Seung-Yeop Lee
Encyclopedia
Lee Seung-yeop also Lee Seung-yuop (born August 18, 1976 in Daegu
, South Korea
) is a baseball
player, currently playing for the Orix Buffaloes
in Japan
's Pacific League
. Nicknamed "Lion King
" since his days with the Samsung Lions
, while being affectionately known as "Mr. Seung" during his playing days with the Chiba Lotte Marines
, Lee is arguably the greatest hitter in Korean baseball history. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball player in the world to hit 300 home runs. He also holds the Asian home run record of 56 homers in a season, established in 2003 while playing for the Samsung Lions
in the Korean league.
Samsung Lions
of the Korean Baseball Organization
in 1995 and played with them for nine seasons. He then played for the Chiba Lotte Marines
of Japan's Pacific League
for two years. He signed a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants
for 210 million yen, including a 50 million yen signing bonus, for the 2006 season. He bats fourth and plays first base there. He has explicitly shown interest in making a move to Major League Baseball
.
He had a slow start in Japan. Lee hit just 14 home runs and drove in 50 runs while batting .240 in 100 games. In the next season, he greatly improved, making 30 home runs and 82 RBI while batting .260 in 117 games.
He was selected to play for the Korea national baseball team
in the inaugural World Baseball Classic
in 2006. He batted .333 and led all players in the tournament with 5 home runs and 10 RBI. This has increased speculation that an MLB team might eventually sign him. However, Lee was under contract to play with the Yomiuri Giants
for the 2006 season.
On 1 August 2006, Lee became only the third professional baseball player ever to hit 400-career home runs before the age of 30 (others include Sadaharu Oh
and Alex Rodriguez
). In the 2006 season, he batted .323 with 41 homers.
On August 3, 2006, a report on MLB Radio on XM satellite radio
stated that the New York Yankees
and Lee had agreed to start negotiations during the offseason after the 2006 regular season. The South Korean daily, ChosunIlbo, had reported on July 19 that the Yankees had expressed interest in the slugger.
After the conclusion of the 2006 season, Lee Seung-Yeop re-signed with the Yomiuri Giants, citing that he wishes to win a Japan Series with the team. However, there is also a clause which allows Lee to be a free agent if the Giants win the series.
As of February 2008, Lee Seung-Yeop still has not made an effort to play in the Major Leagues. He may have lost his best chance to play in MLB in 2004 when he demanded the LA Dodgers include verbiage in any contract they offered guaranteeing him a starting position, something no MLB player has ever had written into a contract.
Lee is 6'0" tall and his playing weight is listed at 187 pounds (85 kg).
In the semifinal game against Team Japan, Lee hit a dramatic go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever Hitoki Iwase
, which proved to be the winning runs in Korea's 6-2 win.
In the gold medal game against Cuba, Lee hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Cuban starter Norberto González
to help Korea defeat Cuba and win the gold medal.
Daegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
) is a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, currently playing for the Orix Buffaloes
Orix Buffaloes
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan. They play in the Pacific League. The team is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
. Nicknamed "Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
" since his days with the Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions Baseball Club is a Korea Professional Baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in Daegu and are members of the Korean Baseball Organization. Their home stadium is Daegu Baseball Stadium...
, while being affectionately known as "Mr. Seung" during his playing days with the Chiba Lotte Marines
Chiba Lotte Marines
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...
, Lee is arguably the greatest hitter in Korean baseball history. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball player in the world to hit 300 home runs. He also holds the Asian home run record of 56 homers in a season, established in 2003 while playing for the Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions Baseball Club is a Korea Professional Baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in Daegu and are members of the Korean Baseball Organization. Their home stadium is Daegu Baseball Stadium...
in the Korean league.
Professional career
Lee started his career with the DaeguDaegu
Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...
Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions
Samsung Lions Baseball Club is a Korea Professional Baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in Daegu and are members of the Korean Baseball Organization. Their home stadium is Daegu Baseball Stadium...
of the Korean Baseball Organization
Korean Baseball Organization
Korea Professional Baseball is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The Korean romanization is Hanguk Peuro Yagu , a league title which mirrors Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Korea Professional Baseball was originally founded with six teams in 1982 and currently has eight...
in 1995 and played with them for nine seasons. He then played for the Chiba Lotte Marines
Chiba Lotte Marines
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...
of Japan's Pacific League
Pacific League
The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series...
for two years. He signed a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
for 210 million yen, including a 50 million yen signing bonus, for the 2006 season. He bats fourth and plays first base there. He has explicitly shown interest in making a move to Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
.
He had a slow start in Japan. Lee hit just 14 home runs and drove in 50 runs while batting .240 in 100 games. In the next season, he greatly improved, making 30 home runs and 82 RBI while batting .260 in 117 games.
He was selected to play for the Korea national baseball team
Korea national baseball team
The Korea national baseball team , nicknamed "Blue Bogy ", is the national baseball team of the Republic of Korea . It has participated in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, it won the gold medal in a final victory against Cuba...
in the inaugural World Baseball Classic
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball , the Major League Baseball Players Association , and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world...
in 2006. He batted .333 and led all players in the tournament with 5 home runs and 10 RBI. This has increased speculation that an MLB team might eventually sign him. However, Lee was under contract to play with the Yomiuri Giants
Yomiuri Giants
The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the...
for the 2006 season.
On 1 August 2006, Lee became only the third professional baseball player ever to hit 400-career home runs before the age of 30 (others include Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh
Sadaharu Oh, or Wang Chenchih , is a retired Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager. He batted and threw left-handed and primarily played first base. Oh, who was born in Sumida, Tokyo the son of a Taiwanese father and a Japanese mother, had originally signed with the powerhouse Yomiuri...
and Alex Rodriguez
Alex Rodriguez
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.Rodriguez is considered one of the best...
). In the 2006 season, he batted .323 with 41 homers.
On August 3, 2006, a report on MLB Radio on XM satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
stated that the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and Lee had agreed to start negotiations during the offseason after the 2006 regular season. The South Korean daily, ChosunIlbo, had reported on July 19 that the Yankees had expressed interest in the slugger.
After the conclusion of the 2006 season, Lee Seung-Yeop re-signed with the Yomiuri Giants, citing that he wishes to win a Japan Series with the team. However, there is also a clause which allows Lee to be a free agent if the Giants win the series.
As of February 2008, Lee Seung-Yeop still has not made an effort to play in the Major Leagues. He may have lost his best chance to play in MLB in 2004 when he demanded the LA Dodgers include verbiage in any contract they offered guaranteeing him a starting position, something no MLB player has ever had written into a contract.
Lee is 6'0" tall and his playing weight is listed at 187 pounds (85 kg).
2008 Summer Olympics
Lee played for the South Korean national team in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Slowed down by an injury to his left thumb, Lee struggled in the preliminary rounds, limited to 3-for-22 (.136) with two runs batted in and no home runs, before coming alive in the medal round games against Japan and Cuba.In the semifinal game against Team Japan, Lee hit a dramatic go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever Hitoki Iwase
Hitoki Iwase
Hitoki Iwase is a Japanese professional baseball player from Nishio, Aichi, Japan. He is a closing pitcher....
, which proved to be the winning runs in Korea's 6-2 win.
In the gold medal game against Cuba, Lee hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Cuban starter Norberto González
Norberto González
Norberto González Miranda is a left-handed pitcher for the Cuban national baseball team and Cienfuegos of the Cuban National Series....
to help Korea defeat Cuba and win the gold medal.
Career Statistics in KBO
| Season | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | SF | BB | HBP | K | GIDP | E | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Lions Samsung Lions Samsung Lions Baseball Club is a Korea Professional Baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in Daegu and are members of the Korean Baseball Organization. Their home stadium is Daegu Baseball Stadium... |
121 | 365 | 55 | 104 | 29 | 1 | 13 | 73 | 0 | 9 | 33 | 4 | 54 | 4 | 8 | 0.285 | 0.477 | 0.345 | 0.822 |
| 1996 | Lions | 122 | 459 | 57 | 139 | 32 | 6 | 9 | 76 | 4 | 6 | 34 | 5 | 42 | 10 | 5 | 0.303 | 0.458 | 0.354 | 0.812 |
| 1997 | Lions | 126 | 517 | 96 | 170 | 37 | 3 | 32 | 114 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 6 | 79 | 10 | 4 | 0.329 | 0.598 | 0.391 | 0.989 |
| 1998 | Lions | 126 | 477 | 100 | 146 | 32 | 2 | 38 | 102 | 0 | 8 | 78 | 5 | 97 | 4 | 3 | 0.306 | 0.621 | 0.404 | 1.025 |
| 1999 | Lions | 132 | 486 | 128 | 157 | 33 | 2 | 54 | 123 | 10 | 4 | 112 | 12 | 114 | 7 | 0 | 0.323 | 0.733 | 0.458 | 1.191 |
| 2000 | Lions | 125 | 454 | 108 | 133 | 33 | 0 | 36 | 95 | 4 | 3 | 80 | 7 | 113 | 5 | 2 | 0.293 | 0.604 | 0.404 | 1.008 |
| 2001 | Lions | 127 | 463 | 101 | 128 | 31 | 2 | 39 | 95 | 4 | 3 | 96 | 12 | 130 | 6 | 4 | 0.276 | 0.605 | 0.412 | 1.017 |
| 2002 | Lions | 133 | 511 | 123 | 165 | 42 | 2 | 47 | 126 | 1 | 2 | 89 | 15 | 109 | 11 | 4 | 0.323 | 0.689 | 0.436 | 1.125 |
| 2003 | Lions | 131 | 479 | 115 | 144 | 23 | 0 | 56 | 144 | 7 | 6 | 101 | 10 | 89 | 11 | 5 | 0.301 | 0.699 | 0.428 | 1.217 |
| Total | - | 1143 | 4211 | 883 | 1286 | 292 | 18 | 324 | 948 | 35 | 46 | 672 | 76 | 827 | 68 | 35 | 0.305 | 0.614 | 0.410 | 1.024 |
Career statistics in NPB
| Season | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | SF | BB | HBP | K | GIDP | E | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Lotte Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:... |
100 | 333 | 50 | 80 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 42 | 3 | 88 | 6 | 4 | 0.240 | 0.328 | 0.450 | 0.779 |
| 2005 | Lotte | 117 | 408 | 64 | 106 | 25 | 2 | 30 | 82 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 79 | 9 | 2 | 0.260 | 0.315 | 0.551 | 0.886 |
| 2006 | Yomiuri Yomiuri Giants The are a professional baseball team based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The team competes in the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top level of professional play in Japan. They play their home games in the Tokyo Dome, opened in 1988. The English-language press occasionally calls the... |
143 | 524 | 101 | 169 | 30 | 0 | 41 | 108 | 5 | 7 | 56 | 5 | 126 | 5 | 3 | 0.323 | 0.389 | 0.616 | 1.003 |
| 2007 | Yomiuri | 137 | 541 | 84 | 148 | 29 | 2 | 30 | 74 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 119 | 8 | 5 | 0.274 | 0.322 | 0.501 | 0.823 |
| 2008 | Yomiuri | 45 | 153 | 21 | 38 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 0.248 | 0.324 | 0.431 | 0.755 |
| 2009 | Yomiuri | 77 | 223 | 33 | 51 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 5 | 65 | 1 | 3 | 0.229 | 0.327 | 0.484 | 0.811 |
| 2010 | Yomiuri | 56 | 92 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0.163 | 0.280 | 0.337 | 0.617 |
| 2011 | Orix Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Osaka and Kobe, Japan. They play in the Pacific League. The team is owned by the Orix Group, a leading diversified financial services company based in Tokyo.... |
122 | 394 | 28 | 79 | 20 | 0 | 15 | 51 | 0 | 6 | 32 | 0 | 121 | 8 | 4 | 0.201 | 0.257 | 0.365 | 0.622 |
| Total | - | 797 | 2668 | 394 | 686 | 138 | 8 | 159 | 439 | 18 | 21 | 252 | 24 | 661 | 40 | 23 | 0.257 | 0.324 | 0.494 | 0.818 |
See also
- Samsung GroupSamsung GroupThe Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
- Lotte Group
- South Korea's Lee could be bound for majors (link broken)