Back Sang-Won (; born January 2, 1988, in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

) is a South Korean former

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

, who played 6 seasons for the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Cha ...

in the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League () and KBO Futures League ( (F ...

. He bats

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

and throws

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

Amateur career

Back was first called up to the South Korean collegiate national team as a junior at

Dankook University Dankook University (commonly referred to as Dankook), abbreviated as DKU, is a private research university in Yongin and Cheonan, South Korea. The university was established in 1947. It was the first university established after the National Lib ...

in when he batted .403 in the national collegiate league. With South Korea, he competed in the IBAF World University Baseball Championship held in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Back batted .286 and drove in 3 runs and stole 2 bases, playing as a starting

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

. He went 2-for-3, including a RBI double, off "Handkerchief Prince" Yuki Saito in the team's semifinal against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As a senior in , Back was selected for the South Korean national team again and participated in the

Asian Baseball Championship The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions ...

held in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Notable international careers

Professional career

After graduation from Dankook University, Back was drafted in the

KBO The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

Entry Draft by the

as the 4th pick of the 4th round, 28th overall. In the 2010

Futures League The Second XI (currently known as the Toyota Second XI under naming rights) is a men's cricket league competed for primarily by Australian state and territory first-class cricket reserve teams. The competition is administered by Cricket Australi ...

, Back was ranked first in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with .306, playing in 106 games. However, Back spent his entire 2010 season in the Lions' second-tier team. After the 2010 season, Back joined the

Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Baseball Team Sangmu Phoenix () is a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1953. The team is part of the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps, and they play in the KBO Futures League. Their home stadium is Sangmu Baseball Stadium located in Mungyeon ...

to serve a two-year military duty. In October 2011, Back competed in the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

as a member of the South Korean national baseball team. In the tourney, he shared second base duties with Choi Joo-Hwan but struggled at the plate, batting just .154. The Lions released Sang-won on October 19, 2018.

Notable international careers

References

External links

Profile and stats
on the KBO official site
Back Sang-Won
on Samsung Lions Baseball Club {{DEFAULTSORT:Back, Sang-Won Samsung Lions players KBO League second basemen 1988 births Living people Baseball players from Daegu