as one of the best contact hitters in the KBO. With 2,439 career hits at the end of 2019,KIM HYO-KYUNG, KANG YOO-RIM
"Hitting legend Park just wants one title,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (January 10, 2020). he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO, having over-taken Yang Joon-hyuk's mark of 2,318 total hits. Before the 2020 season, he declared that he would retire after the season.

Notable international careers

Filmography

Television shows

References

External links

Profile and stats on the KBO official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Yong-Taik South Korean baseball players LG Twins players 2006 World Baseball Classic players Korea University alumni Living people 1979 births

Amateur career

Notable international careers

Professional career

Notable international careers

Filmography

Television shows

See also

References

External links