Ji-man Song

Ji-man Song (송지만)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 187 lb.

• School Inha University
• High School Dongsan High School

• Born March 2, 1973 in Jeonju South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ji-man Song has hit over 250 home runs in the Korea Baseball Organization and has played for the South Korean national team. He once led the KBO in slugging.

Song debuted in 1996 with the Hanwha Eagles, hitting .287/~.370/.520 with 30 doubles and 18 home runs. In 1997, he batted .266/.333/.435. The next year, his batting line was .269/~.363/.426. In 1999, the Eagles outfielder hit .311/~.354/.546 with 11 triples and 22 homers. He failed to win a Gold Glove, which in South Korea goes to the best player at each position; the three outfielders chosen were Soo-keun Jung, Byung-kyu Lee and Felix Jose.

Ji-man had his career year in 2000. He batted .338/~.412/.622, .002 behind Jong-ho Park for the batting title and leading the KBO in slugging. He was 4th in average, just behind Dong-joo Kim and Tilson Brito in addition to Park; he was right ahead of Jay Davis and Julio Franco. He had 33 doubles, 32 home runs, 90 RBI and 93 runs. He won a Gold Glove, joining Byung-kyu Lee and Jae-hong Park in the outfield. He also won the All-Star Game MVP Award that season. Song was on the Korean roster for the 2000 Olympics but injured his ankle three days before the Games were to start and was replaced on the roster, missing out on a Bronze Medal as a result.

In 2001, the Hanwha flyhawk hit .285/~.359/.532 with 22 circuit clouts. The next season, he batted .291/~.377/.570 with 38 homers and 104 RBI while striking out 136 times. He won a second Gold Glove in the outfield. He was 9 homers behind Seung-yeop Lee, the league leader. In the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, Song hit .214/.324/.536 with 8 RBI in 9 games.

Song's batting line in 2003 was .253/~.352/.438 and he was limited to 74 games by injury; for the first time in his career, he failed to reach double digits in home runs.

Song moved to the Hyundai Unicorns in 2004 and batted .265/~.360/.444 with 22 homers. In 2005, he hit .271/~.368/.426 with 24 circuit clouts. He was a late addition to Korea's team for the 2006 World Baseball Classic, replacing Jae-hong Park and going 2 for 5 as a backup outfielder. 2006 was a slight decline season; he batted .261/~.352/.415. In 2007, the 34-year-old hit .281/~.359/.450.

Hyundai became the Woori Heroes in 2008.

Through 98 games in 2008, Song's career batting line is .284/~.362/.490 with 261 homers, 841 RBI and 843 runs in 1,520 contests.

Sources

• KBO Player Page
• Single-season leaders in the KBO
• Korean wikipedia
• Defunct IBAF site