Lee Kang-chul

Lee Kang-chul (Hangul: 이강철; born May 24, 1966, in Gwangju, South Korea) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher and current manager of the KT Wiz. A submarine-style pitcher,[2] he played 16 seasons in the KBO League, mostly for the Haitai/Kia Tigers. He is second all-time in the KBO League in career strikeouts and third in career victories. Lee was one of the top KBO pitchers of the 1990s, and is the only pitcher from that league to have won 10+ games in ten consecutive seasons, which he did from 1989 to 1998.[1]

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.
Lee Kang-chul
KT Wiz – No. 71
Pitcher
Born: (1966-05-24) May 24, 1966
Gwangju, South Korea
Batted: Right Threw: Right
KBO debut
1989, for the Haitai Tigers
Last KBO appearance
2005, for the Kia Tigers
KBO statistics
Win-Loss152[1]−109
Earned run average3.29[1]
Strikeouts1,749
Saves53[1]
Teams
As player

As coach

As manager

Career highlights and awards
Lee Kang-chul
Hangul
이강철
Hanja
야구인
Revised RomanizationI Gangcheol
McCune–ReischauerI Kangch'ŏl

Playing career

Born in Gwangju, Lee attended Gwangju Jeil High School and Dongguk University.[3] He pitched for the South Korea national baseball team in the 1988 Baseball World Cup and also in the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Lee debuted with the Haitai Tigers in 1989 at age 23 and had an immediate impact, going 15-8 with a 3.23 earned run average as the Tigers won the Korean Series. (During his career, Lee would win four more KBO championships with the Tigers.)

Lee went 18-9 in 1992, with 155 strikeouts, enough to lead the KBO that year.[3]

He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 Korean Series, which the Tigers won 4-games-to-2 over the Hyundai Unicorns.[4] During the Series, Lee had two wins, a save, and a 0.56 ERA.[3]

Lee sat out the 1999 season and returned to the KBO in 2000 with the Samsung Lions. He didn't pitch well for them, and mid-season 2001 was traded back to the Tigers franchise (now known as the Kia Tigers). In his second stint with the Tigers he was primarily a relief pitcher.

During the 2004 season, Lee broke Sun Dong-yol's career KBO strikeout record of 1,698, but Lee's total was surpassed later that season by current KBO career strikeout king Song Jin-woo.[3]

Lee retired in 2005. His 1,749 career strikeouts are second all-time in the KBO League, and his 152 victories are third on the all-time list.

Coaching/managing career

Lee began coaching the season after he retired, serving as the Tigers' pitching coach from 2006 to 2012. He was "head coach" of the Nexen Heroes for four seasons, from 2013 to 2016. Lee coached for the South Korea national baseball team that won the Silver Medal in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship. Lee then moved to the Doosan Bears, serving as the team's KBO Futures League manager in 2017[2] and the KBO team's pitching coach in the 2018 season.[1]

He has been the manager of the KT Wiz since the end of the 2018 season.[2] Lee led the young club to its first .500 record in his first year as manager.[1]

See also

References
  1. KIM SEEK, KANG YOO-RIM. Lee’s long road to the top pays off for Wiz," Korea JoongAng Daily (August 29, 2019).
  2. "Baseball club plucks coach from another team to fill managerial vacancy," Yonhap News Agency (October 20, 2018).
  3. "Kang-chul Lee," BR Bullpen. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  4. "1996 Korean Baseball Organization". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
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