Kang Min-ho (; born August 18, 1985) is a South Korean

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 plays 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 previously played with the

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 ...

. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, he left the Giants to join the Samsung Lions.

Amateur career

Kang attended Pocheol Technical High School in

Pohang Pohang (; ), formerly spelled Po-Hang, is the largest city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, with a List of cities in South Korea, population of 499,363 as of 2022, bordering the Sea of Japan, East Sea to the east, Yeongcheon to the w ...

. In 2003, he was selected for the South Korea national junior team and competed in the 5th Asian Junior Baseball Championship 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 ...

. As a starting catcher, Kang helped South Korea win their second Championship title.

Notable international appearances

Professional career

Lotte Giants

After graduation from high school, Kang made his pro debut in 2004, drafted by the

in the 2nd round (3rd pick, 17th overall) of the 2004

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 the 2006 KBO season, he became a starting catcher, appearing in all 126 regular season games. Kang was the youngest starting catcher to play all regular season games in the KBO history. Kang offensively broke out in the 2008 season. He finished 19th in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.292), 5th in

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

(19) and 6th in RBI (82), and led the Giants to their first post-season appearance since 2000. He won his first Golden Glove Award. Kang was the first catcher of all time to win a Golden Glove Award as a Giants catcher.

Samsung Lions

At the end of the 2017 season, Kang signed a contract to join the

. The four-year contract was valued at

₩ 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 ...

8 billion (~US$7.3 million).

International career

Kang participated in the

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

held in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China, 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 ...

, where he served as backup to

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 ...

. However, Jin was injured during a game against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and Kang took over as the starting catcher at the next game. He did a successful job for replacing an injured

during the rest of the competition and eventually leading South Korea to the gold medal.

Notable international appearances

Awards and honors

*2008 KBO Golden Glove Award (Catcher) *2011 KBO Golden Glove Award (Catcher) *2012 KBO Golden Glove Award (Catcher) *2013 KBO Golden Glove Award (Catcher) *2017 KBO Golden Glove Award (Catcher)

References

External links

Profile and stats on the KBO official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kang, Min-ho 1985 births 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players Asian Games gold medalists in baseball Asian Games bronze medalists in baseball Baseball players at the 2006 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2010 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2014 Asian Games Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics KBO League catchers Living people Lotte Giants players Samsung Lions players Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic baseball players for South Korea Sportspeople from Jeju Province Baseball players from Busan Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea World Baseball Classic players of South Korea