Jang Hyo-Jo (; July 6, 1956 – September 7, 2011) was a South Korean

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

in the Korean professional baseball league who played 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 ...

and

Lotte Giants The Lotte Giants () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a member of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation. From 1982 through 1985, they played at Gudeok Baseball ...

. Jang batted and threw left-handed. He was born in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

. Jang is widely regarded as one of the best

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 ...

hitters for average of all time. He still holds several records as of 2011, including the highest career batting average (.331) and most career batting titles with four.

Playing career

Jang played college baseball at

Hanyang University Hanyang University (HYU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul and Ansan (ERICA campus), South Korea. ''Hanyang'' () derives from the Names of Seoul, former name of the capital Seoul used during the Joseon period. The u ...

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 ...

. Upon graduation from Hanyang University in February 1979, he joined the

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

baseball club in the Korean amateur league. In September 1982, Jang competed in the 1982 Amateur World Series as a member of the

South Korean 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 2009 World Baseball Classic champions ...

and helped his team to win its first world championship as a starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. After the competition, Jang announced his interest to join the KBO Draft, and he was eventually drafted by the

in the third round of the 1983 KBO Draft. In his first pro season (1983), Jang won the batting title with a .369 batting average, being the first

player to win the batting title as a rookie. He posted career-highs in home runs (18) and stolen bases (25) as well. However, he lost the KBO League Rookie of the Year Award to Park Jong-hoon of the

OB Bears The Doosan Bears () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and play their home games ...

, which has been considered one of the most controversial KBO elections of all time. In 1985, Jang won his second batting title with a .373 batting average and led the Lions to their first KBO championship. He won his third batting championship with a .329 average in 1986 and won his fourth title with a career-best .387 batting average in 1987. After the 1988 season, Jang was traded with Kim Si-Jin to the

for Choi Dong-Won and Kim Yong-chul. In 1991, Jang was runner-up in batting average with .347 and first in

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

with .452. In 1992, his last pro season, Jang earned his first

Korean Series The Korean Series () is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play ...

ring but he dipped down to batting a career-low .265, with 0 home runs and 25 runs batted in. After the 1992 season with the Giants, Jang announced his retirement. In a ten-season career, Jang batted .331 with 78 home runs and 437 RBI in 961 games and ended with a .430 on-base percentage. He had 1009 career hits in 3050

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s. Jang also topped the KBO in on-base percentage in six seasons and won five straight Golden Gloves from 1983 to 1987 for defensive excellence.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Jang coached for the Lotte Giants in 1994 and the Samsung Lions in 2000. Jang was named

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the Lions' second-tier team in 2010.

Death

Jang died of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

at a hospital in

on September 7, 2011.

References

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
KBO official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jang, Hyo-Jo Lotte Giants players Samsung Lions players KBO League right fielders 1956 births 2011 deaths Baseball players from Daegu Deaths from liver cancer in South Korea South Korean baseball coaches South Korean baseball managers