Jong-yeol Lee

Jong-yeol Lee (이종열)

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• High School Jangchung High School

• Born January 28, 1973 in Seoul South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jong-yeol Lee played 19 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization.

Lee signed with the LG Twins in 1991, and he went 5-for-22 in his first season. He hit .208/.292/.257 in 1992, and he had a .238/.296/.306 batting line with 21 steals in 1993. He was 7th in steals, between Kyeong-hoon Chung and Ki-woong Kang. Lee became LG's starting third baseman in 1994, and he hit .211/.267/.257 in 118 games. His batting line was .234/.294/.289 in 1995, and he played 93 games with a .242/.286/.319 batting line in 1996. He missed the entire 1997 season, and he had a .215/.286/.285 batting line in 1998. He was 3-for-14 in the 1998 Korean Series, and the Hyundai Unicorns beat the Twins in 6 games.

The Seoul native broke out in 1999, and he crushed 9 homers with a .291/.378/.427 batting line. Lee hit .250/.326/.357 in 2000, and he only played 79 games with a .225/.301/.296 batting line in 2001. He collected 16 steals with a .267/.339/.391 batting line in 2002, and he was selected into the KBO All-Star Game for the first time in his career. He hit .238/.333/.238 in the 2002 Korean Series, but the Twins lost again in 6 games to the Samsung Lions. Lee hit .233/.320/.317 in 2003, and he recorded a .254/.339/.307 batting line in 2004. He then blasted 6 homers with a .253/.314/.361 batting line in 2005, and he batted .252/.303/.344 in 96 games in 2006.

On August 29, 2007, Lee became the only player to get 2 hits in an inning, doing so against the Lotte Giants. He ended up hitting .285/.359/.360 with 4 homers that season, and he recorded a .233/.284/.292 batting line in 2008. He was 3-for-15 in 2009, then he announced his retirement. Lee was the assistant fielding coach for the Twins in 2010, and he coached their minor league team in 2011. he later became an commentator for SBS from 2015 to 2023, and he coached South Korea in the 2019 Premier 12, 2020 Olympics and 2022 Asian Games. The Samsung Lions named him their general manager in 2024.

Overall, Lee hit .248/.317/.331 with 1,175 hits and 52 homers in 19 seasons in the KBO. He was the first fielder to play for the same team in 19 consecutive years.

Sources

• Namu Wiki