Batting average .247 Name Kim Min-jae Home runs 71 Role Baseball Player | RBI 607 Weight 82 kg Hits 1503 | |
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Kim Min-jae (Hangul: 김민재, Hanja: 金敏宰; born January 3, 1973 in Busan) is a defense coach for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization. Previously, Kim was a shortstop for the Lotte Giants, SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles. He batted and threw right-handed.
Professional career
Kim graduated from Busan Technical High School in 1991. He was then signed by the Lotte Giants, and played for the Giants for eleven seasons. In 2002, Kim moved to the SK Wyverns. After the 2005 season his contract with the Wyverns ran out and he became a free agent. Before the 2006 season Kim signed with the Hanwha Eagles for four-year.
Since Kim was considered one of the best defensive infielders in the KBO league, he had been regularly picked for the South Korea national baseball team as a utility infielder.
In October 2002, Kim got first called up to the national squad, and competed in the Asian Games. He helped his team defend the gold medal, going 4-for-8 with 3 RBIs. A month later, Kim was joined in the South Korea national team again for the 2002 Intercontinental Cup held in Havana, Cuba.
In 2006, he was selected for the South Korea national baseball team, and participated in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Kim went 3-for-5 with an RBI over Team USA in Round 2. He hit a one-bounce ground rule double over the left field off setup man Dan Wheeler with two outs in the fourth inning, and smacked an RBI single off Mike Timlin in the sixth. At the last match of Round 2 against Team Japan, Kim drew a one-out walk in the eighth off Toshiya Sugiuchi and scored the tiebreaking run when Lee Jong-beom hit a two-RBI double.
In December 2007, Kim played for South Korea again at the Asian Baseball Championship held in Taichung, Taiwan. He went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs, playing shortstop and second base during the competition.
On July 16, 2008, Kim was named to the South Korea national baseball team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Due to right ankle injury, he was mainly used as a substitute infielder or first base coach during the Olympics. But in the team's seventh game in the round-robin, against the Netherlands, Kim drew a two-out walk in the fifth off Alexander Smit and scored a run when Kim Hyun-soo hit a two-RBI single.
Kim retired for good as a player after the 2009 season but retained his assistant coaching position in the Eagles.