Lions slugger Park Byung-ho becomes 3rd KBO player to hit 400 home runs

Published : Sept 4, 2024 - 20:30 Updated : Sept 4, 2024 - 20:30

Park Byung-ho of the Samsung Lions rounds third base after hitting his 400th career home run in the Korea Baseball Organization during a regular-season game against the Doosan Bears at Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu on Sept. 4, 2024, in this photo provided by the Lions. The scoreboard shows Park's accomplishment as the third player in league history to reach the 400-homer plateau. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Park Byung-ho of the Samsung Lions became the third player in South Korean baseball to hit 400 home runs Wednesday.

Park belted his 400th homer to lead off the bottom of the second inning against the Doosan Bears in their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 230 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

Park drove a forkball from Bears starter Choi Seung-yong over the right-center field fence for the milestone. He has now homered in four consecutive games.

Park is third on the all-time home run list here. Choi Jeong of the SSG Landers became the new home run king on April 24 this year with his 468th home run and he entered Wednesday's action with 491.

Former Lions slugger and current Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop is in second place with 467.

Among active players, Choi Hyoung-woo of the Kia Tigers is poised to be the next player to reach the 400-homer plateau, as he had 394 before Wednesday.

Park, 38, is a late bloomer who debuted with the LG Twins in 2005 but didn't become an everyday player until a midseason trade to the Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes in 2011. He was voted the regular season MVP in 2012 and 2013, just the fourth player in KBO history to win back-to-back MVP awards.

Park has won a record six home run titles, and is the only player to lead the KBO in homers in four consecutive seasons, having done so from 2012 to 2015.

Park launched 52 homers in 2014 and then had 53 the following year. No other KBO player has hit 50 or more homers in consecutive seasons.

After the 2015 season with the Heroes, Park signed with the Minnesota Twins in Major League Baseball. He had 12 home runs in 62 games with them in 2016 but spent the entire 2017 season in the minor leagues before rejoining the Heroes for the 2018 season.

Park signed with the KT Wiz as a free agent following the 2021 campaign. Then in May this year, he demanded a trade from the Wiz over some differences with the coaching staff over his role. The Wiz granted him his wish and shipped him to the Lions.

Park only had three home runs in 44 games for the Wiz before the trade, and has hit 17 homers in 62 games for the Lions.