Tae-kyun Kim (kimta01)

Tae-kyun Kim also transliterated as Tae-gyun Kim

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb.

• School Chung-Ang University
• High School Pusan High School

• Born August 19, 1971 in Busan South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

As of 2006, Tae-kyun Kim has played in half of the Korea Baseball Organization seasons since the league was formed in 1982. A light-hitting infielder at shortstop and third base, Kim still made the 2000 Olympics team for South Korea.

Kim debuted in 1994, hitting .245/.310/.345 for the Samsung Lions. In 1995, he slipped to a .162/.258/.188 line at the plate. In 1996, the Samsung shortstop batted .226/.321/.332 in 106 games. He improved in 1997 at age 26 with a .258/.35./.467 line, the best of his career; he smacked 16 home runs that year.

In 1998, Tae-kyun hit .201/.292/.307 and followed that up with a .244/.345/.376 campaign in which he whiffed 107 times. During 2000, the veteran batted .240/.300/.326; he also played for South Korea in the 2000 Olympics. In his last year with Samsung, he slipped to a .203/.282/.246 line and only got 118 AB in 61 games.

Moving to the Lotte Giants in 2002, the 30-year-old hit .193/.273/.303 in part-time duty. In 2003, he batted .216/.273/.303 in 231 AB over 101 games. In 2004, Tae-kyun only played 40 games for Lotte with a .244/.268/.385 line.

In 2005, Kim joined the SK Wyverns, where he hit .237/.299/.358 in 110 games (232 AB). The next year, he batted .224/.295/.279 in 219 AB over 116 contests.

His career batting line reads .227/.305/.336 with 673 hits in 1,235 games. Presumably, his glove has helped save his career.

Sources: KBO page, Korean wikipedia page