Jung Bong

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Bong Jung-keun

| image =

| team =

| number =

| position = Pitcher

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1980|7|15}}

| birth_place = Seoul, South Korea

| bats = Left

| throws = Left

| debutleague = MLB

| debutyear = 2002

| debutdate = April 23

| debutteam = Atlanta Braves

| finalleague = MLB

| finalyear = 2004

| finaldate = June 20

| finalteam = Cincinnati Reds

| debut2league = KBO

| debut2date = April 11

| debut2year = 2007

| debut2team = LG Twins

| final2league = KBO

| final2year = 2016

| final2date = October 4

| final2team = LG Twins

| statyear =

| statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Win–loss record

| stat1value = 7–4

| stat2label = Earned run average

| stat2value = 5.17

| stat3label = Strikeouts

| stat3value = 62

| stat2league = KBO

| stat2year =

| stat21label = Win–loss record

| stat21value = 55–46

| stat22label = Earned run average

| stat22value = 3.41

| stat23label = Strikeouts

| stat23value = 654

| stat24label = Saves

| stat24value = 109

| awards =

All-World Baseball Classic Team (2009)

| teams =

Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|2002}}–{{mlby|2003}})
Cincinnati Reds ({{mlby|2004}})
LG Twins ({{Baseball year|2007}}–{{Baseball year|2016}})

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{KOR}}}}

}}

{{Infobox Korean name

| hangul = 봉중근

| hanja = 奉重根

| rr = Bong Jung-geun

| mr = Pong Chung-gŭn

}}

Bong Jung-keun ({{korean|hangul=봉중근|hanja=奉重根}}; {{IPA|ko|poŋdʑuŋɡɯ̽n}} or {{IPA|ko|poŋ|}} {{IPA|ko|t͡ɕuŋɡɯ̽n|}}; born July 15, 1980) is a South Korean former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball with the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, and in the KBO League with the LG Twins. He batted and threw left-handed.

Career

=Amateur=

Bong is often considered one of the greatest hitting pitchers in Korean high school baseball history. While attending Shinil High School in Seoul, he was a highly regarded five-tool player and control pitcher in the Korean High School baseball league, playing as the team's 3rd batter and No.1 starter.{{cite web

| title =Ex-MLB pitcher Bong Jung-keun announces retirement

| url =https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180919004600315

| website=Yonhap News Agency

| date = September 19, 2018

| access-date = February 25, 2021}}

In September {{Baseball year|1996}}, as a freshman at Shinil High School, Bong was named the Best Pitcher in the 50th Golden Lion Flag National High School Baseball Championship, taking 4 of the team's 5 wins. As the team's leadoff hitter, he batted .353 with 6 hits in 17 at-bats.{{cite web

| title =Retiring pitcher has no regrets after sacrificing for club

| url =https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180928008700315

| website=Yonhap News Agency

| date = September 28, 2018

| access-date = February 25, 2021}}

In May {{Baseball year|1997}}, Bong led his team to its national title at the 52nd Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship, going 11-for-16 with 9 RBIs as a batter and racking up 3 wins as a starting pitcher. He won batting (.688), RBI and wins titles, and was unanimously named the tournament MVP.

In September {{Baseball year|1997}}, Bong helped his team to capture another national title at the 51st Golden Lion Flag National High School Baseball Championship. He was named Best Pitcher, earning 4 out of the team's 5 wins as a utility pitcher. As a batter, Bong finished runner-up in batting (.571, 8-for-14) and won the stolen bases title.

=International=

In August {{Baseball year|1997}}, Bong competed for the South Korea national junior baseball team in the World Junior Baseball Championship held in Moncton, Canada. In the round robin phase, he went 15-for-25 with 11 RBIs and 13 runs, and hit home runs in 4 consecutive games, playing in 5 preliminary games as a center fielder and relief pitcher. South Korea was eliminated by USA 7–0 in the quarterfinals, but Bong additionally accumulated 3 hits and 3 RBIs in the 5th–8th classification games. He finished the tournament with a .500 batting average (18-for-36), 14 RBIs and 4 home runs, and was named the tournament MVP. He also won the home run title and was selected to the All-Star team as an outfielder as well.

Bong also helped Korea to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.{{Cite web|url=https://calltothepen.com/2018/09/20/atlanta-braves-jung-bong-calls-career/|title=Atlanta Braves: Jung Bong calls it a career|date=September 20, 2018}}

Bong also appeared in the 2009 World Baseball Classic against Japan as a starter, allowing 3 hits and scoring 2 strikeouts in 5{{fraction|1|3}} innings for a 1–0 victory.

= 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
1997 \|{{Bb\|CAN}} \|World Junior Baseball Championship \|style="text-align:center"\|5th \|style="text-align:center"\|.500 BA (18-for-36), 4 HR, 14 RBI MVP, All-Star (OF), HR title
2006 \|{{Bb\|USA}} \|World Baseball Classic \|style="text-align:center"\| File:Silver medal icon.svg \|0–0, 0.00 ERA (3 G, 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 K)
2008 \|{{Bb\|CHN}} \|Olympic Games \|style="text-align:center"\| File:Gold medal icon.svg \|0–0, 8.31 ERA (2 G, 8.2 IP, 8 ER, 6 K)
2009 \|{{Bb\|USA}} \|World Baseball Classic \|style="text-align:center"\| File:Silver medal icon.svg \|style="text-align:center"\|2–0, 0.51 ERA (4 G, 17.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K) All-Star (P)
{{baseball year\|2010}} \|{{Bb\|CHN}} \|Asian Games \|style="text-align:center"\| File:Gold medal icon.svg \|0–0, 0.00 ERA (1 G, 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K)

class="wikitable"

style="background:#0A6EFF"|Year

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

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

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

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

1997

|{{Bb|CAN}}

|World Junior Baseball Championship

|style="text-align:center"|5th

|style="text-align:center"|.500 BA (18-for-36), 4 HR, 14 RBI
MVP, All-Star (OF), HR title

2006

|{{Bb|USA}}

|World Baseball Classic

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

|0–0, 0.00 ERA (3 G, 2.2 IP, 0 ER, 1 K)

2008

|{{Bb|CHN}}

|Olympic Games

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

|0–0, 8.31 ERA (2 G, 8.2 IP, 8 ER, 6 K)

2009

|{{Bb|USA}}

|World Baseball Classic

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

|style="text-align:center"|2–0, 0.51 ERA (4 G, 17.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K)
All-Star (P)

|{{Bb|CHN}}

|Asian Games

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

|0–0, 0.00 ERA (1 G, 1.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 K)

=Major League Baseball career=

Bong began his career with the Braves, signing with the team in 1998 while still in High school for a bonus of $1.7 million. Bong made his major league debut in {{mlby|2002}} pitching 6 innings in one game. The next year, he was moved to the bullpen and pitched in 44 games, winning six and losing two, and recorded his first save. With the Reds in {{mlby|2004}}, he pitched 15{{fraction|1|3}} innings, winning one game and losing one. He missed the whole {{mlby|2005}} season due to shoulder surgery, and the Reds outrighted him to Triple-A Louisville after the season.

=KBO League career=

The Reds released him on May 12, 2006; he returned to Korea to continue his career.{{Cite web|url=http://www.kffl.com/player/6849/mlb|title=Jung-Keun Bong on KFFL}}

In {{Baseball year|2008}}, with the LG Twins, Bong had a 2.66 ERA and 140 strikeouts.

Bong retired from professional baseball on September 19, 2018, after 12 years playing for the LG Twins.{{Cite web | url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2018/09/19/0200000000AEN20180919004600315.html |title = Ex-MLB pitcher Bong Jung-keun announces retirement|date = September 19, 2018}}

= Personal records =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

bgcolor="#000000"

!style="background:#000000;" width="42"|Year

!style="background:#000000;" width="65"|Team

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|G

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|GS

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|W

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|L

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|SV

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|H

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|CG

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|ShO

!style="background:#000000;" width="40"|IP

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|H

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|HR

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|BB

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|K

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|R

!style="background:#000000;" width="30"|ER

!style="background:#000000;" width="35"|ERA

|rowspan=2|ATL

|6.0

|7.50

|44

|57.0

|56

|31

|47

|32

|5.05

|CIN

|15.1

|17

|10

|11

|13

|4.70

|rowspan=10|LG

|24

|22

|111.2

|121

|60

|56

|71

|66

|5.32

|28

|11

|186.1

|153

|13

|80

|140

|66

|55

|2.66

|26

|11

|12

|172.1

|160

|13

|71

|127

|70

|63

|3.29

|28

|10

|178.1

|166

|13

|83

|130

|74

|71

|3.58

|16.1

|13

|14

|4.96

|40

|26

|38.0

|26

|14

|36

|1.18

|55

|38

|61.0

|44

|17

|54

|10

|1.33

|50

|30

|49.2

|51

|17

|45

|16

|2.90

|47

|15

|49.1

|60

|10

|23

|39

|28

|27

|4.93

|19

|36.1

|41

|22

|20

|23

|20

|4.95

bgcolor="red"

|colspan="2"|TOTAL

|276

|119

|62

|49

|110

|976.2

|916

|76

|444

|716

|422

|386

|3.95

Filmography

= Television shows =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| {{abbr\|Ref.\|Reference(s)}}
scope="row"\| 2022 \| Back to the Ground \| Contestant \| {{cite web\|url=https://entertain.naver.com/now/read?oid=312&aid=0000546278\|author=Cha Hye-young\|title=봉중근, 일본 톱타자 이치로에 굴욕 안긴 과거 재조명 ('빽 투 더 그라운드')\|trans-title= Bong Joong-geun re-examines the past when Japan's top hitter Ichiro was humiliated ('Back to the Ground')\|publisher=Ten Asia\|via=Naver\|date=May 11, 2022\|access-date=May 11, 2022\|language=ko}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Role

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

scope="row"| 2022

| Back to the Ground

| Contestant

| {{cite web|url=https://entertain.naver.com/now/read?oid=312&aid=0000546278|author=Cha Hye-young|title=봉중근, 일본 톱타자 이치로에 굴욕 안긴 과거 재조명 ('빽 투 더 그라운드')|trans-title= Bong Joong-geun re-examines the past when Japan's top hitter Ichiro was humiliated ('Back to the Ground')|publisher=Ten Asia|via=Naver|date=May 11, 2022|access-date=May 11, 2022|language=ko}}

References

External links

{{Baseball stats |mlb=407794 |espn=5103|br=b/bongju01|fangraphs=82 |brm=bong--001jun}}
[http://eng.koreabaseball.com/Teams/PlayerInfoPitcher/Summary.aspx?pcode=77147 Career statistics and player information] from Korea Baseball Organization
{{SR/Olympics profile|bo/bong-jung-keun-1|Bong Jung-Keun}}
{{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928204545/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BongJun01 |date=September 28, 2011 |title=Jung-Keun Bong at databaseOlympics.com}}
[http://cafe.daum.net/bongjungkeun Bong Jung-keun Fancafe] at Daum {{in lang|ko}}