Yong-deok Han

Yong-deok Han (한용덕) also listed as Yong-duk Han

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• School Dong-A University
• High School Bugil Academy

• Born June 2, 1965 in Daegu South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yong-deok Han pitched for 17 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, leading the league in shutouts once and twice finishing third in ERA. He later was a coach and manager.

Han debuted with the Binggrae Eagles in 1988 and would spend his entire playing career with that franchise. He was 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA as a rookie for Binggrae and followed with a 2-2, 2.53 record and one save in 23 games in 1989. In 1990, he had his first strong season, going 13-9 with 3 saves and a 2.53 ERA. He finished among the league leaders in ERA (5th), games pitched (38, tied for 9th), wins (tied for 5th), innings pitched (7th) and strikeouts (99, 10th).

The right-hander had perhaps his best season in 1991, going 17-6 with two saves and a 2.23 ERA. He was third in the league in ERA (third after Dong-yol Son and Kye-hyun Cho), complete games (12, tied for second with Son), shutouts (4, 1st), wins (tied for second with Hak-kil Yoon, two behind Son), innings (201 2/3, 5th) and strikeouts (122, 8th).

The Daegu native was 9-11 with 3 saves and a 2.99 ERA in the 1992 KBO, finishing 7th in ERA, 7th in innings (186 1/3) and 8th in strikeouts (122). In 1993, he went 10-11 with five saves and a 2.98 ERA. He was 7th in IP (172 1/3 IP) and 8th in strikeouts (112) while his 12 complete games tied Hak-kil Yoon for the KBO lead. During 1994, Binggrae became the Hanwha Eagles and Han was 16-8 with a 3.25 ERA, walking only 29 in 177 1/3 IP. He tied for third in the circuit in victories.

Yong-deok had a 8-13, 3.29 record in the 1995 KBO, finishing among the league leaders in complete games (9, tied for 3rd with Sang-yeop Kim), shutouts (3, tied for second, a distant five behind Sang-jin Kim), innings (180 1/3, 8th), losses (3rd) and strikeouts (121, 10th). He was less effective in 1996 (8-8, Sv, 4.37) and 1997 (1-8, Sv, 4.16), avoiding the league leaders for the first time since his sophomore season.

Han had a rebound year in 1998, going 7-3 with four saves and a 2.26 ERA in 56 outings. He finished third in the league in ERA, behind Myung-won Jeong and Chang-yong Lim, and tied for 9th in games. He tanked in 1999, though (2-7, Sv, 7.47, 1.93 WHIP); paradoxically, that was the only time in his career the Eagles won a title, taking the 1999 Korean Series.

Han was 7-13 with a 4.68 ERA in 2000. He tied Denny Harriger and Min-tae Jeong for third in the league with three complete games but led the entire league in losses. In '01, the veteran was 8-10 with a 3.56 ERA. He was 7th in strikeouts (112) and 4th in ERA, behind Seok-jin Park, Yoon-ho Shin and Seung-ho Lee. It was his final time placing among the league leaders.

He remained active for three more years as a player. In 2002, he was 8-7 with two saves and a 4.94 ERA, followed by 2-1 with a save and a 4.91 ERA in 2003. At age 38, he gave up 17 hits, 8 walks and 10 runs in 10 innings to end his career in 2004.

Overall, Han was 120-118 with 24 saves and a 3.54 ERA in 482 KBO games, striking out 1,341 and walking 506 in 2,080 innings. He allowed 1,933 hits, 119 of them homers. As of 2012, he was 11th in league history in wins (between Sang-jin Kim and Hak-kil Yoon), tied for 11th (with Jeong) with 60 complete games, tied for 7th in shutouts (16), 7th in losses and 7th in strikeouts (between Soo-kyung Kim and Jeong).

Han was a coach for Hanwha after retirement. He was interim manager for about a month at the end of 2012, succeeding Dae-hwa Han. He then was a coach for the South Korean national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He became Hanwha's manager in 2018 but resigned during the 2020 season with the team struggling.

Sources

• Korean wikipedia
• KBO page