Lee Kang-chul (; born May 24, 1966) is a South Korean former professional baseball

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, ...

and current manager of 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 ...

. He was born in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

, South Korea. A

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

-style pitcher,"Baseball club plucks coach from another team to fill managerial vacancy,"
Yonhap News Agency (October 20, 2018). he played 16 seasons in 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 ...

, mostly for the Haitai/Kia Tigers. He is second all-time in the KBO League in career strikeouts and third in career victories. Lee was one of the top KBO pitchers of the 1990s, and is the only pitcher from that league to have won 10+ games in ten consecutive seasons, which he did from 1989 to 1998.

Playing career

Born in Gwangju, Lee attended Gwangju Jeil High School and

Dongguk University Dongguk University () is a private university in Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. A top-tier university acknowledged locally in Korea. It is one of the few Buddhist-affiliated universities in the world, and is a member of the International Asso ...

. He pitched 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 ...

in the

1988 Baseball World Cup The 1988 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 30th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

and also in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Lee debuted with the

Haitai Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful ...

in 1989 at age 23 and had an immediate impact, going 15–8 with a 3.23

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

as the Tigers won the

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 ...

. (During his career, Lee would win four more KBO championships with the Tigers.) Lee went 18–9 in 1992, with 155 strikeouts, enough to lead the KBO that year. He was 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 1996

, which the Tigers won 4-games-to-2 over the

Hyundai Unicorns The Hyundai Unicorns () were a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They were a member of the KBO League. The Unicorns won the KBO championship four times (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). The Unicorns were dissolved after the 20 ...

. During the Series, Lee had two wins, a save, and a 0.56 ERA. Lee sat out the 1999 season and returned to the KBO in 2000 with 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 ...

. He didn't pitch well for them, and mid-season 2001 was traded back to the Tigers franchise (now known as the

Kia Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful ...

). In his second stint with the Tigers he was primarily a relief pitcher. During the 2004 season, Lee broke

Sun Dong-yol Sun Dong-yol (; or ; born January 10, 1963) is a South Korean retired baseball pitcher and former manager. He was a pitcher in the KBO League and Nippon Professional Baseball, and the former manager of the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers ...

's career KBO strikeout record of 1,698, but Lee's total was surpassed later that season by current KBO career strikeout king

Song Jin-woo Song Jin-woo (; born February 16, 1966) is a South Korean retired left-handed pitcher. Song played in the KBO League for 21 seasons between and with the Hanwha Eagles. He currently holds several pitching records for the KBO, including his 21 ...

. Lee retired in 2005. His 1,749 career strikeouts are second all-time in the KBO League, and his 152 victories are third on the all-time list.

Coaching/managing career

Lee began coaching the season after he retired, serving as the Tigers' pitching coach from 2006 to 2012. He was "head coach" of the

Nexen Heroes The Kiwoom Heroes () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. They are a member of the KBO League. The Heroes play their home games at Gocheok Sky Dome in Gocheok-dong, a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of Se ...

for four seasons, from 2013 to 2016. Lee coached for the South Korea national baseball team that won the silver medal in the

2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship The 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC 2017), sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the international Sports governing body, governing body for the sports ...

. Lee then moved to the

Doosan 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 game ...

, serving as the team's

KBO Futures League KBO Futures League () or Korea Baseball Futures League is South Korea's second level of baseball, below the KBO League. It serves as a farm league with the purpose to develop professional players on-demand to play in the KBO League. The league ...

manager in 2017 and the KBO team's pitching coach in the 2018 season.KIM SEEK, KANG YOO-RIM
Lee’s long road to the top pays off for Wiz,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (August 29, 2019). He has been the manager of the

since the end of the 2018 season. Lee led the young club to its first .500 record in his first year as manager.

References

External links

* Career statistics and player information fro
MyKBOStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Kang-chul 1966 births Living people Baseball players from Gwangju Kia Tigers players Samsung Lions players KBO League pitchers Baseball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for South Korea Dongguk University alumni South Korean baseball managers South Korean baseball coaches KT Wiz managers 2023 World Baseball Classic managers

Playing career

Coaching/managing career

See also

References

External links