Lee Bum-ho

Lee Bum-ho
Kia Tigers – No. 25
Third baseman
Born: (1981-11-25) November 25, 1981
Bats: Right Throws: Right
KBO debut
April 5, 2000, for the Hanhwa Eagles
KBO statistics
(through 2011)
Batting average .268
Home runs 177
RBI 603
Teams
Lee Bum-ho
Medal record
Men's baseball
World Baseball Classic
2009 Los Angeles Team
2006 San Diego Team
Korean name
Hangul 이범호
Hanja 李杋浩
Revised Romanization I Beom-ho
McCune–Reischauer I Pŏm-ho

Lee Bum-ho (Hangul: 이범호; Hanja: 李杋浩; born November 25, 1981 in Daegu, South Korea) is a South Korean third baseman who plays for the Kia Tigers of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.

Lee is considered one of the best defensive third basemen in the KBO league. He is also able to make great contributions on offense as well. He hits with considerable power, which has enabled him to collect 20+ home runs every season.

Professional career

Lee made his pro debut in 2000, drafted by the Hanwha Eagles in the 2nd round (8th pick, 16th overall) of the 2000 KBO Draft.

He had a couple of mediocre seasons as a backup shortstop, but started to show signs of promise in 2002 when he batted .260 and hit 11 home runs. After the 2002 season, Lee was selected for the South Korea national baseball team for the first time and competed in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup held in Cuba. In the Gold Medal game, Lee hit a solo home run off Cuba's starter José Ibar in the bottom of the 4th inning to break a 0-0 tie.

His stats dipped slightly in 2003, but broke out again in the 2004 season when he batted a career-high .308 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs, playing in all 126 regular-season games as a shortstop.

In 2005, Lee moved from shortstop to third base, and hit a career-high 26 home runs with 68 RBIs. He won his first Golden Glove award at third base, edging out Kim Dong-Joo in the balloting.

Prior to the 2006 season, Lee was called up to the South Korea national baseball team and competed in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

From 2004 through 2007, Lee had four consecutive seasons with 20 or more home runs.

In 2008, he batted .276, hit 19 home runs, drove in 77 runs and stole a career-high 12 bases.

In March 2009, Lee competed for the South Korea national baseball team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. For the Classic, Lee went 8-for-20 with 3 home runs, 5 runs and 7 RBIs in six games. He was fifth in RBI and tied for the lead with six others in home runs in the tournament, and named to the All-Star team at third base. In the 2009 KBO season, Lee had another solid performance, batting .284 with 25 home runs (7th in the league), 124 hits and a career-high 79 RBIs in 126 regular-season games as a third baseman.

Lee signed as a free agent with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League in November 2009. He batted .226 in 48 games for the Hawks in 2010, with 4 home runs and 8 RBI. He hit his first NPB home run on 4/9/2010 against Nippon Ham at Fukuoka Dome in the seventh inning off Hirotoshi Masui.

In January 27, 2011, Lee signed with the Kia Tigers of the Korea Professional Baseball League.

Awards and honors

Career statistics

Year Team AVG G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI RUN SB CS BB SO GIDP SF SLG
2000 Hanwha .162 69 74 12 7 0 1 3 11 1 0 11 21 2 1 .297
2001 .196 71 138 27 7 1 3 16 22 2 4 13 25 3 8 .326
2002 .260 111 296 77 20 2 11 35 41 5 1 27 57 5 6 .453
2003 .238 107 323 77 19 1 11 38 46 2 6 52 63 6 9 .406
2004 .308 133 481 148 35 3 23 74 80 6 3 51 80 8 9 .536
2005 .273 126 444 121 27 1 26 68 69 6 2 62 94 8 7 .514
2006 .257 126 421 108 25 1 20 73 53 0 2 72 87 11 4 .463
2007 .246 126 418 103 14 0 21 63 57 2 0 77 73 14 10 .431
2008 .276 125 434 120 21 3 19 77 80 12 1 70 50 18 4 .470
2009 .284 126 436 124 21 0 25 79 64 3 1 60 70 103 .505
Total 10 Season .265 1120 3465 917 196 12 160 526 523 39 20 495 620 85 61 .467

Notable international careers

Year Venue Competition Team Individual Note
2002  Cuba Intercontinental Cup .303 BA (10-for-33), 1 HR
2006  United States World Baseball Classic .176 BA (3-for-17), 2 RBI, 1 R
2009  United States World Baseball Classic .400 BA (8-for-20), 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R
All-Star (3B), HR title
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