Home > Sports > Baseball

KBO 40 Legends: Southpaw sluggers

Published: 21 Sep. 2022, 09:26

Clockwise from top left: Yang Joon-hyuk, Park Yong-taik, Kim Ki-tai and Lee Byung-kyu. [KBO]

The KBO on Monday announced the final four members of the league’s “40 Legend” team, a round-up of the top 40 KBO players of all time that has been slowly compiled since the All-Star game in July.

Players were chosen for the 40-man squad from a list of 177 candidates, including all former Golden Glove and Korean Series MVP winners, as well as any pitchers who had recorded 800 appearances with 100 wins, 150 saves and at least one 20-win season and any batters who had appeared in 2,000 games, hit 200 home runs, 2,000 hits and had at least one 40-home run season.

All active players, including those playing overseas, were excluded.

There are a lot of different ways to win a game, but sometimes power is all a baseball team really needs. These left-handed sluggers were some of the best the KBO has ever seen.

Yang Joon-hyuk

Yang is a big figure in KBO batting history. He was the first player to hit 2,000 hits and sits second on the all-time ranking with 2,318. When he retired in 2010, he was the all-time leader in nine batting categories.

Yang Joon-hyuk [KBO]

Park Yong-taik

With 2,504 career hits to his name, LG Twins legend Park is the all-time KBO hits leader and a prolific slugger with 213 career home runs to his name. He has appeared in more games than any other hitter, at 2,237.

Park Yong-taik [KBO]

Lee Byung-kyu

Lee played a complete season in his debut year in 1997, winning Rookie of the Year and a Golden Glove. He won the batting title twice, including at 38 years old in 2013, the oldest player ever to take the batting crown.

Lee Byung-kyu [KBO]

Kim Ki-tai

Kim was the first left-hander to win the KBO home run title and first rookie to hit more than 20 homers, with 27 in 1991. His long career saw him captain three teams: The Ssangbangwool Raiders, Lions and Wyverns.