Park Yong-taik (; born April 21, 1979) is a South Korean

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 ...

who has played his entire career for the

LG Twins The LG Twins () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul, South Korea. They are a member of the KBO League. The Twins play their home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which they share with their rivals, the Doosan Bears. ...

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 ...

. With 2,504 career hits, he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO. He bats

left-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 dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

and throws

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

Park attended Whimoon High School in

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 ...

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 ...

. In , he was selected for the South Korea national junior team that finished in fourth place at the

World Junior Baseball Championship The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.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 ...

. Upon graduation from high school in , Park entered

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 ...

instead of turning pro directly. In , his sophomore year at

, he made his first appearance 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 Intercontinental Cup held in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 ...

. In , Park competed in the

Asian Baseball Championship The Asian Baseball Championship is the main championship tournament between national baseball teams in Asia, governed by the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA). It is held every other year in odd-numbered years and since 1983 it also functions ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. South Korea won the silver medal, and Park was selected to the All-Star team as an outfielder.

Notable international careers

Professional career

Signed by the

, Park made his

debut on April 2, . In the 2002 KBO season, he batted .288 which was the highest

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 ...

among the rookie players. In , He had a .300-plus batting average for the first time (.300), amassing 16 home runs and 58 RBIs. Park was well known as a base-stealing

cleanup hitter In baseball, a cleanup hitter is the fourth hitter in the batting order. The cleanup hitter is traditionally the team's most powerful hitter. His job is to "clean up the bases", that is, drive in base runners. Theory The thinking behind the ...

. While batting fourth in the order of his team since his rookie season, he stole 40-plus bases in two seasons ( and ), and won the stolen base title with a career-high 43 in 2005. In , Park was called up to the

for the inaugural World Baseball Classic. He appeared in four games as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

, going 1-for-4 with one RBI. In Team Korea's second game of

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Corporation, a Japan-based amusement store chain. See also * '' Round One: The ...

against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Park hit a RBI triple to drive in Lee Bum-Ho as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh. In , Park fell into a horrendous slump. He batted a career-low .257 with a career-low two home runs, missing 30 games due to injuries. In 2009, Park had his best career in batting average. He won the KBO batting title with a career-high .372 averageKIM HYO-KYUNG
"Pushing 40, LG Twins’ Park Yong-taik proves that age is no obstacle,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (August 28, 2016). and hit 18 home runs. On December 11, 2009, he won the Golden Glove Award as an outfielder. In 2012, Park received another Golden Glove award. From 2009 to 2018, Park hit over .300 every season.Wolfe, Tony
"Buried in the LG Twins’ Lineup, a Korean Baseball Great,"
''FanGraphs'' (May 14, 2020). From 2013 and until 2017, and despite playing in his mid- to late-thirties, Park batted over .320 and reached at least 150 hits in each season, and was widely regarded as one of the best contact hitters in the KBO. With 2,439 career hits at the end of 2019,KIM HYO-KYUNG, KANG YOO-RIM
"Hitting legend Park just wants one title,"
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' (January 10, 2020). he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO, having over-taken Yang Joon-hyuk's mark of 2,318 total hits. Before the 2020 season, he declared that he would retire after the season.

Notable international careers

Filmography

Television shows

References

External links

Profile and stats on the KBO official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Yong-Taik 1979 births Living people 21st-century South Korean sportsmen KBO League outfielders KBO League players with retired numbers Korea University alumni LG Twins players South Korean baseball players World Baseball Classic players of South Korea 2006 World Baseball Classic players