Professional Career
Lee debuted with the 2004 LG Twins, but after the 2004 season he was traded to the Kia Tigers.
In 2006, Lee batted a career-high .318 (third in the KBO league), and was first in hits (154), second in runs (78) and third in stolen bases (38). He also won his first Golden Glove Award. After the 2006 season, he was selected for the South Korea national baseball team and competed in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
In 2007, Lee was converted from right field to center field. However, he stole only 17 bases, and his batting average dipped to .280, showing a weakness against inside breaking balls from lefties.
In 2008, Lee had another solid season, batting a respectable .312 with 130 hits and 28 stolen bases, but the team did not reach the postseason.
In August 2008, Lee competed for the South Korea national baseball team in the 2008 Summer Olympics, where they won the gold medal in the baseball tournament. He finished the tournament ranked second in batting average (.481). He was at the plate for 3 of South Korea's 7 runs in their first win against Cuba, delivering a RBI single and hitting into a 2-base error by Norberto González. Lee was 4-for-4 in a 10-1 victory over the Netherlands. In the Gold Medal game, he hit a double off Pedro Luis Lazo to bring in Park Jin-Man for South Korea's final run in a 3-2 win over Cuba.
In March 2009, Lee was called up to the South Korea national baseball team again for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He went 4-for-18 with one RBI and four runs, sharing the starting center field position with Lee Jong-Wook. After the WBC, Lee was out with an ankle injury for the first three months of the 2009 KBO season, running into the outfield wall during the Tigers' 2009 home opener against the SK Wyverns on April 7. Lee returned from injury in early July, but his batting performance dipped, ending the season with a batting average of .266 and 45 hits.
Read more about this topic: Lee Yong-Kyu
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