SSG Landers’ Choi Jeong breaks all-time KBO home run record

Baseball

Published: 25 Apr. 2024, 12:05 Updated: 25 Apr. 2024, 17:34

SSG Landers’ Choi Jeong breaks all-time KBO home run record

SSG Landers' Choi Jeong hits a solo home run in a game against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Wednesday, setting a new all-time KBO record with his 468th home run. [NEWS1]

SSG Landers slugger Choi Jeong on Wednesday hit his 468th career home run at the top of the fifth inning during a game between the Landers and Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, breaking the all-time KBO record held by retired Samsung Lions star Lee Seung-yuop.

Choi Jeong ties KBO home run record — in pictures

It was his 10th home run of the 2024 KBO season, keeping alive Choi's double-digit home run streak since 2006, his sophomore season.

The culmination of two decades of work, delayed for a week by a pitch to the rib, finally arrived for the KBO veteran, who hit his very first home run for the Landers, then the SK Wyverns, in 2005.

The Landers were down 7-4 at the top of the fifth with two outs and no runners on base when Choi stepped up to bat, making his third appearance of the evening. After popping out in the first inning and flying out in the second, Choi wasted no time at the plate before locking down homer No. 468.

Giants starter Lee In-bok threw a slider reaching 127 kilometers per hour, which Choi slammed over left field and into the stands as fans erupted into a resounding cheer.

SSG Landers' Choi Jeong watches the ball fly over left field after hitting his 468th home run in a game against the Lotte Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Choi rounded the bases, returning to a home-run hero’s welcome as Landers manager Lee Soong-yong greeted him with a flower wreath and teammates offered plenty of fist bumps, high fives and pats on the back.

Teammates congratulate Choi Jeong, center, after his 468th career home run on Wednesday at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan. [NEWS1]

While Choi has long been one of the KBO’s most prolific hitters, hitting more than 10 home runs every season since his sophomore year in 2006 and more than 20 home runs for eight straight seasons from 2016, Wednesday’s feat came with a couple of last-minute delays.

The 37-year-old KBO veteran had been perched on the edge of the record after tying former Lions star and current Doosan Bears manager Lee’s 467 home runs during a game against the Kia Tigers at SSG Landers Field in Incheon last Tuesday. But Choi was subsequently taken out of commission after taking a ball to the rib from Tigers’ Wil Crowe the following day.

While it was initially diagnosed a fracture, his injury was later ruled a bruise, and Choi was back on the roster as the club traveled south to face the Giants in Busan.

But Choi would have to wait a little longer, as the first game of their three-game series on Tuesday was postponed after five innings due to rain.

So it was Wednesday that Choi became the new KBO home run king, exactly a week after taking a pitch to the rib — although that was a bit of business as usual for Choi, who also holds the KBO record for most hits by pitch. Choi has been hit 330 times over his two-decade-long career, surpassing the MLB’s record 287 times, held by hall-of-famer Hughie Jennings.

And Choi’s record-breaking home run seemed to invigorate the Landers, immediately making it back-to-back home runs as lefty Han Soo-yeom launched the ball into the stands on the right to end the inning down one, 7-6.

The game began to swing in the Incheon side’s favor, with the Landers picking up four runs at the top of a busy seventh inning — Choi walked, Han got on first and sent Choi to second, Guillermo Heredia singled to load the bases and Park Seong-han singled as Choi made it home to tie things up at 7-7.

Han and Heredia headed home thanks to a Ko Myeong-jun single, and Park made things 10-7 before the end of the half after a wild pitch. The Landers scored twice more at the top of the ninth to end the game 12-7, their first win since last Thursday.

“I feel so pleased,” Choi said in a post-game press conference on Wednesday. “I want to give out balls to all my batting coaches who have guided me since I was young. I also want to thank all those who paid attention to my home run record and supported me.”

Choi, who has a .287 career batting average with 1,476 RBIs, made his KBO debut with the Wyverns in 2005 and has stayed at the club since, seeing them through a move to a new stadium, a name change in 2021 and five total Korean Series wins.

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In November 2014, the Wyerns signed a then-unprecedented 8.6 billion won ($7.77 million) contract to keep Choi for another four years. In 2017, Choi hit a career-best 46 home runs for the Wyverns, who went on to win their first Korean Series since 2010 the following year.

Choi is in the final year of a six-year contract, signed after the Korean Series-winning 2018 season, worth 10.6 billion won ($9.5 million.)

The fan who caught the ball on Wednesday did return the piece of history — but not for naught, as he received a hefty prize in return: Live zone tickets for the rest of the 2024 season and the next, two spring training tickets, an autographed bat, a team-signed ball and a host of vouchers to Emart, Starbucks and a hotel.

The Landers were set to play the Giants on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Busan as of press time.

BY MARY YANG AND JIM BULLEY [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]