Han-lee Park

Han-lee Park (박한이)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• School Dongguk University
• High School Busan High School

• Born January 28, 1979 in Busan South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Han-lee Park has been a top outfielder in the Korea Baseball Organization. He has almost always drawn more walks than strikeouts and has shown contact, power and speed at times.

Park debuted for the South Korean national team as a teenager. In the 1998 Baseball World Cup, he hit .415/.455/.659 with 10 runs in 10 games, though he made two errors in left field. He was one of South Korea's top two performers at the plate, alongside future big leaguer Hee-seop Choi. Park hit .435 and scored 7 runs in the 1998 Asian Games to help South Korea win Gold.

In the 1999 Asian Championship, the Dongguk University student was 0 for 3 with two RBI. He batted only .185/.267/.259 as the Korean LF in the 1999 Intercontinental Cup. Park turned pro in 2001 with the Samsung Lions, hitting .279/.384/.445 with 72 walks, 17 steals (in 26 tries), 13 home runs and 77 runs. In 2002, the Busan native batted .272/.355/.387 and scored 89 times.

Park's batting line in 2003 was .322/.399/.458. He led the KBO with 170 hits and also had 34 doubles, 71 walks, 17 steals (caught 7 times) and 113 runs. He was only two runs behind league leader Seung-yeop Lee. He represented South Korea in the 2003 Asian Championship, going 0 for 7. In 2004, Han-lee hit .310/.397/.465 with 16 homers (his best total through 2013) and 74 walks. He was named as one of the KBO's best outfielders, winning a Gold Glove, which in Korea goes to the best all-around players at each spot. He shared the honor with Byung-kyu Lee, Jin-young Lee and Cliff Brumbaugh.

In 2005, Park batted .295/.377/.397 for Samsung. The next season, he hit .285/.393/.376 with 86 walks and a league-best 89 runs. He tied for second in the KBO in free passes behind only Jun-hyuk Yang. He joined outfielders Yong-kyu Lee and Taek-keun Lee in winning Gold Gloves.

Park hit .267/.359/.309 with just 2 home runs in 2007. In '08, he batted .316/.414/.405; he was 8th in the league in average and 5th in OBP. In 2009, the veteran produced at a .311/.399/.425 clip. Had he qualified, he would have tied Taek-keun Lee for 8th in average. He remained steady (.303/.415/.456) in 2010. Had he qualified, he would have been 5th in OBP, between Hyun-soo Kim and Tae-wan Kim. In game one of the 2010 Korean Series, he hit a go-ahead single off Kwang-hyun Kim in the 5th but Samsung was swept by the SK Wyverns. He had an off-season (.256/.353/.338) in 2011, then rebounded to .304/.393/.381 in 2012. He tied Byung-ho Park for 7th in OBP and was 9th in average between Yong-taik Park and Won-seop Kim. Samsung won both the 2011 Korean Series and 2012 Korean Series.

At age 34, Park hit .284/.366/.376 in 2013. He started the 2013 Korean Series 1 for 14 then reversed fortunes quickly. His two-run single off Myung-jun Yoon broke a 5-5 tie in game 5 to keep Samsung alive and send the Series home. His 3-run homer off Dustin Nippert capped a game six win. In game 7, he had 3 hits and 3 runs in a 7-3 romp over the Doosan Bears to give Samsung its third straight Korean Series title, the first team to accomplish that feat. Park was named Korean Series MVP for his stellar work in games 5 through 7.

Sources

• KBO player page
• Korean Wikipedia entry