Yong-kook Kim

Yong-kook Kim (김용국)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 170 lb.

• School Hanyang University
• High School Daegu Commercial High School

• Born June 21, 1962 in Daegu South Korea

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yong-kook Kim played 11 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization and later was a coach.

Kim played for the South Korean national team in the 1983 Intercontinental Cup, 1983 Asian Championship, 1984 Amateur World Series (.282/.417/.282, 3 R, 2 RBI in 12 G as their main 3B), 1984 Olympics and 1985 Asian Championship. He made his pro debut with the 1985 Samsung Lions, hitting .239/.317/.359. He would form a starting Lions infield with Ki-woong Kang (2B), Jung-il Ryu (SS) and Seong-rae Kim (1B/2B) during his career, a unit noted for its defensive prowess. He fell to .216/.261/.266 in 1986 then hit .264/.319/.374 in 1987 and .285/.349/.351 in 1988.

In 1989, the Daegu native produced at a .288/.348/.420 clip, finishing 10th in the league in average. He slumped (.220/.256/.310) in 1990 but was resurgent in 1991, batting .295/.380/.404 and finishing 10th in the KBO with 54 walks. He set career highs for both runs (55) and RBI (58). In 1992, Kim hit .264/.353/.373, but he struggled (.208/.306/.262) in 1993. With Han-soo Kim establishing himself at third for Samsung, Yong-kook finished up his career with the Taepyungyang Dolphins, hitting only .189/.302/.275 in 1994 and .215/.282/.259 in 1995. Overall, he had batted .250/.322/.342 in 1,092 KBO games, with 359 runs, 358 RBI, 123 doubles, 9 triples, 46 home runs and 50 steals in 84 tries.

Kim then became a coach. He coached for the Hyundai Unicorns (1996), Helena Brewers (1997), Stockton Ports (1998-1999), LG Twins (2000-2005), Samsung Lions (2005-2009), Nexen Heroes (2010) and Samsung again (2011- ).

Sources

• KBO page
• Taiwan Baseball Wiki
• Korean Wikipedia