Jeong Keun-woo

Jeong Keun-woo (Korean: 정근우, Hanja: 鄭根宇; born October 2, 1982) is a second baseman and shortstop who currently plays for the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization.[1] He bats and throws right-handed.

In this Korean name, the family name is Jeong.
Jeong Keun-woo
LG Twins – No. 8
Second baseman
Born: (1982-10-02) October 2, 1982
Pusan, South Korea
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
KBO debut
April 2, 2005, for the SK Wyverns
KBO statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.302
Home runs121
RBI722
Stolen bases371
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Olympics
Gold medal – first place2008 BeijingTeam
World Baseball Classic
Silver medal – second place 2009 Los Angeles Team
2015 WBSC Premier12
Gold medal – first place 2015 Tokyo Team
Jeong Keun-woo
Hangul
정근우
Hanja
鄭根宇
Revised RomanizationJeong Geun-u
McCune–ReischauerChŏng Kŭn-u

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, Alberta, 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 KBO League 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 second Golden Glove Award as a second baseman,[2] and in 2013 he won his third Golden Glove.

He moved through the second draft of the KBO League in 2020.[3]

Awards and honors[4]
  • 2006 Golden Glove Award (Second baseman)
  • 2009 Golden Glove Award (Second baseman)
  • 2013 KBO Golden Glove 2nd prize
  • 2016 1st place in KBO regular league

Career statistics
Through 2009 season.
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

Filmography

Television shows
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2021 Game of Blood Contestant [5]
2022 All Table Tennis! Cast Member [6]
Youth Baseball Team Head coach [7]
Strongest Baseball Cast Member [8]

See also

References
  1. Yoo Jee-ho (November 15, 2016). "Nat'l team 2B Jeong Keun-woo to undergo knee surgery, WBC status in doubt". Yonhap. Seoul. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  2. (in Korean) 정근우, 2루수 독보적 골든글러브
  3. "한화 정근우, 2차 드래프트 통해 LG행". hankyung.com (in Korean). 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. "정근우, 네이버 인물검색 수상경력". Naver(네이버).
  5. Baek Seung-hoon (October 21, 2021). "피의 게임' 전 야구선수 정근우→한의사 최연승, 플레이어 공개" [Game of Blood' former baseball player Jeong Geun-woo → Oriental doctor Yeon-seung Choi, player revealed] (in Korean). iMBC. Retrieved October 21, 2021 – via Naver.
  6. Moon Ji-yeon (February 15, 2022). "올 탁구나!' 이진호·강승윤·신예찬·이태환, 멤버 완성..포스터 공개" ['All table tennis!' Lee Jin-ho, Kang Seung-yoon, Shin Ye-chan, Lee Tae-hwan, members completed.. Poster released] (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved February 15, 2022 – via Naver.
  7. Park Ah-reum (April 13, 2022). "청춘야구단' 정수성 작전코치 합류 "프로선수 수준으로 지도할 것" [Joining ‘Youth Baseball Team’ as operational coach Suseong Jung “I will guide you to the level of a professional player”] (in Korean). Newsen. Retrieved April 13, 2022 – via Naver.
  8. Kang Ae-ran (April 21, 2022). "이승엽·박용택 등 레전드 총출동…예능 '최강야구' 상반기 방송" [Lee Seung-yeop, Park Yong-taek, etc. Legends all dispatched… 'Strongest Baseball' broadcast in the first half of the entertainment show] (in Korean). Yonhap News. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Naver.
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