Jin Kab-yong (; born May 8, 1974, 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 ...

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 ...

) is a 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 ...

who last 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 ...

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 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 February 1993, while attending Busan High School in

, Jin was selected for 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 ...

as a high schooler to compete in the 17th Asian Baseball Championship in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. After the competition, he began his collegiate career at

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

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 ...

. At

, he led his team to numerous national college titles alongside his battery mates Son Min-han and Cho Sung-min, and did not miss any single international competition that the

participated during his four years at college, garnering national attention as a highly regarded baseball prospect.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Jin was selected by the OB Bears with the first pick in the 2nd Round of the 1997 KBO Draft. He entered the league with high expectation, but spent his first Bears career as a backup catcher, appearing in 95 games, hardly showing signs of promise as a starting catcher. In 1998, Jin was named to the

that won the gold medal in 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 ...

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 ...

. Jin received a military exemption for winning the gold medal, along with the fellow gold medalists Park Chan-ho, Seo Jae-weong and Kim Byung-hyun. In the 1999 season, another catcher prospect Hong Sung-heon was signed by the Bears upon graduation from college, and his arrival provided further fierce competition for the starting catcher position. In July 1999, Jin was eventually traded to the

. In the 2000 season, the Lions signed All-Star veteran Kim Dong-soo and made Jin return to the backup catcher. But after Kim was put on the disabled list during the season, Jin was the starting catcher for most of 2000. In 2001, Kim came back from the injury, but Jin shared the starting position behind the plate with Kim without being the backup again. Upon Kim Dong-soo's departure through free agency to the

SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a membe ...

in the winter of 2001, Jin earned the full-time position behind the plate for the Lions. As the Lions' No. 1 catcher, Jin led his team to the 2002, 2005 and 2006 Korean Series champions. He played for

at the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums in or around Tokyo, Japan, and the American cities o ...

, and led his team to the bronze medal, sharing the starting position behind the plate with Hong Sung-heon and Cho In-sung. In 2008, Jin was selected for the

to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games. In Beijing, he played in the first five games as a starting catcher. However, after the game against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

, he was out of the starting lineup because of a hamstring injury. In the gold medal game against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, Jin was unexpectedly sent back behind the plate right after his fellow catcher Kang Min-ho was ejected by the plate umpire for arguing strikes and balls in the bottom of the ninth inning, and contributed to escaping the one-out bases-loaded jam by inducing a game-ending

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

along with closer Chong Tae-hyon to edge Cuba 3-2.

Notable international careers

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jin, Kab-yong 1974 births Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in baseball Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Baseball players at the 1994 Asian Games Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Busan High School alumni Doosan Bears players KBO League catchers Korea University alumni Living people Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in baseball Samsung Lions players South Korean expatriate baseball people in Japan Baseball players from Busan 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players World Baseball Classic players of South Korea