Man-soo Lee

Man-soo Lee (이만수)
(Hulk)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lb.

• School Hanyang University
• High School Daegu Commercial High School

• Born September 9, 1958 in Cheorwon County South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Catcher Man-soo Lee played for sixteen seasons with the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization. He retired as the KBO's all-time home run king with 252; a record which has since been passed by Jong-Hun Jang and Seung-Yeop Lee among others. In 2006, Lee's KBO home run mark for catchers was broken by Kyung-wan Park. He won the MVP Award of the KBO in 1983 and the next season won the Triple Crown with a .340 average, 23 home runs and 80 RBI. It would be 22 years until another batter won the Triple Crown; Dae-ho Lee accomplished the feat in 2006. He also led the league in homers and RBI in three straight seasons (1983-1985), won 5 Gold Gloves (1983-1987) and played in 12 All-Star Games. He hit the first home run in the history of the KBO as well.

Lee was on the first South Korean national team to win Silver in a Amateur World Series, doing so in 1980.

After retiring he served as hitting coach for the 1998 Kinston Indians and as the first base coach for the Charlotte Knights in 1999. From 2000 to 2006, he was bullpen catcher for the Chicago White Sox, the first Korean to coach in the major leagues. After the '06 season, Lee returned to Korea as a coach for the SK Wyverns.

In May of 2007, Lee staged a publicity stint to give SK their first home sell-out in over two years when he promised to wear boxers (and fake buttocks) on the field. He then auctioned off the boxers for charity. He became SK's skipper in 2011 and led them to the 2011 Korean Series and a loss in the 2012 Korean Series. He was let go following the 2014 season, replacing by Yong-hee Kim. He then went to Laos to develop the game there, becoming Vice President of the Laos Baseball Association. He managed the first Laos national team to play in an Asian Games, in 2018.