Min-woo Kim (01)

Min-woo Kim (김민우)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 202 lb.
• School Hanyang University
• High School Bucheon High School

• Born March 21, 1979 in Ansan, Gyeonggi South Korea

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Min-woo Kim was an infielder in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2002 to 2004 and from 2008 to 2016.

He was a star player in high school, where he was a pitcher, and college, where he moved to the infield in his freshman year at Hanyang University. He played for the South Korean national team at the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, hitting .200/.238/.200 and fielding .818 at third base. In 2001, he helped his school clinch the Korean college championship, then played in the 2001 Baseball World Cup (batting .097/.147/.129 and fielding .875 with two errors to three hits in a rough tourney; he somehow drove in five in his ten games) and 2001 Asian Championship (winning a Silver Medal).

His first three seasons in the KBO were with the Hyundai Unicorns, but he played very little, with the 25 games in which he appeared in his first season his highest total. He never had as many as 50 at-bats in any of these seasons, or more than 8 hits. The highlight of that period was batting .368 in 15 games as a late-season roster addition in 2003, and then being on the roster for the 2003 Korean Series in which Hyundai defeated SK Wyverns. After the 2004 season, he decided to perform his military service and played with the military police team.

His second stint was a lot more substantial, although his 2008 season with the Woori Heroes was very much in line with his first three. It was only in 2009 that he got to play regularly for the first time, at age 30, as he hit .264 in 78 games for Woori, with 3 homers and 10 RBIs. In 2010 the Woori Heroes became the Nexen Heroes and he played in a career-high 128 games split between third base and second base. He batted .257 with 9 homers and 44 RBIs, also scoring 64 runs, drawing 61 walks and stealing 28 bases (both 10th in the league). On Opening Day that year, on March 27th, he hit the first home run of the KBO season off Ryan Sadowski, helping his team defeat the Lotte Giants. He had a very similar season in 2011, playing 126 games for Nexen and batting .247 with 6 homers and 31 RBIs. His 23 swipes were 8th in the circuit.

After these two seasons as a full-time player, he saw less action over his final five seasons. In 2012, he hit .228 in 69 games and in 2013 hit .292 but in only 33 games. He left Nexen for the Kia Tigers in 2014 and played his final three seasons for that team. He got into 87 and 90 games the first two years with Kia, batting .252 and .260 but in 2016 fell to .195 in 19 games at age 37, bringing his career to an end. After the end of his playing career, he went into coaching with the Kia Tigers.