Shin-Soo Choo

Shin-Soo Choo (born July 13, 1982) is a South Korean professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the SSG Landers of the KBO League.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers.

Choo was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Best Pitcher of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup as South Korea won the event.

Choo signed a $1.35 million contract with the Mariners after the championship and converted to the outfield.

Choo made his Major League Baseball debut with the Seattle Mariners on April 21, 2005, but spent most of the 2005 season and the first half of the 2006 season in the minor leagues with the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.

He batted .068 in a handful of major league at-bats over two years.

He was traded to the Cleveland Indians along with minor leaguer Shawn Nottingham on July 26, 2006, for first baseman Ben Broussard.

Two days after being traded, Choo hit a solo home run against his former club in a 1–0 Indians victory.

In 45 games with the Indians, he batted .295 (43 for 146) with three home runs and 22 RBIs.

He spent the first few weeks of the 2007 regular season with the Buffalo Bisons, a Triple-A team in the International League affiliated with the Indians, before being called up on April 23, 2007, to take the place of the injured third baseman Andy Marte.

He was optioned back to Buffalo on May 3.

Choo missed several months of the 2007 season due to injury and in September 2007 underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow.

In the 2008 season, Choo was called up on May 31 and spent the rest of the season with the Indians.

He finished the season (after 317 at-bats) with a .309 batting average, 98 hits, 14 home runs, and 66 RBIs.

His hit and RBI totals were also a new record by a South Korean-born player in MLB.

Thanks to a hot September where he put up a .400 batting average, 34 hits, 5 home runs, and 24 RBIs, Choo was named the AL Player of the Month.

In February 2009, he signed a one-year contract with the Indians.

During that season, he broke his own records for home runs, RBIs, stolen bases and hits.

On July 3, Choo hit two home runs and a career-high seven RBIs in an Indians 15–3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

On October 3, 2009, Choo hit his twentieth homer off of Paul Byrd of the Boston Red Sox, thus joining the 20-20 club.

He is the first Asian to accomplish this feat in the Major Leagues.

He was also the only player in the AL to have a .300 average, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases at the same time.

He finished the season with 20 home runs, 21 steals, 86 RBIs, and a .300 batting average.

Choo became eligible for arbitration after the 2010 season, and agreed to a $3.975 million deal.

Choo hit three home runs in a road game against the Kansas City Royals on September 17, 2010.

He first hit a two-run homer 420 ft to right in the top of the fourth inning.

In his next at bat he hit a towering grand slam to deep center.

In the top of the eighth Choo hit a 405 ft solo homer over the right field wall.

Choo finished the game a three-run homer away from the elusive "home run cycle".

On September 19, 2010, Choo again reached the 20-20 club of 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases for the second straight year.

He also led the AL right fielders in assists with 14.

Choo finished the 2011 season with eight home runs, a .259 batting average, 12 stolen bases, and 36 RBIs while accumulating 78 strikeouts and 36 walks in 313 at-bats.

On June 24, Choo was hit by San Francisco Giants pitcher Jonathan Sánchez on his left thumb.

The resulting fracture kept him out for six weeks.

On August 23, during the first game of a double header against his former club, the Seattle Mariners, a game in which during an earthquake he hit a double.

In the ninth inning, Choo hit his first walk-off home run.

On September 1, Choo pulled a side muscle and was placed on the disabled list again, ending his season.

In 2018, Choo earned a selection to his first career Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

During that season, he safely reached base in 52 consecutive games, the longest such single-season streak in Texas Rangers history.

As of 2018, he led all active major league ballplayers in career hit by pitch, with 132.