Cho In-sung

Cho In-sung

Medal record
Men's baseball
Representing  South Korea
World Baseball Classic
	2006 San Diego	Team

Cho In-sung (Hangul: 조인성; Hanja: 趙寅成; born May 25, 1975 in Seoul, South Korea) is a South Korean catcher for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed.

Amateur career

In November 1993, as a junior at Shinil High School in Seoul, South Korea, Cho was selected as a member of the South Korea junior national baseball team and competed in the annual friendly baseball series against the Japan junior national baseball team in Okinawa, Japan.

In 1994, Cho started his collegiate career playing for Yonsei University. Regarded as the nation's top catching prospect in college baseball, he regularly participated in international events during his four years at the college.

In 1996, Cho was called up to the South Korea national baseball team for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the Olympics, he hit 2 home runs, including a 2-run home run off of Masanori Sugiura, with a .263 batting average and 5 RBIs.

Notable international careers

Year	Venue	Competition	Team	Individual Note
1995	Japan	Universiade		.333 BA (1-for-3)
1995	Japan	Asian Baseball Championship
1995	Cuba	Intercontinental Cup	4th	.000 BA (0-for-8), 1 RBI
1996	United States	Olympic Games	8th	.263 BA (5-for-19), 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R
1997	Chinese Taipei	Asian Baseball Championship

Professional career

Cho was selected by the LG Twins in the 1st round of the 1998 KBO Draft. In his rookie season, he played 84 games as a backup catcher for the Twins, hitting .269 with 36 hits in 134 at-bats. After the season, Cho was named to the South Korea national baseball team that won the gold medal at the Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand in December 1998. Cho received a military exemption for winning the gold medal, alongside the fellow gold medalists Park Chan-ho, Seo Jae-weong and Kim Byung-hyun.

After the 1999 season, All-Star veteran catcher Kim Dong-soo became a free agent and signed with the Samsung Lions for the 2000 season. Upon Kim Dong-soo's departure through free agency to the Samsung Lions, Cho earned the full-time position behind the plate for the Twins in the 2000 season.

In 2000, his first season as the full-time catcher for the Twins, Cho struggled at the plate, batting .225 with 5 home runs but exhibited strong defensive skills, leading the league in caught-stealing percentage, as he threw out 24 of 50 runners.

In 2003, Cho hit a career-high 19 home runs with a 257 batting average and 58 RBIs, playing in a career-high 132 games as the club's full-time catcher.

Prior to the 2006 season, Cho played for the South Korea at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006. He led his team to the bronze medal, going 2-for-9 at the plate and splitting the position behind the plate with Hong Sung-heon and Jin Kab-yong.

In 2007, Cho had his most offensively productive season when he posted career-highs in batting (.282), hits (118), RBI (73), runs (44) and doubles (24) in 124 games.

During a televised pennant game in August 2009, Cho and one of his teammate pitcher Shim Soo-chang arguing on the mound was caught on camera. The next day, Cho and Shim were both sent to the LG Twins minor league system.

Notable international careers

Year	Venue	Competition	Team	Individual Note
1998	Thailand	Asian Games		.353 BA (6-for-17), 6 RBI, 2 R
2003	Japan	Asian Baseball Championship		.000 BA (0-for-3)
2006	United States	World Baseball Classic		.222 BA (2-for-9)
2006	Qatar	Asian Games		.286 BA (2-for-7)
2007	Chinese Taipei	Asian Baseball Championship		.400 BA (4-for-10), 1 RBI. 1 R
2008	Chinese Taipei	Final Olympic Qualification Tournament		.222 BA (2-for-9), 1 RBI, 2 R

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Korea Baseball Organization (Korean)