Kang Baek-ho (; born July 29, 1999) is a South Korean

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

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 ...

for the

KT Wiz The KT Wiz (; stylized as kt wiz) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Suwon Baseball Stadium in Suwon. History On 11 January 2013, the Korea Baseball Organ ...

of the

KBO League 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 ...

Amateur career

Kang began playing baseball in elementary school but had to move between schools several times as a youth due to "a family issue" which he told ''

Ilgan Sports ''Ilgan Sports'' (), sometimes abbreviated as 1S, is a South Korean daily sports and entertainment newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is ofte ...

'' was "hard to talk about." Kang played high school baseball as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Seoul High School Seoul High School (Hangul: 서울고등학교) is a public high school located in Seocho-dong, the greater Gangnam area Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Seoul High School is a member school of Gangnam School District Eight (강남8학군). History ...

where, as a freshman, he was the first player to hit a home run at

Gocheok Sky Dome The Gocheok Sky Dome () is a domed baseball stadium in Gocheok-dong, Seoul, South Korea. It is the home ballpark of KBO club Kiwoom Heroes. The stadium is primarily used for baseball and has a capacity for 16,744 spectators for baseball games. T ...

. In 2017, he led Seoul to a high school baseball championship and was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the tournament. Kang's accomplishments as a high schooler brought him significant media attention. After high school, Kang decided to enter the KBO against the wishes of his father who wanted him to try for "a bigger stage."

Professional career

Kang was selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 KBO draft by the KT Wiz. He made his KBO debut at 18 years old and hit a home run against Héctor Noesí in the first

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

of his career. As a professional, he stopped pitching and catching and transitioned to the field. Kang set the

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

record with 29

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 en route to winning the KBO League Rookie of the Year Award. He pitched in the 2018 KBO All-Star Game and reached speeds of . Following the season, his salary was more than tripled to

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

120 million (equivalent to $ in 2019), setting a record for a sophomore player. In June 2019, Kang underwent surgery on his hand after cutting it on a piece of metal while making a catch in foul territory at

Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium The Sajik Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium in Sajik-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It was built in 1985 and is the home stadium of KBO club Lotte Giants. It has a seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can ...

. He sat out for the entire month of July due to the injury but was voted a starter on the all-star team nonetheless. Kang missed three weeks of the 2020 season after hurting his wrist while sliding on defense. Fans voted Kang to the all-star team again in 2020 although the game did not take place due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. At the halfway point of the 2021 season, Kang had a batting average of .395 which led the league by 47 points. He reached base in eight consecutive

s in Games 1 and 2 of the 2021 Korean Series, tying a Korean Series record.

International career

Kang represented

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 ...

at the

2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup The 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup or the XXVIII U-18 Baseball World Cup was an international baseball tournament held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation for players 18-year-old and younger. The 2017 edition was held in Thunder Bay, Ontar ...

where he pitched and played the field. He won a silver medal and was named to the All-World Team. In 2019, he represented South Korea in the Premier12 and played well. He was named to the South Korean roster for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Kim won a gold medal at the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

for

, appearing in six

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

contests, and batting .273/.409/.333 in 22 at-bats.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Baek-ho 1999 births Living people Baseball players from Seoul Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Olympic baseball players for South Korea 2019 WBSC Premier12 players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Asian Games gold medalists in baseball Asian Games baseball players for South Korea Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2022 Asian Games KBO League first basemen KBO League outfielders KBO League Rookie of the Year Award winners KT Wiz players 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Seoul High School alumni Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games World Baseball Classic players of South Korea