Kia’s Choi Hyung-woo, 39, is on the verge of becoming the all-time leader in career RBIs.

Choi added an RBI in the 2023 KBO League home game against NC at Gwangju KIA Champions Field on April 17.

The day before, Choi had recorded his 1497th career RBI, and with his 1498th RBI, he tied Lee Seung-yeop (now the head coach of Doosan) for the all-time lead in this category.

Now, if Choi hits a home run or drives in a run, he will make KBO history. It would also mean overtaking Lee Seung-yeop’s six-year reign as the all-time leader in RBIs.

He is also within striking distance of becoming the first player in history to reach 1,500 RBIs. We’ll likely see this milestone in the midweek three-game series against Hanwha.안전놀이터

After being released and re-signed, Choi burst onto the KBO scene relatively late in life, winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2008 at the age of 25. Since then, Choi has consistently posted exceptional results.

From 2008 to last year, he hit double-digit home runs for 15 consecutive years and had seven seasons with over 100 RBIs.

It’s no exaggeration to say that he’s also an all-time great in the ratio stats department. Choi has nine seasons with a triple-digit slugging percentage and a career batting average of .312. He’s also one of the few players to still have a 3-4-5 career slash line (batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage).

Choi, the ultimate in accumulation. ⓒNewsis
However, Choi is in the final stages of his career, and it’s very likely that his all-time RBI record will be broken sooner rather than later. That’s because SSG’s Choi is closing in on him.

Choi also surpassed the 1400-run plateau this season and is now fourth on the all-time list with 1411 runs. He needs just 14 more hits to tie Lee Dae-ho for third all-time.

To top it all off, Choi is four years younger than Choi Hyung-woo, but has one more year of professional experience under his belt. This is due to the fact that he made his debut as a teenager, got out of military service early, and played consistently without any major injuries.

Choi is sure to catch up to Choi Hyung-woo’s RBI record in a year or two, and given his age in his mid-30s, he’s the only Hooboda who will be looking at his first 2,000 RBI.

Only four players (Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols, Babe Ruth, and Alex Rodriguez) have reached 2000 career RBIs in the major leagues in over 100 years, and only Sadaharu Oh (2170) has done it in Japan.