[News Figures] From Release to Manual Labor... Now the 'Most RBIs King' Choi Hyung-woo

Gave Up College Due to Severe Poverty, Joined Pro League
Released from Pro Team, Did Manual Labor... Also Failed at Sangmu
Returned to Pro from 2nd Team... KIA 10 Billion Won Contract
On the Verge of Becoming KBO League's All-Time RBI Leader

Professional baseball player Choi Hyung-woo (40) of the KIA Tigers is just two RBIs away from reaching a career total of 1,500 RBIs, which would make him the new all-time RBI leader in the KBO League. This is a path no one has ever taken before. It is a record built by overcoming adversity, including being released from the pros, doing manual labor to make a living, and failing the military sports unit test.

This season, Choi Hyung-woo has recorded a .308 batting average, 8 home runs, and 37 RBIs in 58 games. Unless there are major changes, he is expected to make new history as the RBI king.

Before the season started, Choi expressed his expectations, saying, "I basically started my professional career in my mid-20s. If I become the all-time RBI leader, it will be more satisfying than any other title I have held so far."

In the bottom of the 7th inning during the professional baseball game between NC Dinos and KIA Tigers held at Gwangju Kia Champions Field on the 17th, KIA's Choi Hyung-woo hit an RBI single, prompting the scoreboard to display a screen announcing the tie for the most RBIs in KBO history. With this additional RBI, Choi Hyung-woo tied with Lee Seung-yeop, the current Doosan manager, who held the top spot with 1,498 RBIs.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Gave up college due to severe poverty, joined pros but was 'released'... manual labor led back to the second team

Among baseball fans, the nicknames attached to Choi Hyung-woo are 'human victory' and 'late bloomer.' These differ from the common titles given to baseball players like 'cleanup hitter' or 'national hitter.' This reflects the many twists and turns in his career.

Born in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do in 1984, Choi graduated from Jeonju High School. During his three years at Jeonju High (1999?2001), he posted a batting average of .313 (15 hits in 48 at-bats), with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs.

In 2002, he entered the pros as the 48th pick in the 6th round of the Samsung Lions' second draft. Originally, he planned to attend college rather than go pro. As a left-handed batter and right-handed thrower catcher, he was scouted by Dongguk University’s coach Han Dae-hwa. However, due to poverty, he gave up college and joined the pros.

In a July 2008 interview with the Dong-A Ilbo, he said, "I was poor from a young age. My mother raised the three of us by catching chickens on a farm and selling them at the market. As the eldest son, if I went to college, it would cost money for four years. I signed with Samsung, receiving a signing bonus of 50 million won and an annual salary of 20 million won."

However, in 2005, he suffered the humiliation of being released. To make a living, he once did manual labor at a construction site. Regarding this, in a November 2016 interview with OSEN, Choi said, "After being released, I had about two months before enlisting, so I went back to my hometown with no money and nothing to do. I did manual labor for a month. Being filled with determination and doing manual labor made my will to succeed even stronger. Whenever it was tough, I clenched my teeth remembering those days of manual labor."

On the 23rd at Gwangju Kia Champions Field, during the professional baseball game between the Samsung Lions and the KIA Tigers, KIA's Choi Hyung-woo, who hit a double in the first inning to set a new KBO all-time record for most doubles, received a bouquet from manager Kim Jong-guk and high-fived with the players.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Spectacular pro comeback: challenges for 'oldest Rookie of the Year' and most RBI titles

Choi failed the entrance test for the military sports unit (Sangmu) at that time, but he passed as a catcher for the newly established Police Baseball Team that year. About this, Choi recalled, "After receiving the acceptance notice from the police baseball team, I felt I had a new thread of hope. I worked really hard for two years. It was the hardest training I had ever done in my baseball career. I worked so hard that I never want to do it again."

In 2007, after leading in all categories except stolen bases in the Futures (second) League (winning seven crowns), Samsung reached out to him again. He then secured a spot as Samsung’s starting outfielder and became the oldest Rookie of the Year in KBO League history at age 25. In 2011, he reached the 100 RBI milestone for the first time (118 RBIs) and won the RBI title.

After the 2016 season, Choi earned free agent (FA) status for the first time in his career and moved to KIA with a 10 billion won, 4-year contract. This was the first 10 billion won contract in KBO League FA history. In his first season with KIA in 2017, he recorded 120 RBIs, leading KIA to the championship, and achieved triple-digit RBIs for five consecutive years (2014?2018). Alongside Lee Dae-ho (former Lotte Giants) and Park Byung-ho (kt wiz), he holds the record for the most RBIs in this category, ushering in the 'Choi Hyung-woo era' in RBIs. Meanwhile, at the end of 2020, Choi re-signed with KIA for 4.7 billion won over three years. This year is the final year of that contract. Given the current trend, it is highly likely he will continue his active career next year as well.