Jang Won-sam ( Hangul: 장원삼, Hanja: 張洹三) (born June 9, 1983 in

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south ...

Gyeongsangnam-do South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...

, South Korea) is a South Korean left-handed

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

who plays for the LG Twins in the KBO League.

Amateur career

As a junior at Yongma High School in Masan, South Korea, Jang was selected by the Hyundai Unicorns with the 89th pick in the 2nd round (97th overall) of the 2002 KBO Draft. However, he entered Kyungsung University upon graduation from high school instead of turning pro directly. In 2004, as a junior at Kyungsung University Jang made his first appearance for the

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team ( ko, 대한민국 야구 국가대표팀) is the national baseball team of South Korea. It won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. At ...

at the 2nd World University Baseball Championship in Tainan City, Taiwan. There he led his team the bronze medal alongside

Oh Seung-Hwan Seung-hwan Oh (Hangul: ; ; ; born July 15, 1982) is a South Korean professional baseball relief pitcher for the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. He previously played for the Lions in South Korea, the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Base ...

and

Jeong Keun-Woo Jeong Keun-woo (, Hanja: 鄭根宇; born October 2, 1982) is a second baseman and shortstop who currently plays for the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Amateur career Jeong attended Busan High Sch ...

. In 2005, Jang was selected for the South Korea national team again, and participated in the Baseball World Cup held in the Netherlands. He helped the team win the silver medal, finishing 4th in strikeouts (24). He pitched an eight shutout inning victory over South Africa in the preliminary round, and appeared in seven of South Korea's 11 games.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Hyundai Unicorns & Heroes

Signed by the Hyundai Unicorns in 2006, Jang started his pro career as a

. In the 2006 KBO season, he finished runner-up to Ryu Hyun-Jin for Rookie of the Year with 2nd in strikeouts (142), 5th in ERA (2.85) and 7th in wins (12), and was selected to the All-Star team. After the season, he was selected for the South Korea national team and competed in the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

held in Doha, Qatar. During the 2007 season, he went 9−10 with 132 strikeouts in 168.2 innings, finishing 10th in ERA (3.63). In the 2008 season, Jang finished with a 12–8 record and a 2.85 ERA in 167.2 innings. He was 4th in wins, 5th in ERA and 4th in strikeouts (126). In August 2008, Jang competed for the

in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, where they won the gold medal in the baseball tournament. In the tournament, he pitched a 10−0

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

shutout victory over the Netherlands and tossed 4.1 innings of scoreless relief against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

.Olympic results
In March 2009, Jang was called up to the

for the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...

prior to the 2009 KBO season, but had a disappointing performance, pitching to a 5.06 ERA. In South Korea's second game in Round 1 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Jang came on in relief in the 3rd inning but allowed 3 runs and 4 hits in 2.2 innings pitched. He started the Pool 1 title match against Japan in Round 2, but went only 3 innings allowing 2 runs and 5 hits including the solo home run by Seiichi Uchikawa. Jang struggled the 2009 KBO season with a 5.54 ERA and a record of 4-8, by far the worst of his career.

Samsung Lions

After the 2009 season, Jang was traded to 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 Champ ...

with ₩3 billion

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

($3 million). He bounced back in the 2010 season to finish sixth in the league in ERA (3.46), seventh in wins (13) and eighth in strikeouts (115).

Notable international careers

Filmography

Television show

References

External links

Profile and stats
on the KBO official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Jang, Won-Sam 1983 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Hyundai Unicorns players KBO League pitchers Kyungsung University alumni Living people Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Kiwoom Heroes players Olympic baseball players of South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball Samsung Lions players South Korean baseball players Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games People from Changwon Sportspeople from South Gyeongsang Province