Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos is now the new all-time hits leader in South Korean baseball.
Son picked up his 2,505th career hit on Thursday against the Doosan Bears to move past former LG Twins star Park Yong-taik to the top of the career hits rankings in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).
Son came into the game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul tied with Park at 2,504 hits. As the Dinos’ designated hitter batting second, Son broke Park’s mark with a single off Bears starter Raul Alcantara with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.
Park finished his career with 2,504 hits in 2,237 games. This was Son’s 2,044th game.
Park established the new record with his 2,319th hit on June 23, 2018, when he surpassed ex-Samsung Lions slugger Yang Joon-hyuk with a four-hit performance. And almost six years to the day, Son dethroned Park as the KBO’s hit king.
Son grounded out to second baseman Kang Seung-ho in 커뮤니티 the top of the first inning, and then struck out swinging on Alcantara’s fastball in the top of the third.
Son finally took care of business with two outs in the top sixth. Down 1-2 in the count, Son swung on a forkball from Alcantara and sent it through the hole on the left for the record.
In the process, he extended his hitting streak to a season-best 10 games. He has hit safely in 15 of 16 games so far in June.
Son advanced to third on Park Kun-woo’s ground rule double, but was left stranded when Matt Davidson struck out.