NC Dinos' Son Ah-seop ties KBO record with 2,504 career hits

Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos prepares to hit during a game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos tied the KBO’s all-time hits record on Wednesday, picking up two knocks against the Doosan Bears to hit a career 2,504.

That number puts Son alongside LG Twins legend Park Yong-taik, who retired in 2020.

Son played as designated hitter against the Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, picking up hits in the third — a blooper to left field that bounced awkwardly for a double — and in the ninth — another blooper, also to left field.

The Dinos won the game 7-5.

Son, 36, debuted with the Lotte Giants in 2007 and played for his home-town club until 2021. He joined the Dinos on a four-year deal at the end of the 2021 season that will see him play for the rival team through the end of 2025.

A prolific hitter, Son maintains a career .321 batting average with over 150 hits recorded for ten of the 11 seasons between 2012 and 2023. He has led the league in hits four times, in 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2023, when he also won the batting title for the first time with .339 average.

Son arrived at 2,504 career hits in 2,043 games, nearly 200 fewer than Park’s 2,237. With a season and a half still to play on his contract and no sign of slowing down, Son is likely to extend that record significantly.

As of press time Wednesday, the Dinos sit in sixth place on the KBO table, 6.5 games behind the league-leading Kia Tigers and 2.5 games above the seventh-place Hanwha Eagles. The Changwon club have one game left to play against the third-place Bears before heading west to take on the fifth-place SSG Landers in Incheon over the weekend.

The Twins are in second place and the Samsung Lions in fourth, with the Giants, KT Wiz and Kiwoom Heroes rounding off the bottom of the table.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]