Lee Seung-yuop (born 18 August 1976) is a South Korean former professional baseball first baseman who currently serves as a co-hitting coach for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He played in the KBO League for the Samsung Lions, and in NPB for the Chiba Lotte Marines, Yomiuri Giants, and Orix Buffaloes.
At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball player in the world to hit 300 career home runs. He formerly held the Asian home run record of 56 homers in a season, established in 2003 while playing for Samsung in the KBO. (The record was broken by Wladimir Balentien of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, on September 15, 2013, when he hit his 56th and 57th home runs of the season against the Hanshin Tigers. Lee holds the KBO records for career runs scored, RBI, total bases, and slugging percentage. Combined, across the KBO and NPB, Lee has also recorded more hits than any other native-born South Korean player.
Education Lee graduated from Kyeongbuk High School.
Professional career Lee started his career with the Samsung Lions of the KBO League in 1995 and played with them for nine seasons. He was the first player in the KBO League to hit 50 home runs in a season when he clubbed 54 in 1999. He set the single-season home run mark with 56 in 2003.
In 2004 Lee signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League for two years. He signed a one-year contract with the Yomiuri Giants for 210 million yen, including a 50 million yen signing bonus, for the 2006 season. He batted fourth and played first base there. He explicitly showed interest in making a move to Major League Baseball.
He had a slow start in Japan. Lee hit just 14 home runs and drove in 50 runs while batting .240 in 100 games. In the next season, he greatly improved, making 30 home runs and 82 RBI while batting .260 in 117 games.
He was selected to play for the South Korea national baseball team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. He batted .333 and led all players in the tournament with 5 home runs and 10 RBI. This has increased speculation that an MLB team might eventually sign him. However, Lee was under contract to play with the Yomiuri Giants for the 2006 season.
On 1 August 2006, Lee became only the third professional baseball player to hit 400 career home runs before the age of 30 (others include Sadaharu Oh and Alex Rodriguez). In the 2006 season, he batted .323 with 41 homers.
On 3 August 2006, a report on MLB Radio on XM satellite radio stated that the New York Yankees and Lee had agreed to start negotiations during the offseason after the 2006 regular season. The South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo had reported on July 19 that the Yankees had expressed interest in the slugger.Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea
After the conclusion of the 2006 season, Lee re-signed with the Yomiuri Giants, citing that he wishes to win a Japan Series with the team. However, a clause allowed him to be a free agent if the Giants won the series.
After being released by the Giants at the end of the 2010 season, Lee joined the Orix Buffaloes of Japan's Pacific League in December 2010.
On 5 December 2011, Lee rejoined his former team Samsung Lions, signing a one-year deal.
He played with the Lions until his retirement at age 41 at the end of the 2017 season. Despite his age, Lee hit 143 home runs between 2012 and 2017. In his retirement game against the Nexen Heroes in October 2017, he hit two home runs.
Coaching career Doosan Bears Beginning in 2022, Lee served as the manager of the Doosan Bears, Lee has two playoff appearances. In 2022, Lee lead the Bears to their first wild card game under his reign against the NC Dinos where they were eliminated from playoff contention after losing their first game. Lee then continued to the playoffs in 2024 where he lost against the KT Wiz that ended their season. He voluntarily resigned from the Bears on June 2, 2025, in the year of his contract expiration.
Yomiuri Giants On November 27, 2025, the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball hired Lee to serve as a co-hitting coach alongside Zelous Wheeler.
2008 Summer Olympics Lee played for the South Korean national team in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Slowed down by an injury to his left thumb, Lee struggled in the preliminary rounds, limited to 3-for-22 (.136) with two runs batted in and no home runs, before coming alive in the medal round games against Japan and Cuba.
In the semifinal game against Japan, Lee hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever Hitoki Iwase, which proved to be the winning runs in Korea's 6–2 win.
In the gold medal game against Cuba, Lee hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Cuban starter Norberto González to help Korea defeat Cuba and win the gold medal.
Career statistics
Career statistics in KBO League Season Team GAB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB SF BB HBP K GIDP E AVG SLG OBP OPS1995 Samsung121 365 55 104 29 1 13 73 0 9 33 4 54 4 8 .285 .477 .345.822 1996 122 459 57 139 32 6 9 76 4 6 34 5 42 10 5 .303 .458 .354.812 1997 126 517 96 170 37 3 32 114 5 5 49 6 79 10 4 .329 .598 .391 .9891998 126 477 100 146 32 2 38 102 0 8 78 5 97 4 3 .306 .621 .404 1.0251999 132 486 128 157 33 2 54 123 10 4 112 12 114 7 0 .323 .733 .4581.191 2000 125 454 108 133 33 0 36 95 4 3 80 7 113 5 2 .293 .604 .404 1.0082001 127 463 101 128 31 2 39 95 4 3 96 12 130 6 4 .276 .605 .412 1.0172002 133 511 123 165 42 2 47 126 1 2 89 15 109 11 4 .323 .689 .436 1.1252003 131 479 115 144 23 0 56 144 7 6 101 10 89 11 5 .301 .699 .428 1.1272012126488 84150 28 221 856 6 59 4101 104.307.502 .384.8862013111443 62112 24 813 693 830 294 80.253.395 .298.6932014127506 83156 30032 1015240 077 100.308.557 .358.9152015122470 87156 28126 9026 40 671 100.332.562 .387.9492016142542 91164 32227 11858 65 889 70.303.518 .380.8992017135472 65132 30524 871847 685 72.280.517 .347.864Total 1906713213552156 46428467 1498 3476 953 1021344 12039.302 .572 .389 .960
Career statistics in NPB Season Team GAB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB SF BB HBP K GIDP E AVG OBP SLG OPS2004 Lotte 100 333 50 80 20 414 50 1 342 3 88 6 4 0.240 0.328 0.4500.779 2005 Lotte 117 408 64 106 25 230 82 5 3 33 1 79 9 2 0.260 0.315 0.5510.886 2006 Yomiuri 143 524 101 169 30 041 1085 7 56 5 126 5 3 0.3230.389 0.616 1.0032007 Yomiuri137 541 84 148 29 230 744 138 1 119 8 5 0.2740.322 0.5010.823 2008Yomiuri451532138408271011637300.2480.3240.4310.7552009Yomiuri7722333519016361128565130.2290.3270.4840.8112010Yomiuri56921315105111012326020.1630.2800.3370.6172011Orix1223942879200155106320121840.2010.2570.3650.622Total 79726683946861388 15943918212522466140230.257 0.3240.4940.818
Filmography Television shows Year Title Role Notes 2021–2022 Golf Battle: Birdie Buddies Cast Member Season 1–4 2022 Strongest Baseball
Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result Blue Dragon Series Awards 2022 Best New Male Entertainer Golf Battle: Birdie Buddies SBS Entertainment Awards 2021 Rookie Award in Show and Sports
See also List of KBO career home run leaders List of KBO career RBI leaders
References
External links
Career statistics and player information from Korea Baseball Organization
South Korea's Lee could be bound for majors
Lee Seung-yeop baseball cards at Korean Cardboard