Jeong Choi

Jeong Choi (최정)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.

• High School Yushin High School

• Born February 28, 1987 in Icheon, Gyeonggi South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jeong Choi is the first player to hit 500 homers in KBO history.

Choi represented Korea in the 2004 World Junior Championship, and he was drafted by the SK Wyverns in the first round of the 2005 KBO draft. He debuted in 2005, at age 18, hitting .247/.304/.341 in a part-time role and batted .221/.275/.389 in 2006. He was the 4th player in KBO history to hit double-digit homers before turning 20, following Jae-hyun Kim, Seung-yeop Lee and Tae-kyun Kim At age 20 in 2007, he improved to .267/.338/.436 and hit 19 home runs. He was one of the top sluggers on the 2007 Korean Series champions, and he was 4-for-23 in the series.

In 2008, Choi continued his progress, with a batting line of .328/.410/.480 and he stole 19 bases in 27 tries as well. Choi was third in the KBO in average (behind Hyun-soo Kim and Sung-hoon Hong) and 7th in hits (tied with Tae-kyun Kim). Choi hit the game-winning two-run homer in the 2008 Korean Series Game 3, doubled twice and drove in the winning run in Game 4 and drove in one of two runs in Game 5 to take home Korean Series MVP honors. He was the youngest player to win the award. He had a .263/.300/.526 batting line in the entire series. Choi was 0 for 7 with 3 strikeouts and at least one error as a SS-3B-PH for South Korea in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The second-youngest hitter on the team, he did contribute a sacrifice fly off Victor Moreno in the win over Venezuela.

Choi hit .265/.376/.478 with 19 homers in 2009, and he also pitched an inning on June 25 against the KIA Tigers. He was the third player to play as pitcher, catcher and infielder in KBO history, following Jae-bak Kim and Dong-soo Choi. Choi led the league with 22 hit-by-pitches that season. However, he was 2-for-18 in the 2009 Korean Series, and the Wyverns lost to the KIA Tigers in 7 games. Choi extended his solid performance in 2010, and he recorded a .300/.396/.533 batting line with 20 homers. He led the league with 31 doubles, and he ranked 6th in runs scored (between Ah-seop Son and Sung-hwan Cho). He did well in the 2010 Korean Series this time, hitting .545/.625/1.132 with 2 homers to help the Wyverns swept the Samsung Lions.

The Icheon native then represented his nation in the 2010 Asian Games, and he was 4-for-10 and Korea beat Chinese Taipei and won Gold. This earned him an exemption from South Korea's otherwise mandatory military service. He then crushed 20 homers with a .310/.402/.526 batting line in 2011, and he won his first KBO Gold Glove award as a third baseman; the award was for the best overall third baseman in the KBO, not just the best defender like in the US or Japan. He ranked 5th in doubles (tied with Hyun-soo Kim, Min-ho Kang and Son), 3rd in homers (tied with Cory Aldridge) and 3rd in slugging (between Dae-ho Lee and Son). He had a .368/.429/.526 batting line in the 2011 Korean Series, but the Wyverns lost to the Lions in 5 games.

Choi crushed 26 homers with a .300/.386/.538 batting line and 20 steals in 2012, and he won his second Gold Glove. He was 2nd in homers (5 behind Byung-ho Park), 5th in hits (between Seung-yeop Lee and Chi-hong An) and 4th in RBI (between Lee and Jung-ho Kang). He again shined in the 2012 Korean Series as he hit .375/.400/.708 with a homers, but the Lions beat the Wyverns in 6 games. He was 2-for-6 with a RBI in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Choi hit .316/.429/.551 with 28 homers in 2013, and he was 3rd in homers (between Hyung-woo Choi and Bum-ho Lee), 9th in batting (between Byung-ho Park and Seong-hoon Jeong), 6th in hits (tied with Taek-keun Lee) and 7th in RBI (between Ho-joon Lee and Seok-min Park). He won his third consecutive Gold Glove as a third baseman.

The young slugger only played 82 games due to back issues in 2014, and he crushed 14 homers with a .305/.397/.506 batting line. He then hit .295/.401/.542 with 17 homers in 2015, and he came back in 2016. Choi broke Kyung-wan Park's KBO record with 167 career hit-by-pitches, and he crushed his 200th homer against Kyu-jin Yun on June 1. He smacked 40 homers with a .288/.403/.580 batting line in 141 games, and he won his fourth Gold Glove. Choi led the league in homers (tied with Eric Thames) and hit-by-pitches, and he was 8th in runs (between Jae-hwan Kim and Ja-wook Koo) and 10th in RBI (between Bum-ho Lee and Seok-min Park).

Choi extended his elite performance in 2017, and he crushed a career-high 48 homers with a .316/.427/.684 batting line. On April 8, he became the third player to hit 4 homers in a game in KBO history, following Kyung-wan Park and Byung-ho Park. He crushed 2 homers in the 2017 KBO All-Star Game, and he became the first Wyverns player to win the All-Star MVP. He broke José Fernandez's KBO record for most homers as a third baseman, and he broke SK's team record for most homers and RBI in a season. Choi led the league in homers and slugging, and he was 5th in RBI (11 behind Darin Ruf) and 5th in walks (between Yong-taik Park and Keon-chang Seo). He won another Gold Glove, and he was 2nd in the KBO MVP voting (294 points, behind Hyeon-jong Yang's 656 points).

The 2018 season was a down year for Choi, and he only hit .244/.368/.547 with 35 homers. He crushed his 300th career homer on July 8, and he was the youngest player to reach the benchmark in KBO history. Choi ranked 7th in homers, between Dae-ho Lee and Sung-yul Lee). He struggled in the first five games of the 2018 Korean Series, but he blasted a game-tying home run against Josh Lindblom in the 9th inning of Game 6 to help the Wyverns beat the Lotte Giants. Choi signed a 6-year, 10.6 billion won extension with the Wyverns after the '18 season. He recorded a .292/.399/.519 batting line with 29 homers in 2019, and he won his 6th Gold Glove. He became the youngest player to get 1,000 RBI in KBO history with a solo shot against Young-kyu Kim on April 20. Choi was 2nd in homers (tied with Jamie Romak and Jerry Sands), 8th in runs (tied with Romak) and 6th in RBI (between Ruf and Byung-ho Park).

Choi represented Korea in the 2019 Premier 12, and he went 2-for-8 for the Silver Medalists. He became the first right-handed slugger to get 350 homers in KBO history, reaching the mark on July 24, 2020, and he ended up hitting .270/.392/.538 with 33 homers in 133 games. He was 4th in homers, tied with Eui-ji Yang. The Wyverns became the SSG Landers after this season. Choi became the first KBO player to hit 10 homers in 16 consecutive seasons in 2021, and he crushed his 400th homer on October 19 against the KIA Tigers. He was the first right-handed KBO player to reach that benchmark. Choi ended up hitting .278/.410/.562 with 35 homers, and he won his 7th Gold Glove. He led the league in homers, and he was 5th in RBI (between Sung-bum Na and Jae-il Oh).

The veteran slugger became the first player to get 300 hit-by-pitches on June 24, 2022, and he became the youngest player to play 2,000 games on August 6. He crushed 26 homers with a .266/.386/.505 batting line in that season, and he tied Dae-hwa Han's record with his 8th Gold Glove as a third baseman. He was 3rd in homers (between José Pirela and Oh) and 5th in walks (tied with Jung-hoo Lee and Yoo-seom Han). He hit .476/.593/.810 with 2 homers in the 2022 Korean Series, and the Landers beat the Kiwoom Heroes in 6 games. Choi also tied Tyrone Woods to become the career leader for homers in the Korean Series with 7. He didn't win the series MVP, ans it went to Kang-min Kim, who hit a game-winning homer in Game 5.

Choi represented Korea in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but he was 1-for-9 and his nation was eliminated in the first round. He became the 17th player to get 2,000 career hits on April 12, and he broke Seung-Yeop Lee's KBO record with his 1,356 career run scored on September 6. He crushed 29 homers with a .297/.388/.548 batting line in 2023, and he was 2nd in homers (2 behind Si-hwan Roh) and 4th in runs (between Son and Sócrates Brito). Choi reached several big milestones in 2024. He surpassed Lee and became the All-time KBO home run leader on April 24 with his 468th home run. Choi also broke Hyung-woo Choi's KBO career total bases record on September 15, and he broke Yong-taik Park's KBO record with his 9,138 career plate appearances. He had a .291/.384/.594 batting line with 37 homers in 2024, and he ranked 3rd in homers (between Do-yeong Kim and Suk-hwan Yang) and 9th in RBI (tied with Yang). He signed a 4-year, 1.1 billion won contract with the Landers after that season.

On May 13, he crushed his 500th home run against Riley Thompson of the NC Dinos, and he became the first KBO player to reach that benchmark.

As of 2024, Choi had hit .288/.390/.532 with 2,269 hits, 421 doubles, 495 homers and 1,561 RBI in 20 seasons in the KBO. He held career records in plate appearances, homers, runs, total bases, hit-by-pitches and strikeouts. He was also 6th in hits (between Joon-hyuk Yang and Tae-kyun Kim), 2nd in games (76 behind Min-ho Kang), 7th in doubles (between Yong-taik Park and Jae-Gyun Hwang), 2nd in RBI (90 behind Hyung-woo Choi) and 5th in walks (between Sung-ho Jang and Han-lee Park).

Sources

• KBO Player Page
• "My KBO" message board
• World Baseball Classic
• Namu Wiki