Choi Jeong

Choi Jeong
Hangul	최정
Hanja	崔廷
Revised Romanization	Choe Jeong
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Chŏng

Choi Jeong
Choi Jeong
Home runs	488
Run batted in	1,474
Hit by pitch	329
Teams
	SK Wyverns / SSG Landers (2005–present);
Career highlights and awards
	6x KBO League Golden Glove Award (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019); Korean Series MVP (2008); 2x KBO Home Run King (2016, 2017);
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing South Korea
World Baseball Classic
Asian Games

Choi Jeong (

right-handed. Choi's 488 career home runs rank first on the KBO all-time list. His 313 career hit-by-pitches (HBP) is the most in the KBO as well as the world record. He was hit by his 288th pitch in 2021 and surpassed Hughie Jennings' 287 hit-by-pitches.^[1]

Education

Suwon Yushin High School
Anyang Pyongchon Middle School
Seongnam Daeil Elementary School

Amateur career

While playing for Yushin High School in

Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, he batted 4th and threw in the mid-90s, playing all nine positions as a No.1 starting pitcher and position player

.

In July 2004, Choi was selected for the South Korea national junior team as a pitcher and participated in the

2004 World Junior Baseball Championship held in Taiwan. Choi started South Korea's first match in the preliminary round, and pitched 5 innings and gave up a run, leading his team to a 5–2 victory over Italy

. South Korea eventually won the bronze medal at the competition.

In December 2004, he was named best high school batter of the year.

Notable international careers

Year	Venue	Competition	Team
2004	Chinese Taipei	World Junior Baseball Championship

Professional career

Signed by the

SK Wyverns, Choi made his pro league debut in the 2005 season. He was successful as both a starting pitcher and a slugger

in high school, but finally decided to be a full-time batter for his pro career.

As a

2007

when he had 109 hits, 16 home runs and batted .267.

In

2008, Choi helped his team to become two-time Korean Series Champions, and he was finally named the series MVP

.

In 2016 and 2017, Choi became the best power-hitter in the KBO, leading the league in home runs both seasons, with 40 and 46 home runs, respectively.

Choi became a free agent after the 2018 season, staying with the Wyverns at 10.6 billion won in total for six years.[2]

In 2019 Choi led the league in HBP with 26; it was the seventh time he had 20+ HBP in 11 seasons. He was hit by pitch another 20 times in 2020.

References

^ "KBO's top baseball magnet passes MLB mark with 288th hit-by-pitch," The Korea Herald (August 19, 2021)
^ 하, 남직 (2018-12-05). "최정, 6년 106억원에 SK와 잔류 계약…KBO 공식 최장 타이(종합)". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-06-18.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Korea Baseball Organization
Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
Choi Jeong at SK Wyverns Baseball Club (in Korean)
Choi Jeong Fancafe at Naver (in Korean)
Choi Jeong on Cyworld (in Korean)

This biographical article relating to a Korean baseball infielder is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "KBO's top baseball magnet passes MLB mark with 288th hit-by-pitch," The Korea Herald (August 19, 2021)

[2] 하, 남직 (2018-12-05). "최정, 6년 106억원에 SK와 잔류 계약…KBO 공식 최장 타이(종합)". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-06-18.

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