Seoul: Park Byung-ho, one of the most feared sluggers of his generation with two MVP awards and consecutive 50-home run seasons, announced his retirement Monday at age 39. The Samsung Lions said Monday that Park had recently informed them of his intention to call it quits after 17 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Park had been with the Lions since May 2024, following a trade from the KT Wiz.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Park was drafted by the LG Twins in 2004, but it was after a trade to the Nexen (currently Kiwoom) Heroes in 2011 that Park blossomed into a premier power hitter. Park nabbed the first of his two MVP awards in 2012, after leading the league with 31 home runs and 105 RBIs. Park was voted the MVP again in 2013, when he topped the KBO with 37 home runs and 117 RBIs.
In 2014, Park launched 52 home runs, becoming only the third player in KBO history to surpass the half-century mark in home runs. Then he followed that up with 53 home runs, and he remains the only player with back-to-back 50-homer campaigns. Also in 2015, Park set a single-season record with 146 RBIs, a mark broken this year by his Lions teammate, Lewin Diaz, who had 158. Park led the KBO in homers in four straight seasons from 2012 to 2015, the longest such streak in league history. He was the home run king six times overall, also a KBO record. Park is the first player with five consecutive 100-RBI seasons.
He ranks fourth on the all-time list with 418 home runs and 10th overall with 1,244 RBIs. Park also spent two seasons with the Minnesota Twins and their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, New York, from 2016 to 2017. He launched 35 home runs while batting a solid .275 only three years ago with the Wiz but has since been in steep decline. In 2025, he only appeared in 77 games for the Lions, batting .199 with 15 home runs -- his fewest since 2011.
"I was blessed with so much love from fans over my 20 years in professional baseball," Park said. "I'd like to thank all the managers and coaches I've had, and I was really happy to have played with all of my teammates. I bounced around several teams, and I will never forget all the love and support from my fans."