An Chi-hong
| An Chi-hong | |||||||||||||||
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| Hanwha Eagles – No. 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Second baseman | |||||||||||||||
| Born: July 2, 1990 Seoul, South Korea | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| KBO debut | |||||||||||||||
| April 4, 2009, for the Kia Tigers | |||||||||||||||
| KBO statistics (through May 31, 2024) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .296 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 147 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 872 | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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An Chi-hong (Korean: 안치홍; Hanja: 安致弘; born July 2, 1990) is a South Korean infielder who plays for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Amateur career
[edit]While attending Seoul High School in Seoul, An was considered one of the top shortstops in the Korean high school baseball league. As a sophomore, he drew national attention at the President's Cup National High School Baseball Championship held in April 2007, where his team finished runner-up and An won batting, home runs and RBI titles.
Professional career
[edit]Drafted by the Kia Tigers in the 2nd round (1st pick, 9th overall) of the 2009 KBO Draft, An made his pro debut on April 4, 2009. On July 2, he became the fourth straight-from-high-school rookie to hit double digit home runs in KBO history, smacking two home runs against the Samsung Lions.
An was selected for the Best 10 of the 2009 KBO All-Star Game. He became the first rookie player to earn the All-Star Best 10 honors since Lee Byung-Kyu and Jin Kab-Yong in 1997. In the All-Star Game in Gwangju on July 25, A hit a two-run home run in the 5th inning, which made him the youngest ever to be named KBO All-Star Game MVP.
An finished his rookie season with a batting average of .235 (44th in the league) and 14 home runs. Although An was the only rookie player to be eligible for the batting title in the 2009 season, having 436 plate appearances in 123 games, he failed to make the Rookie of the Year title, losing out to saves champion Lee Yong-Chan of the Doosan Bears.
International career
[edit]In August 2007, he was selected for the South Korea national junior baseball team and participated in the Asian Junior Baseball Championship held in Taichung, Taiwan.
In 2008, An was selected for the South Korea national junior baseball team again to compete at the World Junior Baseball Championship, where they claimed their fifth tournament title. In the tourney, he batted .333 (10-for-30) with 8 RBIs and 8 runs, playing in all 8 games as a second and third baseman, and was named Best Defensive Player.
In 2018, he represented South Korea at the 2018 Asian Games.[1]
| Year | Venue | Competition | Team | Individual Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 |  Chinese Taipei
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Asian Junior Baseball Championship | 
|
.111 BA (1-for-9) |
| 2008 |  Canada
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World Junior Baseball Championship | 
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.333 BA (10-for-30), 8 RBI, 8 R, 5 BB Best Defensive Player |
Awards and honors
[edit]- 2009 All-Star Game MVP
- 2011 Gold Glove second baseman.
References
[edit]- ^ "2018 자카르타-팔렘방 아시안게임 야구 국가대표팀 최종 엔트리 확정" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. June 11, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from the KBO official website
- 1990 births
- Living people
- Baseball players at the 2018 Asian Games
- Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea
- Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
- Asian Games medalists in baseball
- KBO League second basemen
- Kia Tigers players
- South Korean baseball players
- Baseball players from Seoul
- Lotte Giants players
- Hanwha Eagles players