Jeong Keun-woo

This is a Korean name; the family name is Jeong.
Jeong Keun-Woo
Hanwha Eagles – No. 8
Second baseman
Born: October 2, 1982
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Professional debut
KBO: April 2, 2005 for the SK Wyverns
KBO statistics
(through 2012)
Batting average .303
Home runs 50
RBI 342
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Jeong Keun-woo
Medal record
Men's baseball
Olympics
Gold 2008 Beijing Team
World Baseball Classic
Silver 2009 Los Angeles Team

Jeong Keun-Woo (Hangul: 정근우, Hanja: 鄭根宇) (born October 2, 1982 in Busan, South Korea) is a second baseman and shortstop who currently plays for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed.

Amateur career

Jeong attended Busan High School in Busan, South Korea. In 1999, he was selected for the South Korea national junior team and participated in the 1999 World Junior Baseball Championship held in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. In 2000, he was selected again for the South Korea national junior team that won the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Canada. He led the attack alongside future pro baseball stars Choo Shin-Soo, Kim Tae-Kyun and Lee Dae-Ho, batting .333 with 3 RBIs as a starting second baseman.

Upon leaving high school, Jeong was considered the top infielder prospect for the 2001 KBO Draft, but went undrafted. Instead, he played college baseball at Korea University.

In his sophomore year at Korea University, he made his first appearance for the South Korea national baseball team at the 2002 Intercontinental Cup, where they claimed the silver medal.

In November 2003, Jeong competed for the South Korean national team as an amateur player again in the 2003 Baseball World Cup. In the tournament, he batted .308 with 2 home runs and 10 RBIs, leading the team in RBI. In Team Korea's second game against Russia, he went 5-for-6 with a home run and 5 RBIs to lead his team to a 26-3 victory.

In 2004, as a senior he participated in the 2nd World University Baseball Championship and led his team to the bronze medal, winning the RBI title.

Notable international careers

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
1999  Chinese Taipei World Junior Baseball Championship 5th
2000  Canada World Junior Baseball Championship .333 BA (9-for-27), 3 RBI
2002  Cuba Intercontinental Cup .294 BA (5-for-15)
2003  Cuba Baseball World Cup 8th .308 BA (12-for-39), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 9 R
2004  Chinese Taipei World University Baseball Championship 1st in RBI

Professional career

Drafted by the SK Wyverns in the second round (15th overall) of the 2005 KBO Draft, Jeong made his pro league debut on April 2, 2005. He had a disappointing rookie season, managing only a .193 batting average.

However, the next season he batted .284 with 45 stolen bases (2nd in the league) and 122 hits, and won the Golden Glove award at second base. After the 2006 KBO season, Jeong was selected for the South Korea national team, and won a bronze medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Jeong had a .323 batting average (4th in the league) in the 2007 KBO season, the first season of a .300-plus batting average, leading his team to the Korean Series Championship. As a member of the South Korea national team, he competed in the 2007 Asian Baseball Championship and 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament.

In the 2008 KBO season, Jeong hit .300-plus once again (.317), and ranked 2nd in hits (154) and 3rd in stolen bases (40).

On July 16, 2008, Jeong was selected for South Korea national team in the 2008 Olympics. In Beijing, he batted 9-for-29 with 4 runs and a RBI, playing as a utility infielder. In the team's third game of round-robin play against Canada, he smacked a solo home run off Mike Johnson in the third inning that held up for a 1-0 win for South Korea.

On December 11, 2009, he obtained his first Golden Glove Award in the second baseman nomination.[1]

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SB CS SH BB HBP K GIDP E AVG OBP SLG OPS
2005 SK 52 88 11 17 2 0 0 5 19 4 2 10 4 4 13 3 7 .193 .236 .216 .452
2006 120 430 69 122 19 4 8 42 173 45 10 17 36 4 60 3 8 .284 .333 .402 .735
2007 111 341 62 110 24 2 9 44 165 24 10 9 35 6 44 6 20 .323 .386 .484 .870
2008 124 491 73 154 20 4 8 58 206 40 20 10 46 3 53 9 15 .314 .369 .420 .789
2009 127 480 98 168 29 4 9 59 232 53 13 7 55 4 8 .350 .437 .483 .920
Total 534 1850 313 571 94 14 34 208 795 166 65 53 176 21 170 29 50 .312 .352 .434 .753

Bold = led KBO

Notable international careers

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2006  Qatar Asian Games .350 BA (7-for-20), 3 RBI, 8 R, 3 SB, 4 BB
2007  Chinese Taipei Asian Baseball Championship .250 BA (2-for-8), 2 RBI, 2 R
2008  China Olympic Games .310 BA (9-for-29), 1 HR, 1 RBI, 5 R
2009  United States World Baseball Classic .292 BA (7-for-24), 1 HR, 2 RBI, 7 R
2010  China Guangzhou Asian Games .563 BA (9-for-16), 3 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB

References

  1. ↑ (Korean)정근우, 2루수 독보적 골든글러브

External links