Cho In-sung (; born May 25, 1975) is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n retired

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He batted and threw

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

In November 1993, as a junior at Shinil High School in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, Cho was selected as a member of the South Korea junior national baseball team and competed in the annual friendly baseball series against the Japan junior national baseball team in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Japan. In 1994, Cho started his collegiate career playing for

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

. Regarded as the nation's top catching prospect in college baseball, he regularly participated in international events during his four years at the college. In 1996, Cho was called up to the

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team (), also known as the Blue Wave (), is the national baseball team of South Korea. It has participated in every edition of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), reaching the finals in 2009, and won the WBSC Pre ...

for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, United States. At the Olympics, he hit two home runs, including a two-run home run off of Masanori Sugiura, with a .263 batting average and 5 RBIs.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Cho was selected by the

LG Twins The LG Twins () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul, South Korea. They are a member of the KBO League. The Twins play their home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which they share with their rivals, the Doosan Bears. ...

in the first round of the 1998

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 ...

Draft. In his rookie season, he played 84 games as a backup catcher for the Twins, hitting .269 with 36 hits in 134 at-bats. After the season, Cho was named to the

that won the gold medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in December 1998. Cho received a military exemption for winning the gold medal, alongside the fellow gold medalists Park Chan-ho,

Seo Jae-weong Jae Woeng "Jay" Soe (Jay So) (; Hanja: 徐在應; ; born May 24, 1977), usually referred to as simply Jae Seo and pronounced "Jay So", is a retired South Korean professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the N ...

and Kim Byung-hyun. After the 1999 season, All-Star veteran catcher Kim Dong-soo became a free agent and signed with 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 ...

for the 2000 season. Upon Kim Dong-soo's departure through free agency to the Samsung Lions, Cho earned the full-time position behind the plate for the Twins in the 2000 season. In 2000, his first season as the full-time catcher for the Twins, Cho struggled at the plate, batting .225 with 5 home runs but exhibited strong defensive skills, leading the league in caught-stealing percentage, as he threw out 24 of 50 runners. In 2003, Cho hit a career-high 19

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s with a 257 batting average and 58 RBIs, playing in a career-high 132 games as the club's full-time catcher. Prior to the 2006 season, Cho played for the

at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006. He led his team to the bronze medal, going 2-for-9 at the plate and splitting the position behind the plate with

Hong Sung-heon Hong Sung-heon (; born October 21, 1976, in Hoengseong County, Gangwon-do, South Korea) is a former South Korean designated hitter. He batted and threw right-handed. Hong was a catcher, and had been regularly called up to the South Korea nati ...

and

Jin Kab-yong Jin Kab-yong (; born May 8, 1974, in Busan, South Korea) is a retired catcher who last played for the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization. He batted and threw right-handed. Amateur career In February 1993, while attending Busan Hig ...

. In 2007, Cho had his most offensively productive season when he posted career-highs in batting (.282),

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(118), RBI (73), runs (44) and doubles (24) in 124 games. During a televised pennant game in August 2009, Cho and one of his teammate pitcher

Shim Soo-chang Shim Soo-chang (born February 9, 1981, in Seoul, South Korea) is a South Korean relief pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed. Amateur career Shim attended Baemyung High School in Seoul, South Korea. ...

arguing on the mound was caught on camera. The next day, Cho and Shim were both sent to the

minor league system.

Notable international careers

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, In-sung 1975 births Living people Baseball players from Seoul Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for South Korea LG Twins players SSG Landers players Hanwha Eagles players KBO League catchers KBO League designated hitters Asian Games gold medalists in baseball Asian Games bronze medalists in baseball Asian Games baseball players for South Korea Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Yonsei University alumni 2006 World Baseball Classic players Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Doosan Bears coaches World Baseball Classic players of South Korea