Samsung Lions catcher Jin Kab-yong, left, celebrates with teammate Oh Seung-hwan (now at Japan's Hanshin Tigers) after a 2-1 victory over SK Wyverns in the game two of the 2011 Korean Series in Daegu in this Oct. 26, 2011, photo.

/ Korea Times file



By Nam Hyun-woo

Samsung Lions' Jin Kab-yong will struggle with a laptop computer instead of bats and mitts in contributing to his club's victories from now on. The 41-year-old veteran catcher's 19-year professional career has come to an end, the Lions said Thursday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club said in a statement that Jin will become an operations and strategy analyst for the team.

His status as an active player will be retained until the end of this season, and Jin will have an official retirement ceremony at that time.

Jin, who debuted for the KBO League's OB Bears (now Doosan Bears) in 1997, has been a trophy magnet for the Lions after he was traded to the Daegu-based club in 1999. During his stint with the Lions, Jin collected seven Korean Series titles, leading the Lions to reign over the league since 2002.

During the 19 seasons, he recorded a batting average of .276, had 1,445 hits, including 154 home runs and 753 runs batted in. He won the Golden Glove Award in 2002, 2005 and 2006; appeared in the Korean Series 10 times; and played in 10 All-Star games.

Of the Lions' seven Korean Series victories, Jin caught the series-ending pitch six times, except for the 2002 series, which ended with a series-ending homer.

Jin also hugely contributed to Korea's glorious moments in a series of international campaigns. As a national team catcher, he played in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Korea won the gold medal in both competitions. He represented Korea in the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classics as well.

Of those celebrated moments, many Korean fans remember his fighting spirit in the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal match against Cuba. Catcher Kang Min-ho of Lotte Giants was sent off while protesting an umpire's call, forcing Jin, who was suffering an injury, to play. In the bottom of the ninth, when Korea was leading 3-2, bases were fully loaded with one out, and Jin and reliever Chong Tae-hyon teamed up to force a double play to cap off the game.

After spending the last and current seasons mostly in the dugout, Jin appeared at a game against the NC Dinos as a designated hitter on June 6, his last KBO League moment.

Jin told reporters that he made up his mind to retire because younger teammates were doing well. "If juniors were not doing great, I would continue my career. But, they are doing fine, so I can comfortably retire," he said.

Jin said he plans to fly to Japan and the U.S. to be trained as a coach after spending the rest of this season as an analyst.