Jeong Keun-woo

Jeong Keun-woo
Hangul	정근우
Hanja	鄭根宇
Revised Romanization	Jeong Geun-u
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏng Kŭn-u

Jeong Keun-woo
Jeong Keun-woo
LG Twins – No. 8
	Second baseman
	Born: October 2, 1982 (age 41); 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 runs	121
RBI	722
Stolen bases	371
Teams
	SK Wyverns (2005–2013); Hanwha Eagles (2014-2019); LG Twins (2020);
Career highlights and awards
	2× Korean Series champion (2007, 2008); 3× KBO League Golden Glove Award (2006, 2009, 2013);
Medals
Men's baseball
Olympics
World Baseball Classic
2015 WBSC Premier12

Jeong Keun-woo (Korean: 정근우, Hanja: 鄭根宇; born October 2, 1982) is a former second baseman and shortstop who last played for the SK Wyverns, Hanhwa Eagles, and LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization.^[1] 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, 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

Source:^[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	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	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]

References

^ 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.
^ (in Korean) 정근우, 2루수 독보적 골든글러브
^ "한화 정근우, 2차 드래프트 통해 LG행". The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
^ "정근우, 네이버 인물검색 수상경력". Naver(네이버).
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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 Agency. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Naver.