Kia Tigers slugger Choi Hyoung-woo became the all-time RBI king in South Korean baseball Tuesday.
Choi knocked in his 1,499th and 1,500th runs against the Hanwha Eagles with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul. With those RBIs, Choi broke a tie with former Samsung Lions star and current Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop in the career RBI department.
Choi had pulled into a tie with Lee, his Lions teammate from 2012 to 2016, in Saturday’s game. After failing to capitalize on some chances Sunday, Choi took care of business Tuesday.
Choi, 39, made his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut in 2002 with the Lions but was released by the team after the 2005 season. He rejoined the Lions for the 2008 season after completing his mandatory military service. 커뮤니티 He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2008 and developed into one of the KBO’s most productive sluggers.
He has had seven 100-RBI seasons, including five in a row from 2014 to 2018.
Choi is enjoying a bounceback campaign in 2023 after subpar performances in 2021 and 2022. He entered Tuesday’s game batting .308/.407/.493 with eight homers and 37 RBIs in 58 games. He batted .264/.366/.421 last year and .233/.366/.421 a year before that.
Over his career, Choi has won two batting titles and led the league in RBIs twice, in 2011 and 2016