In-sung Cho

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In-sung Cho

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Biographical Information[edit]

In-sung Cho has held down a regular role in the Korea Baseball Organization for a decade and has played for the Korean national team.

While in college, Cho was on the national team, winning Silver in the 1995 Asian Championship. In the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, he was 0 for 8 with a walk and a sacrifice fly, splitting catching duties with Kab-yong Jin. In the 1996 Olympics, In-sung hit .263/.318/.579 with two home runs to tie for the team lead. He threw out 5 of 8 attempted base-stealers.

Cho began his professional career with the 1998 LG Twins and batted .269/~.285/.373 in 84 games, only drawing 3 walks in at least 137 plate appearances. He won Gold with South Korea in the 1998 Asian Games. In 1999, the LG backstop hit .254/~.289/.401 in 56 contests. He followed with a .225/~.287/.322 line in 2000.

Cho produced at a .253/~.312/.387 rate for the 2001 Twins. In 2002, he hit .268/~.304/.412 with 21 doubles and 9 home runs; he struck out in 82 of 362 AB. The next season, the Yonsei University alumnus batted .257/~.295/.446 and smacked a career-high 19 home runs and drove home 58. He represented South Korea in the 2003 Asian Championship, splitting catching duties with Kab-yong Jin. In 2004, the LG catcher hit .254/~.322/.358 as his plate discipline continued to improve; he drew 39 walks, 16 more than in any prior campaign.

Cho hit .224/~.288/.368 only in 2005 but still was added to the Korean roster for the 2006 World Baseball Classic and saw more time than Sung-heon Hong, a more accomplished hitter. Cho split time once more with Jin in an international event and went 2 for 9 for the South Korean squad. Cho also played for South Korea in the 2006 Asian Games.

Cho improved to a .245/~.305/.393 batting line in 2006. In 2007, he hit .282/~.336/.432 for his best OPS yet. He had 24 doubles, 13 home runs and a new career high of 73 RBI. He played for Korea in the 2007 Asian Championship and did very well as their starting catcher, going 4 for 10 with a double, two runs and a RBI while throwing out both people who tried to steal against him.

In the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, Cho was 2 for 9 as the backup to Jin. Korea clinched a spot in the 2008 Olympics.


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