Infielder Choi Jeong #14 of SSG Landers rounds the bases after hitting a home run. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/Getty Images)
SSG Landers third baseman, Choi Jeong, broke the Korean Baseball Organization home run record during his third at-bat in the top of the fifth inning on Wednesday night at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea. He drove a solo home run over the left field wall that went 360 feet off of Lotte Giants starting pitcher In-bok Lee.
The (15-11-1) SSG Landers beat the (7-17-1) Lotte Giants 12-7 on Wednesday night.
The SSG Landers are in fourth place, tied with the Samsung Lions, who have the same record. The Lotte Giants are last in the KBO.
Choi, 37, was born in Incheon, South Korea, and has played with the SSG Landers for 20 seasons. The SSG Landers were called the SK Wyverns until after the 2020 regular season.
Choi won the KBO League Golden Glove Award six times from 2011-2013, 2016-17, and 2019, won the Korean Series MVP in 2008, and led the KBO in home runs from 2016-17.
Former Samsung Lions player Seung-yuop Lee had the most home runs in the KBO with 467. Seung-yuop Lee played with the Samsung Lions from 1995-2003 and 2012-2017.
The 47-year-old was a five-time KBO MVP in 1997 and 1999 and from 2001-03, a 10-time KBO Golden Glove Award winner from 1997-2003, 2012, and 2014-15, an 11-time KBO All-Star from 1997-2003, 2013, and 2015-17, led the KBO in home runs five-times in 1997, 1999, and from 2001-03, led the KBO in RBI four-times in in 1997, 1999, and from 2002-03, won the Korean Series championship title four times in 2002 and from 2012-14, and won the Korean Series MVP Award in 2012.
Seung-yuop Lee is the current manager of the Lotte Giants in his third season.
The SSG Landers will play the final games of their series against the Lotte Giants at 5:30 a.m. on April 25 at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, South Korea.
