South Korean baseball player
Baseball player
Lee Bum-ho
(
Korean
:
이범호
; born November 25, 1981) is a South Korean former
third baseman
who played primarily in the
KBO League
. He bats and throws right-handed.
Lee is considered one of the best defensive third basemen in the KBO league history. He made great contributions on offense as well. He hit with considerable power, which enabled him to collect 20+ home runs nearly every season.
Lee is currently the operations manager of the
Kia Tigers
.
Professional career
[
edit
]
Lee made his pro debut in 2000, drafted by the
Hanwha Eagles
in the 2nd round (8th pick, 16th overall) of the 2000
KBO
Draft.
He had a couple of mediocre seasons as a backup
shortstop
, but started to show signs of promise in 2002 when he batted .260 and hit 11 home runs. After the 2002 season, Lee was selected for the
South Korea national baseball team
for the first time and competed in the
2002 Intercontinental Cup
held in
Cuba
. In the gold medal game, Lee hit a solo home run off
Cuba
's starter
Jose Ibar
in the bottom of the 4th inning to break a scoreless tie.
His stats dipped slightly in 2003, but broke out again in the 2004 season when he batted a career-high .308 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs, playing in all 126 regular-season games as a shortstop.
In 2005, Lee moved from shortstop to
third base
, and hit a career-high 26 home runs with 68 RBIs. He won his first
KBO League Golden Glove Award
at third base, edging out
Kim Dong-Joo
in the balloting.
Prior to the 2006 season, Lee was called up to the
South Korea national baseball team
and competed in the
inaugural World Baseball Classic
.
From 2004 through 2007, Lee had four consecutive seasons with 20 or more home runs. In 2006, Lee won his second KBO League Golden Glove Award.
In 2008, he batted .276, hit 19 home runs, drove in 77 runs and stole a career-high 12 bases.
In March 2009, Lee competed for the
South Korean national baseball team
for the
2009 World Baseball Classic
. For the Classic, Lee went 8-for-20 with 3 home runs, 5 runs and 7 RBIs in six games. He was fifth in RBI and tied for the lead with six others in home runs in the tournament, and named to the
All-Star team
at
third base
. In the 2009 KBO season, Lee had another solid performance, batting .284 with 25 home runs (7th in the league), 124 hits and a career-high 79 RBIs in 126 regular-season games as a third baseman.
Lee signed as a free agent with the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
of the
Japanese
Pacific League
in November 2009. He batted .226 in 48 games for the Hawks in 2010, with 4 home runs and 8 RBI. He hit his first NPB home run on April 9, 2010, against
Nippon Ham
at Fukuoka Dome in the seventh inning off
Hirotoshi Masui
.
On January 27, 2011, Lee returned to the
KBO League
, signing with the
Kia Tigers
.
In 2020, Lee began training with the
Philadelphia Phillies
.
[1]
[2]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Year
|
Team
|
AVG
|
G
|
AB
|
H
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
RBI
|
RUN
|
SB
|
CS
|
BB
|
SO
|
GIDP
|
SF
|
SLG
|
2000
|
Hanwha
|
.162
|
69
|
74
|
12
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
11
|
1
|
0
|
11
|
21
|
2
|
1
|
.297
|
2001
|
.196
|
71
|
138
|
27
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
16
|
22
|
2
|
4
|
13
|
25
|
3
|
8
|
.326
|
2002
|
.260
|
111
|
296
|
77
|
20
|
2
|
11
|
35
|
41
|
5
|
1
|
27
|
57
|
5
|
6
|
.453
|
2003
|
.238
|
107
|
323
|
77
|
19
|
1
|
11
|
38
|
46
|
2
|
6
|
52
|
63
|
6
|
9
|
.406
|
2004
|
.308
|
133
|
481
|
148
|
35
|
3
|
23
|
74
|
80
|
6
|
3
|
51
|
80
|
8
|
9
|
.536
|
2005
|
.273
|
126
|
444
|
121
|
27
|
1
|
26
|
68
|
69
|
6
|
2
|
62
|
94
|
8
|
7
|
.514
|
2006
|
.257
|
126
|
421
|
108
|
25
|
1
|
20
|
73
|
53
|
0
|
2
|
72
|
87
|
11
|
4
|
.463
|
2007
|
.246
|
126
|
418
|
103
|
14
|
0
|
21
|
63
|
57
|
2
|
0
|
77
|
73
|
14
|
10
|
.431
|
2008
|
.276
|
125
|
434
|
120
|
21
|
3
|
19
|
77
|
80
|
12
|
1
|
70
|
50
|
18
|
4
|
.470
|
2009
|
.284
|
126
|
436
|
124
|
21
|
0
|
25
|
79
|
64
|
3
|
1
|
60
|
70
|
10
|
3
|
.505
|
Total
|
10 Season
|
.265
|
1120
|
3465
|
917
|
196
|
12
|
160
|
526
|
523
|
39
|
20
|
495
|
620
|
85
|
61
|
.467
|
Notable international careers
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Pitchers
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Catchers
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Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
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Coaching staff
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