Sang-ho Chung

Sang-ho Chung (정상호)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 220 lb.

• High School Dongsan High School

• Born December 24, 1982 in Incheon South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Sang-ho Chung played in the Korea Baseball Organization for 18 years.

Chung represented Korea in the 2000 World Junior Championship, and he was drafted by the SK Wyverns in the first round of the 2001 KBO draft. He nearly signed with the Cleveland Indians after graduating from high school, but SK gave him a record-breaking 470 million won signing bonus and got him. Chung went 12 for 45 with 6 doubles, 4 walks and 16 strikeouts in 44 games in 2001, but he slumped to .180/.214/.180 in 2002. Chung struggled again in 2003 as he only hit .211/.268/.368, and he stayed in the minors for the entire 2004 season. He then spent 2004-2006 in the South Korean Armed Forces.

While in the military, he played for South Korea in a couple international tournaments. In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, he batted .294/.368/.412 in 11 games and threw out 3 of 8 attempted base-stealers. In the Gold Medal game, he started at catcher and batted 5th. He drew a walk and ground into a double play against Dany Betancourt; he threw out Ariel Pestano when Pestano tried to steal. Jung was removed partway through the game in South Korea's 3-0 loss to Cuba. During the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, Jung batted .222/.263/.278 with 8 strikeouts in 18 at-bats. Runners were only one-for-four trying to steal against him in the Cup.

The Incheon native played 66 games with a .217/.267/.337 batting line in 2007 as the backup to former MVP Kyung-wan Park, and he batted .234/.289/.386 in 2008. Chung broke out in 2009, and he crushed 12 homers with a .288/.365/.481 batting line as SK's starting catcher. He started in all 7 games of the 2009 Korean Series, but the KIA Tigers beat the Wyverns. Chung suffered from hip injuries, and he only played 35 games with a .323/.364/.677 batting line in 2010. He came back in 2011, and he played 112 games with 11 homers and a .260/.314/.402 batting line. He struggled in the postseason as he was 3-for-16 in the playoff series, and he went 1-for-15 in the 2011 Korean Series. The Samsung Lions beat the Wyverns in 5 games.

Chung slumped to .216/.288/.352 in 2012, and he was 1-for-6 in the 2012 Korean Series; the Wyverns lost to the Lions again in 6 games. He hit .289/.360/.433 in 82 games in 2013, and he was 2nd in the KBO with .356 CS%. Chung played 100 games with a .238/.305/.417 batting line in 2014, and he blasted 12 homers with a .255/.342/.430 batting line in 2015. He then announced that he would become a free agent, and the LG Twins signed him with a 4-year, 3.2 billion won contract. However, Chung had a terrible .182/.290/.242 batting line in his first season with the Twins. He bounced back with a .263/.308/.350 batting line in 2017, then he fell to .223/.304/.286 in 2018. He only played 22 games with a 2-for-24 record in 2019, and the Twins released him. The Doosan Bears picked him up, and he hit .163/.180/.233 in 42 games. He then went to the SSG Landers in 2020, but he only played 3 games with the big club and he retired. Chung was the battery coach for the Landers from 2022 to 2023, and he was named the battery coach of the Lotte Giants in 2024.

Overall, Chung hit .245/.311/.388 with 600 hits and 73 homers in 18 seasons in the KBO.

Sources

• Namu Wiki
• KBO player page
• Defunct IBAF site