(LEAD) Landers' slugger Choi Jeong becomes 2nd KBO player with 400 home runs

All News 20:54 October 19, 2021

(ATTN: ADDS photos)
By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- SSG Landers' third baseman Choi Jeong has become the second player in South Korean baseball history to hit 400 career home runs.

Choi reached the milestone Tuesday against the Kia Tigers starter Bo Takahashi in the top of the fourth inning of the team's Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul.

Choi Jeong of the SSG Landers hits his 400th career home run against the Kia Tigers in the top of the fourth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 19, 2021. (Yonhap)

The solo shot at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field was Choi's league-leading 32nd homer of the 2021 season. At 3-2 count, Choi turned on a belt-high fastball and drove it into left field to tie the score at 4-4.

Choi is second on the all-time list behind the retired star Lee Seung-yuop, who had 467 home runs in 7,132 at-bats over 1,906 games.

Choi's 400th homer came in his 6,510th at-bat in his 1,907th game.

Choi Jeong of the SSG Landers watches his 400th career home run against the Kia Tigers in the top of the fourth inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Oct. 19, 2021. (Yonhap)

Still going strong at age 34, Choi has a realistic chance at breaking Lee's record. He debuted as an 18-year-old in 2005 and has reached double figures in home runs in every season since 2006.

Choi has 32 homers this year for his fifth career 30-homer campaign. All five of them have come in the last six years, and he narrowly missed out in 2019 when he finished with 29 homers.