Incheon Hyundai Unicorns-SK Wyverns match on May 21, 2005. Choi Jeong (37, SSG Landers), a ‘high school graduate rookie’ who was at bat for the fourth time in the top of the 7th inning, hit Lee Bo-geun’s ball with all his might and hit a 2-run home run that flew over the fence. It was the moment when a page in the history of the KBO League home run king began.
6,913 days later, Choi Jeong-eun became the hitter with the most home runs in the KBO League, surpassing the ‘legendary’ Lee Seung-yeop (48), manager of the Doosan Bears.
Choi Jeong-eun hit a 1-run home run in the top of the 5th inning in an away game against the Lotte Giants in the 2024 Shinhan Bank SOL Bank KBO League held at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 24th.
Choi Jeong-eun, who struck out in each of his previous two at-bats and was retired by a fly ball to left field, hit a home run in his third at-bat.
In the top of the fifth inning, with two outs and no runners, Lotte starting pitcher Lee In-bok’s first-pitch slider hit the middle, and he swung his bat. Choi Jeong’s batted ball flew far and passed the ‘Sajik Monster’ on the left, where the fence was 6 meters high.
Choi Jeong-eun, who tied manager Lee Seung-yeop by hitting his 467th home run in the bottom of the 9th inning against the KIA Tigers on the 16th, took sole first place in the career home run category eight days later.
In the game on the 17th, he was hit in the side by a 150km two-seam fastball thrown by KIA starting pitcher Will Crowe. He had to catch his breath due to the severe pain, and came back through this three-game series and hit a home run.
This is Choi Jeong’s 468th career home run and 10th home run of the season. He became the first player in the KBO League to hit double-digit home runs in 19 consecutive seasons.
Although he only hit one home run in 45 games in his debut season, he hit 12 home runs in 2006 and has consistently hit more than 10 balls into the outfield stands every year since. He also ranked first in home runs in 2016 (40) and 2017 (46), and in 2021 (35).
It is also Choi Jeong’s 26th home run hit at Sajik Stadium. Choi Jeong hit the most home runs, 253, at Munhak Stadium, his home stadium, followed by Daejeon Stadium (34), Jamsil Stadium (31), and Sajik Stadium.
The best home runs were hit at baseball stadiums across the country for 20 seasons. Baseball fans visit Gwangju-Kia Champions Field (20), Daegu Citizen Stadium, Suwon Stadium (16), Daegu Samsung Lions Park (15), Masan Stadium (14), Gocheok Sky Dome (12), and Gwangju. We also watched Choi Jeong’s batted ball pass over the fence at Mudeung Stadium (11), Mokdong Stadium (9), Changwon NC Park (8), and Pohang Stadium (3).
The team with which Choi Jeong hit the most home runs was the Hanwha Eagles, hitting a total of 68 against the Eagles.
However, his home runs exploded regardless of the opposing team. Samsung Lions (63), Doosan (56), KIA Tigers, Lotte (53), Kiwoom Heroes (49), LG Twins (46), NC Dinos (45), KT Wiz (30) ) also hit numerous home runs. Even against the disbanded Hyundai, Masugeol hit 5 home runs, including a home run.
Among Choi Jeong’s 468 home runs, 13 are grand slams. He is tied for second place with Kang Min-ho (Samsung) in the career grand slam home run category, and is four behind KIA coach Lee Beom-ho (17), who ranks first in this category. One-run home runs were the most with 265, followed by two-run home runs with 130 and three-run home runs with 60.
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