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Retired slugger Park Byung-ho joins Kiwoom as coach

Published: 05 Nov. 2025, 11:35 Updated: 05 Nov. 2025, 16:39

Park Byung-ho on April 2 [YONHAP]

Former home run king Park Byung-ho is beginning his coaching career with his old club, the Kiwoom Heroes, the KBO team announced Tuesday.

The 39-year-old, who retired after the 2025 season with the Samsung Lions, has been appointed chief coach for the reserve squad, marking his return to the franchise where he enjoyed the most successful years of his career.

Drafted by the LG Twins in 2005, Park rose to prominence after a 2011 trade to the Nexen Heroes — now Kiwoom — where he became one of the KBO's most feared sluggers.

Park nabbed the first of his two MVP awards in 2012 after leading the league with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs.

Park was voted the MVP again in 2013, when he topped the KBO with 37 home runs and 117 RBIs.

In 2014, Park launched 52 home runs, becoming only the third player in KBO history to surpass the half-century mark in home runs. Then he followed that up with 53 home runs, and he remains the only player with back-to-back 50-homer campaigns. Also in 2015, Park set a single-season record with 146 RBIs, a mark broken this year by his Lions teammate, Lewin Diaz, who had 158.

Park led the KBO in homers in four straight seasons from 2012 to 2015, the longest such streak in league history. He was the home run king six times overall, also a KBO record. Park is the first player with five consecutive 100-RBI seasons.

He ranks fourth on the all-time list with 418 home runs and 10th overall with 1,244 RBIs.

Park also spent two seasons with the Minnesota Twins and their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, New York, from 2016 to 2017.

He launched 35 home runs while batting a solid .275 only three years ago with the Wiz but has since been in steep decline. In 2025, he only appeared in 77 games for the Lions, batting .199 with 15 home runs — his fewest since 2011.

"Our new coach Park Byung-ho is one of the most symbolic players in Heroes history," Kiwoom said in a statement. "He represented the team as a leading slugger and a league icon. We deeply thank him for his dedication and contribution."

The club added that it expects Park's professionalism and experience to serve as "a positive influence" on the team's young players as he begins "the second stage of his baseball life."

Yonhap