In the 40-year history of the KBO, a catcher has won the home run title five times. Those five times were split between two players. They are considered the best offensive catchers of all time. Park Dong-won will challenge the legend.
There are only two catchers in history who have held the title of “Home Run King”: Lee Man-Soo and Park Dong-Wan. The former won the title three times during his career, in 1983, 1984, and 1985. He was the epitome of an “offensive catcher” with a blistering bat that earned him the nickname “The Hulk.
Lee led the league in this category with 27 home runs in 1983, 23 in 1984 and 22 in 1985. After that, the catcher’s home run reign came to an end, and he was succeeded by Park Kyung-wan, arguably the greatest catcher of all time.안전놀이터
The current LG coach won the home run title in 2000 and 2004. In 2000, he was a member of the Hyundai Unicorns. He hit a whopping 40 home runs that year, and the competition was fierce. The Doosan Bears’ Tyron Woods was just one home run behind Park with 39, while teammate Tom Quinlan hit 37. The “Lion King” Lee Seung-yeop was fourth with 36. It was a very competitive season for home runs, and it was Park who came out on top.
Park, who also won the title in 2004 with 34 home runs, was crowned the home run king for the second time in his career, beating modern-day Cliff Broomba by just one.
There hasn’t been a catcher’s home run champion since. Doosan Yang-ji, currently considered the best offensive catcher in the league, was in the running, but hadn’t yet topped the list. Yang hit 20 home runs in five straight years from 2018 to 2022, including two straight 30-homer seasons in 2020 and 2021. He was on fire in the early part of the 2021 season while playing for NC, hitting 19 home runs by June to lead the league in home runs by a catcher, but his pace slowed in the second half. That year, Yang hit 30 home runs and finished fifth in the league.
This year, the LG Twins’ Park Dong-won has thrown down the gauntlet. Park hit two more home runs against the Incheon SSG on the 25th, bringing his season total to 12. He currently leads the league. Doosan Rojas and Hanwha’s Noh Si-hwan (9 home runs) are chasing him, but he’s not slowing down. After hitting four home runs in April, he added eight more in May alone.
There are still a lot of games to go, but Park’s incredible performance in his first year as a free agent has certainly given KBO fans something to look forward to. It’s an interesting one to watch.