Incheon: For an introvert who shuns the spotlight and feels uncomfortable in a big crowd, SSG Landers slugger Choi Jeong has done plenty to attract the attention of baseball fans from around the country over a career spanning two decades. The latest in a long series of career accomplishments for Choi came Tuesday, when he belted the 500th home run of his illustrious Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) career.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Choi, who became the KBO's all-time home run king on April 24 last year with his 468th blast, is now the charter member of the 500-homer club here. Choi, 38, made history Tuesday by taking Riley Thompson of the NC Dinos deep for a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth inning at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon, just west of Seoul.
Choi finished the 2024 season with 495 homers, and it seemed almost a given that he would reach 500 before the end of April in the 2025 season, which began on March 22. However, Choi suffered a hamstring injury in spring and ended up missing more than a month at the start of the new campaign. Choi didn't make his season debut until May 2, though, true to form, he homered that day to restart his home run clock.
Choi then launched home runs on May 4 and 5, and a solo shot on Saturday against the Tigers put him on the brink of the milestone. Choi made his KBO debut in 2005 as an 18-year-old for the SK Wyverns, the previous incarnation of the Landers, and had just one homer that year. But Choi broke out for 12 home runs in 92 games in 2006, and it started a run of consistent production matched by few others in KBO history.
Choi reached double figures in home runs in every year from 2006 to 2024, a league-record 19 consecutive seasons. He is five away from extending his own record this year. Choi also hit at least 20 home runs in nine consecutive seasons, from 2016 to 2024, to share the league record with current Samsung Lions slugger Park Byung-ho.
Also, Choi's slugging percentage has not dipped below .500 since 2009, a year in which he was limited to just 99 games due to injuries. Choi has been a consistent force but he hasn't just been putting up a long series of average seasons. He has had his share of dominant years, too.
Choi has won three home run titles, most recently in 2021 in his age-34 season. He had 37 dingers last year to finish third in the KBO, despite missing 15 games with injuries. The cliche about fine wine certainly applies to Choi, who has hit more home runs after turning 30 (275) than before (225). He has had six 30-homer campaigns over his career and five of them have come after his 30th birthday.
Choi is as lethal with his bat at the plate as he is reticent and awkward off the field. Choi often seems to merely tolerate media obligations and reluctantly accepts them as part of his job. During his home run record chase last spring, Choi had repeatedly said he wanted to get the job done as soon as possible so that he could be done with the media circus. All he wants to do is keep his head down and rake, and let his performance do the talking.
And with one big swing of the bat Tuesday, Choi once again sent a loud message across the KBO -- that he is an all-time great that needs to be talked about, whether he likes it or not.