South Korean baseball player
Baseball player
Kim Min-woo
(
Korean
:
김민우
;
Hanja
:
金敏雨
; born March 21, 1979, in
Seoul
,
South Korea
) is a retired South Korean
infielder
. He batted and threw
right-handed
.
Amateur career
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]
Upon graduation from high school, Kim, one of the top right-handed pitching prospects, was drafted by the
Hyundai Unicorns
in the second round of the
1998
KBO
Draft, but he subsequently opted instead to enter
Hanyang University
and play college baseball.
In his freshman year, Kim converted from a pitcher to a position player, and next year he was selected for the
South Korea national baseball team
as an infielder and competed in the
1999 Intercontinental Cup
.
As a senior in
2001
, Kim helped lead Hanyang University to clinch the national collegiate championship, and competed in the
Baseball World Cup
and
Asian Baseball Championship
as a starting
third baseman
for the South Korean national team.
Notable international careers
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Professional career
[
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]
Hyundai Unicorns
[
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]
Kim was signed by the
Hyundai Unicorns
in
2002
. Prior to the 2002 KBO season, he tried to convert to a
switch hitter
. However, it ended up with a blunder, only batting .195 and striking out 20 times in 41
at-bats
. In
2003
, Kim spend most of his sophomore season in the reserve league, but was added to the Unicorns' first team after the September roster expansion and batted a respectable .368 (7-for-19). He was named to the
Korean Series
final roster and received a 2003 Korean Series champion ring.
In
2004
, Kim fell into a horrendous slump again, batting only .125 and whiffing 14 times in only 48 at-bats. After the season, he decided to serve military service and played baseball in the
Police Baseball Team
as a military duty.
Nexen Heroes
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]
Kim came back to the KBO League in
2008
when he finished the military service, but was on the Heroes' roster off and on for the 2008 season, batting a career-low .056 (1-for-18), playing in only 16 games as a substitute infielder or pinch hitter.
Kim batted a respectable .264 (33-for-125) with 3 home runs and 10 RBI in the
2009
season, appearing in 78 games as a backup infielder.
Kim hit the first home run of the
2010
KBO baseball season off
Lotte Giants
starter
Ryan Sadowski
, going 2-for-4 in the Heroes' opening game on March 27. He went 3-for-6 in the following game on March 28 before taking over as the 2010 Heroes' regular
second baseman
. In July, Kim moved his position to third base and became a permanent fixture as Heroes' franchise third baseman
Hwang Jae-Gyun
was traded to the
Lotte Giants
. Kim finished his first season as a full-time player with a .257 batting average, 9 home runs and 44 RBI, appearing in 128 games. He was ranked ninth in the KBO league in
triples
(3), tenth in
stolen bases
(28), eleventh in
walks
(70) and twelfth in
at-bats
(447), posting career-highs in most of the offensive categories.
External links
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]