Dae-ho Lee

The native form of this personal name is Lee Dae-ho. This article uses the Western name order.
Dae-ho Lee

Lee with the Mariners in 2016
Free agent
First baseman
Born: (1982-06-21) June 21, 1982
Busan, South Korea
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Professional debut
KBO: April 11, 2001, for the Lotte Giants
NPB: March 30, 2012, for the Orix Buffaloes
MLB: April 4, 2016, for the Seattle Mariners
KBO statistics
(through 2011)
Batting average .309
Home runs 225
Runs batted in 809
NPB statistics
(through 2015)
Batting average .293
Home runs 98
Runs batted in 348
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average .253
Home runs 14
Runs batted in 49
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Dae-ho Lee

Lee playing for the South Korea national team in 2013 World Baseball Classic
Medal record
Men's baseball
Representing  South Korea
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Team
World Baseball Classic
2009 Los Angeles Team
2015 WBSC Premier12
2015 Tokyo Team
Dae-ho Lee
Hangul 이대호
Hanja 李大浩
Revised Romanization I Dae-ho
McCune–Reischauer Ri Tae-ho

Dae-ho Lee (Hangul: 이대호; born June 21, 1982) is a South Korean professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. Lee has previously played for the Seattle Mariners in Major League Baseball (MLB), the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, and the Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.

Lee bats and throws right-handed. He hit home runs in nine consecutive games for the first time in world baseball history.[1] According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, Lee was chosen as the most popular player in the KBO League.[2]

Amateur career

Lee started baseball because of Shin-Soo Choo. Lee attended Kyungnam High School in Busan, South Korea. At Kyungnam High School, Lee batted fourth and could throw a mid-90s mph fastball as a pitcher. In 2000, he was selected for the South Korean Junior National Team as a pitcher. The team won the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Lee led the attack alongside Kim Tae-kyun, Choo Shin-soo (the eventual MVP of this event) and Jeong Keun-woo as a cleanup hitter by racking up 3 home runs. He also finished runner-up behind Joe Mauer of Team USA in batting average (.500).

Notable international careers

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2000  Canada World Junior Baseball Championship .500 BA (15-for-30), 3 HR

Professional career

KBO League

2001 season

As a rookie, Lee Dae-ho joined the Lotte Giants as a pitcher in 2001. However, following an injury, he was officially changed to a position player for the second half of the 2001 season.

2006 season

In the 2006 season, Lee won the league's Triple Crown with a .336 batting average, 26 home runs, and 88 RBIs. This is the second time a hitter has won the Batting Triple Crown in the Korea Professional Baseball league. He finished second in voting for the 2006 MVP behind the Hanhwa Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, also the winner of the Triple Crown for pitchers in 2006.

2008 season

In 2008, Lee was a member of the South Korea national baseball team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, while he had an average of .360 (9-for-36), 3 home runs, 10 RBIs, 5 runs, and .760 slugging percentage, playing as the designated hitter.

2010 season

On August 13, 2010, Lee wrote a new chapter in Korean baseball by hitting a home run in eight straight games in the league. The eighth home run was hit in the top of the seventh inning at an away match against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju when he sent former Major Leaguer Aquilino López's fifth pitch over the left fence of Moodeung Stadium. This tied the existing record in world professional baseball shared by Ken Griffey, Jr. in 1993, Don Mattingly in 1987 and Dale Long in 1956.[3] On August 14, 2010, Lee set a world record by hitting a home run for his ninth straight game in the second inning of Giants' second away match against the Tigers when he blasted his three-run homer off Tigers reliever Kim Hee-girl over the center fence of Moodeung Stadium.[4] It was his 38th home run of the season. Lee also marked his 83rd run, renewing the Korean record of most consecutive games with a run, to 16 games. In the 2010 season, Lee enjoyed one of the most dominant offensive seasons in world professional baseball history, leading the KBO in seven offensive categories (batting average, HRs, RBIs, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and hits), which made him a Septuple Crown winner (7관왕).

2011 season

Lee led the KBO League in batting average (.357), hits (176), and on-base percentage (.433). After the season, he declared free agency and sought out a new challenge.

Nippon Professional Baseball

The Buffaloes' Lee Dae-ho at QVC Marine Field.

In December 2011, Lee signed a two-year contract worth 760 million yen ($9.78 million) with the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball.[5]

2012 season

In July 20, 2012, at the Osaka Dome, Lee won the NPB Home-run Derby against Wladimir Balentien of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He belted 6 home runs while Balentien made no home runs. He was rewarded with 500,000 yen ($6,400).

Major League Baseball

Seattle Mariners

On February 3, 2016, Lee signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. The Mariners added Lee to the 40-man roster on March 27, 2016.[6]

On April 8, 2016, Lee recorded his first career major league hit, a home run off of Eric Surkamp in a game against the Oakland Athletics.[7][8] On April 13, 2016, Lee hit a pinch hit walk off home run to beat the Texas Rangers. This was the first rookie pinch hit walk off in Mariners history. On May 4, 2016, Lee hit two home runs in a 9-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics.[9]

On June 10, 2016, Lee recorded back to back home runs off of Derek Holland, combining to earn 2 runs, 4 RBI's and propel the Mariners to a 7-5 victory over the Texas Rangers.[10]

Awards and honors

KBO League
Nippon Professional Baseball

Achievements

KBO League
Nippon Professional Baseball

Notable international careers

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2006  Qatar Asian Games .409 BA (9-for-22), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 R
2007  Chinese Taipei Asian Baseball Championship .000 BA (0-for-4)
2008  Chinese Taipei Final Olympic Qualification Tournament .393 BA (11-for-28), 8 RBI, 4 R
2008  China Olympic Games .360 BA (9-for-25), 3 HR, 10 RBI, 5 R
2009  United States World Baseball Classic .278 BA (5-for-18), 5 RBI, 1 R
2010  China Asian Games .368 BA (7-for-19), 1 HR

References

  1. ↑ Lee Dae-ho sets world record with 9 consecutive-game home runs. Korea Times. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  2. ↑ (Korean) 최고 인기선수는 이대호
  3. ↑ Stephens, Bailey (August 14, 2010). "South Korean Dae-ho homers in nine straight". MLB.com.
  4. ↑ "S. Korean 'breaks home run world baseball record'". AFP. August 14, 2010.
  5. ↑ Joo, Kyung-don. "Lee Dae-ho signs with Orix Buffaloes". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  6. ↑ Condotta, B. (March 27, 2016). "Mariners decide to keep 1B Dae-Ho Lee and pitcher Joel Peralta with Jesus Montero appearing headed off 40-man roster". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lee hits first MLB home run". ESPN Seattle. April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Lee's first career MLB hit a home run". Today's Knuckleball. April 8, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  9. ↑ Kim, seung wook (2016-05-05). "Lee hit two times home run in a match".
  10. ↑ "Dae-ho-Lee homers twice to power Mariners to win over Rangers". Seattle Times. June 10, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.

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