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Choo Shin-soo becomes 1st Korean on Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

Published: 18 Nov. 2025, 09:21 Updated: 18 Nov. 2025, 10:25

Choo Shin-soo attends his retirement press conference at a hotel in Incheon on Nov. 7, 2024. [SSG LANDERS]

Former All-Star outfielder Choo Shin-soo, who paired excellent on-base skills with a power-speed combination, has become the first Korean player to be nominated for National Baseball Hall of Fame selection.

Choo, who played in MLB from 2005 to 2020, was among 12 new candidates for the 2026 Hall of Fame ballot announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) on Monday. They joined 15 holdovers from the 2025 voting cycle.

Players must earn 75 percent of the vote within 10 years to be elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and must receive at least 5 percent of the vote to remain on the ballot.

First-year candidates all last appeared in MLB in 2020. Choo is joined by former World Series MVP Cole Hamels, ex-National League MVP Ryan Braun and 2016 American League Cy Young winner Rick Porcello.

Choo signed with the Seattle Mariners out of high school as a pitcher but made his MLB debut in 2005 as an outfielder. After two partial seasons with the Mariners, Choo was traded to the Cleveland Indians (currently Guardians) in July 2006.

Choo enjoyed consecutive 20-20 seasons in Cleveland, with 20 homers and 21 steals in 2009, and with 22 homers and 22 steals in 2010.

In his lone season with the Cincinnati Reds in 2013, Choo hit 21 home runs and stole 20 bags, while drawing 112 walks and scoring 107 runs as the team's leadoff man.

He parlayed that success into a seven-year, $130 million contract with the Texas Rangers before the 2014 season.

Choo posted four 20-homer campaigns with the Rangers and earned his lone All-Star selection in 2018 when he established a franchise record by reaching base safely in 52 consecutive games.

In 2015, Choo became the first Asian-born player to hit for the cycle in MLB.

In 1,652 career games, Choo batted .275/.377/.447 with 218 home runs, 782 RBIs and 157 steals. He once held the mark for the most home runs by an Asian player in big league history, until Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers surpassed him in 2024.

Choo spent the final four seasons of his professional career, from 2021 to 2024, with the SSG Landers in the KBO. He is currently working as a special adviser to the Landers' ownership group and is also in charge of their player development.

The BBWAA's voting results will be announced at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 20.

Yonhap