Hyun-gon Lee

Hyun-gon Lee (이현곤)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 187 lb.

• School Yonsei University
• High School Gwangju Jeil High School

• Born February 21, 1980 in Gwangju South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Infielder Hyun-gon Lee has had one big year in the Korea Baseball Organization through 2008.

Lee hit .480 and slugged .960 in the 1997 World Junior Championship, with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. In the 2001 Asian Championship, Lee had the best average and most homers of any player, helping South Korea win a Silver Medal. He made the tournament All-Star team at shortstop, the only non-Taiwanese player picked as an infielder. In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, Lee hit .292/.346/.333 while playing every infield spot except first base. He began his professional career with the 2002 KIA Tigers, hitting .257/~.311/.416 in 52 games and 113 AB. A regular in 2003, he batted .263/~.317/.349. Back in a reduced role the next year, Lee hit .276/~.364/.379. He did not play in 2005, presumably due to either military service or injury.

Returning to the field in 2006, Lee hit .243/~.284/.368 for KIA. He had a huge year in 2007, hitting .338/.393/.419. He won the KBO batting title by .001 over Joon-hyuk Yang, led in hits (153) and was second in doubles (31, 3 behind Yang). Due to his mediocre number of walks and his low power (no triples, 2 homers), he was only 11th in the league in OPS. He still finished 2nd in voting for the Korea Baseball Organization MVP, trailing pitcher Danny Rios. He was not named as the best player at his position despite that MVP vote total. Lee was 1 for 3 with two runs Korea in the 2007 Asian Championship, backing up Dong-joo Kim at third base.

In 2008, Lee faded back down to .257/~.315/.331.

Sources

• KBO player page
• Korean Wikipedia entry
• 1998 Baseball Almanac