Won-ki Hong

Won-ki Hong (홍원기)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 202 lb.

• School Korea University
• High School Kongju High School

• Born June 5, 1973 in Kongju South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Won-ki Hong played in the Korea Baseball Organization for 12 years.

Hong represented South Korea in the 1994 Asian Games, winning Silver. In the 1994 Baseball World Cup, he was their main DH and backed up Jae-hong Park at third base; he hit .355/.444/.677 with 10 RBI in 10 games. He tied Jong-kook Kim and Ki-moon Choi for the team lead in RBI and his 3 homers were one shy of team leader Kyung-hwam Cho. He won another Silver in the 1995 Asian Championship. He was drafted by the Hanwha Eagles in the first round of the 1996 KBO draft, and he hit .262/.347/.385 in 123 games as Hanwha's starting third baseman in his first season. Hong recorded a .265/.318/.372 batting line in 1997, but he only played 28 games in 1998 because his batting line fell to .222/.292/.349. The Eagles then traded him with Sang-ryul Chun to the Doosan Bears for Kyeong-won Kim, and he hit .161/.242/.314 in 1999.

The Gongju native bounced back soon, and he batted .272/.360/.394 with 5 homers in 2000. He recorded a .265/.353/.401 batting line in 2001, but he slumped to .171/.242/.224 in 2002. When Dong-joo Kim was moved to designated hitter spot in 2003, Hong was named Doosan's starting third baseman, and he played 123 games with a .273/.365/.375 batting line. He then represented South Korea in the 2003 Baseball World Cup; he was 3-for-13 with a run, handling five chances error-free at third base, which he split with Ki-nam Park. Hong struggled in 2004 as he only hit .213/.303/.281, then he batted .230/.317/.353 in 92 games in 2005. He then became a free agent, and the Hyundai Unicorns signed him. Hong hit .270/.335/.392 in 2006, but he was 2-for-28 in 2007 then he announced his retirement.

He was the fielding coach of the Kiwoom Heroes from 2009 to 2019, and he became their bench coach in 2020. The Heroes named Hong their new manager in 2021. They were 70-67-1 his first year, then he took them to the 2022 Korean Series, though they fell to the SSG Landers. They fell to 53-83-2 and last place in 2023.

Overall, Hong hit .245/.326/.355 with 566 hits and 48 homers in 12 seasons in the KBO.

Sources

• Namu Wiki
• Defunct IBAF site