Cho In-sung

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Cho In-sung

| team = Doosan Bears

|number = 75

|position=Catcher / Battery coach

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1975|5|25}}

|debutleague=KBO

|debutyear=1998

|debutdate=April 15

|debutteam=LG Twins

|finalleague=KBO

|finalyear=2017

|finaldate=May 23

|finalteam=Hanwha Eagles

|statyear=

|statleague=KBO

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.252

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=186

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=801

|teams=

LG Twins ({{Baseball year|1998}}–{{Baseball year|2011}})
SK Wyverns ({{Baseball year|2012}}–{{baseball year|2014}})
Hanwha Eagles ({{baseball year|2014}}–{{baseball year|2017}})

}}

{{Infobox Korean name

| hangul = 조인성

| hanja = {{linktext|趙|寅|成}}

| rr = Jo Inseong

| mr = Cho Insŏng

}}

Cho In-sung ({{Korean|hangul=조인성|hanja=趙寅成}}; born May 25, 1975) is a South Korean retired catcher. He batted and threw 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. At the Olympics, he hit two home runs, including a two-run home run off of Masanori Sugiura, with a .263 batting average and 5 RBIs.

= Notable international careers =

class="wikitable"

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Year

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Venue

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Competition

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Team

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Individual Note

1995

|{{Bb|JPN}}

|Universiade

|style="text-align:center"|Image:Silver medal icon.svg

|.333 BA (1-for-3)

1995

|{{Bb|JPN}}

|Asian Baseball Championship

|style="text-align:center"|Image:Silver medal icon.svg

1995

|{{Bb|CUB}}

|Intercontinental Cup

|style="text-align:center"|4th

|.000 BA (0-for-8), 1 RBI

1996

|{{Bb|USA}}

|Olympic Games

|style="text-align:center"|8th

|.263 BA (5-for-19), 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R

1997

|{{Bb|TPE}}

|Asian Baseball Championship

|style="text-align:center"|Image:Gold medal icon.svg

Professional career

Cho was selected by the LG Twins in the first 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 =

class="wikitable"

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Year

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Venue

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Competition

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Team

!style="background:#0A6EFF"|Individual Note

1998

|{{Bb|THA}}

|Asian Games

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Gold medal icon.svg

|.353 BA (6-for-17), 6 RBI, 2 R

2003

|{{Bb|JPN}}

|Asian Baseball Championship

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Bronze medal icon.svg

|.000 BA (0-for-3)

2006

|{{Bb|USA}}

|World Baseball Classic

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Bronze medal icon.svg

|.222 BA (2-for-9)

2006

|{{fb|QAT}}

|Asian Games

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Bronze medal icon.svg

|.286 BA (2-for-7)

2007

|{{Bb|TPE}}

|Asian Baseball Championship

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Silver medal icon.svg

|.400 BA (4-for-10), 1 RBI, 1 R

2008

|{{Bb|TPE}}

|Final Olympic Qualification Tournament

|style="text-align:center"| Image:Silver medal icon.svg

|.222 BA (2-for-9), 1 RBI, 2 R

External links

[https://www.koreabaseball.com/record/player/hitterdetail/Basic.aspx?playerId=98144 Career statistics and player information] from Korea Baseball Organization {{in lang|ko}}

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Baseball players from Seoul

Category:Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Category:Olympic baseball players for South Korea

Category:LG Twins players

Category:SSG Landers players

Category:Hanwha Eagles players

Category:KBO League catchers

Category:KBO League designated hitters

Category:Asian Games medalists in baseball

Category:Baseball players at the 1998 Asian Games