Batting average .239 Role Baseball Player Home runs 16 Height 1.79 m | RBI 240 Weight 73 kg Name Park Ki-hyuk | |
Park Ki-hyuk (Hangul: 박기혁, Hanja: 朴基赫; born June 4, 1981 in Daegu, South Korea) is a South Korean shortstop who plays for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization. He is currently considered one of the top defensive shortstops along with Park Jin-man in the KBO league.
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Amateur career
Park attended Daegu Commerce High School in Daegu, South Korea. In 1999, he was named in South Korea national junior team's roster for the 1999 World Junior Baseball Championship. There Park led the attack alongside Choo Shin-soo and Jeong Keun-woo.
Professional career
Park made his pro debut in 2000, drafted by the Lotte Giants in the 2nd round (2nd pick) of the 2000 KBO draft. He had several mediocre seasons, but earned a starting position in the Giants' infield in the 2003 season, playing in 95 games.
Park participated in the 2006 KBO All-Star Game and 2006 Asian Games.
Though predominantly known as a light-hitting defensive infielder, Park had his most offensively productive season in 2008, when he hit .291 and posted career-highs in RBI (36), runs (47) and hits (102). After the end of the 2008 season, he won his first Golden Glove Award at shortstop.
In addition to achieving a level of personal success, Park was called up to the South Korea national baseball team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He was expected to serve as backup to another defensive wizard Park Jin-man for Team Korea. However, Park Jin-man did not make the team because of an inflamed shoulder, and Park Ki-hyuk finally took over as the starting shortstop. Appearing in all 9 games for South Korea, Park Ki-hyuk struggled at the plate, going just 3-for-26 with 3 walks, but filled Park Jin-man's void at shortstop perfectly, making numerous acrobatic defensive plays in the field.