Dae-ho Lee
Lee Dae-ho is a South Korean professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. During his career, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball, and the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.
Lee batted and threw right-handed. He hit home runs in nine consecutive games for the first time in world baseball history. According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, Lee was chosen as the most popular player in the KBO League.
Amateur career
Lee started baseball because of his childhood friendship with Shin-soo Choo. Lee attended Kyungnam High School in Busan, South Korea. At Kyungnam High School, Lee batted fourth and could throw a mid-90s mph fastball as a pitcher. In 2000, he was selected for the South Korean Junior National Team as a pitcher. The team won the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Lee led the attack alongside Kim Tae-kyun, Choo Shin-soo and Jeong Keun-woo as a cleanup hitter by racking up 3 home runs. He also finished runner-up behind Joe Mauer of Team USA in batting average.Notable international careers
Professional career
KBO League
2001 season
As a rookie, Lee joined the Lotte Giants as a pitcher in 2001. However, following an injury, he was officially changed to a position player for the second half of the 2001 season.2006 season
In the 2006 season, Lee won the league's Triple Crown with a batting average, 26 home runs, and 88 RBIs. This is the second time a hitter has won the Batting Triple Crown in the Korea Professional Baseball league. He finished second in voting for the 2006 MVP behind the Hanhwa Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, also the winner of the Triple Crown for pitchers in 2006.2008 season
In 2008, Lee was a member of the South Korea national baseball team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, while he had an average of , 3 home runs, 10 RBIs, 5 runs, and slugging percentage, playing as the designated hitter.2010 season
On August 13, 2010, Lee wrote a new chapter in Korean baseball by hitting a home run in eight straight games in the league. The eighth home run was hit at an away match against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju in the top of the seventh inning when he sent former Major Leaguer Aquilino López's fifth pitch over the left fence of Moodeung Stadium. This tied the existing record in world professional baseball shared by Ken Griffey Jr. in, Don Mattingly in and Dale Long in. On August 14, 2010, Lee set a world record by hitting a home run in his ninth straight game when, in the second inning of Giants' second away match against the Tigers, he blasted a three-run homer off Tigers reliever Kim Hee-girl over the center fence of Moodeung Stadium. It was his 38th home run of the season. With his 83rd run that year, he set a new Korean League record with a run in 16 consecutive games.In the 2010 season, Lee enjoyed one of the most dominant offensive seasons in world professional baseball history, leading the KBO in seven offensive categories, which made him a Septuple Crown winner.
2011 season
Lee led the KBO League in batting average, hits, and on-base percentage. After the season, he declared free agency and sought out a new challenge.Nippon Professional Baseball
In December 2011, Lee signed a two-year contract worth 760 million yen with the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball. During his four years in Japan, he recorded the highest OPS during this time.2012 season
On July 20, 2012, at the Osaka Dome, Lee won the NPB Home Run Derby against Wladimir Balentien of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Lee hit 6 home runs while Balentien made no home runs and received a 500,000 yen award. He ended his season with a.286 average, 24 home runs, and 91 RBI.Major League Baseball
On February 3, 2016, Lee signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. The Mariners added Lee to the 40-man roster on March 27.On April 8, Lee recorded his first MLB hit, a home run off Eric Surkamp of the Oakland Athletics. On April 13, Lee hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run to beat the Texas Rangers. This was the first rookie pinch-hit walk-off in Mariners history. On May 4, Lee hit two home runs in a 9–8 victory over Oakland.
On June 10, Lee hit home runs in consecutive plate appearances against Derek Holland, totaling 4 RBI to propel the Mariners to a 7–5 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Lee finished his one season in MLB with a.253 average and 14 home runs.
KBO League (second stint)
On January 24, 2017, Lee signed a four-year, $12.9 million contract with the Lotte Giants. The contract was the largest for a free agent in KBO history. He said his last wish as a player was to win a championship with the Giants. Lee's 2017 season was a success, as he hit with 34 home runs and 111 RBIs. He helped Lotte return to the postseason for the first time in five years.In 2018, he hit.333 with 37 home runs and 125 RBIs. However, in 2019, Lee failed to reach 20 home runs for the first time in 10 years and was sent to the second division due to injuries.
Lee re-signed with the Giants ahead of the 2021 season.
On October 8, 2022, Lee's final professional game, he made his first career appearance as a pitcher. In the outing, he got LG Twins closer Go Woo-suk to ground out to him on a comebacker to the mound.
Post-playing career
Currently, Lee is working as a broadcaster who appears on various broadcasts after his retirement."A Clean Sweep", a broadcast program in which retired legendary baseball players gather to play against high school, university, and social baseball teams, is currently his core broadcast activity.
In addition to broadcasting activities, Lee has started a YouTube channel, steadily producing baseball-related contents.
Awards and honors
KBO League
Source:- 2005 KBO All-Star MVP
- 2008 KBO All-Star MVP
- 2006 KBO Golden Glove Award
- 2007 KBO Golden Glove Award
- 2010 KBO League [Most Valuable Player Award|KBO MVP]
- 2010 KBO Golden Glove Award
- 2011 KBO Golden Glove Award
- 2017 KBO Golden Glove Award
- 2018 KBO Golden Glove Award
Nippon Professional Baseball
- 2012 Pacific League Best Nine Award
Local & Media
- 2000 Busan Baseball MVP
- 2004 Player of the Year Achievement Award
- 2006 Player of the Year
- 2006 Jeil Fire Insurance Pro Baseball MVP
- 2006 11th ILGOO MVP
- 2006 Sports Toto Hitter of the Year
- 2007 Jeil Fire Insurance Pro Baseball Best Hitter
- 2009 CJ Magumagu Pro Baseball Charity Golden Glove Award
- 2010 Choa Pharm Pro Baseball Grand Prize
- 2010 Sports Toto Player of the Year
- 2010 Sports Toto Record of the Year
- 2010 CJ Magumagu ILGOO Best Hitter
- 2012 ILGOO Special Contribution Award
- 2012 Choa Pharm Pro Baseball Special Award
- 2014 Choa Pharm Pro Baseball Special Award
Achievements
KBO League
- 2006 Batting title
- 2006 Home run title
- 2006 RBI title
- 2006 Slugging percentage leader
- 2006 Triple Crown
- 2007 Slugging percentage leader
- 2010 Batting title
- 2010 Home run title
- 2010 RBI title
- 2010 Hits leader
- 2010 Runs scored leader
- 2010 Slugging percentage leader
- 2010 On-base percentage leader
- 2010 OPS leader
- 2010 Triple Crown
- 2010 Nine consecutive home runs
- 2011 Batting title
- 2011 Hits leader
- 2011 On-base percentage leader
Nippon Professional Baseball
- 2012 RBI title
Notable international careers