Hee-Seop Choi

Hee-Seop Choi...single...graduated from Kwang-Ju Jae IL High School in Kwang-Ju, South Korea in 1998, where he was a teammate of Colorado's Byung-Hyun Kim...attended Korea University...was a member of the Korean National Team that finished second in the 1998 World Baseball Championships...participated in a clinic at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 7, 2005 as part of the festivities surrounding Korean American Community Night...visited the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club on Aug. 24, 2005 to kick off the "RAC" Room Program in which the Dodgers and Rent-A-Center refurbished the club...played video games and spent time with the kids at the club...participated in pregame ceremonies on Korean Community Night on Sept. 27, 2005 and collected the Dodgers' only two hits in that game vs. Arizona...co-hosted a clinic for youngsters at La Puente Park on June 4, 2005...scouted and signed by Leon Lee, the father of Major Leaguer Derrek Lee.

2005

Ranked among the Dodger offensive leaders in games played (133, 2nd), home runs (15, T-2nd), pinch-hit at-bats (42, 1st), hit by pitch (8, T-1st) and total bases (145, T-3rd) ... The 15 homers tied his career high, which he set with Florida and Los Angeles in 2004 ... Twelve of his 15 homers either tied the game, gave the Dodgers the lead or pulled them within one run ... Enjoyed the majority of his production out of the No. 2 spot in the order, as he batted .316 with 14 homers and 31 RBI while hitting second...batted .191 (31-for-162) with one homer and 11 RBI in all other spots combined ... Hit three homers on June 12 vs. Minnesota, the 16th time in franchise history a player has accomplished that feat ... Became the first Major League player of Asian descent to go deep three times in a game ... Tallied 12 total bases in the June 12 game, marking a Dodger season high ... Hit six homers from June 12-14, becoming just the 12th player in big league history to homer six times in three games, those 12 players have accomplished that feat 16 times ... Made just two errors in 762 total chances at first base, tying him with J.T. Snow for the second-best fielding percentage (.997) among all NL first basemen with 750 or more total chances (Sean Casey led at .998) ... During a 28-game span from April 13 to May 16, batted .372 (29-for-78) with six homers and 17 RBI ... Tied his career high for a home-run streak with four consecutive games from June 10-14 ... Drove in a run in five consecutive games from June 8-14, equaling the Dodgers' season high ... Had 12 two-hit games, four three-hit games and one four-hit game ... Was one of eight participants in the Century 21 Home Run Derby during All-Star Game festivities in Detroit, as he represented his home country of South Korea...hit five homers but did not advance to the second round of the event, which also featured one player from Venezuela, Canada, Curacao, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the United States ... Became just the third Dodger to participate in the Derby, joining Mike Piazza (1993, 1994) and Raul Mondesi (1995)...joined Mondesi as the only Dodgers to go deep, as he hit two in the 1995 contest ... Had a career-high four hits on April 26 vs. Arizona, including his second home run of the season Hit his first career grand slam on April 29 vs. Colorado (Jason Jennings) registering a career-high four RBI ... Hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on June 10 vs. Minnesota, the Dodgers' first game-ending homer of the year...the homer was his second of the game, marking his second two-homer game of the season and third multi-homer game of his career ... Finished eighth among first basemen in NL All-Star balloting with 473,816 votes ... Hit his first career pinch-hit homer on Aug. 2 at Washington off Hector Carrasco, which proved to be the difference in the 5-4 win ... Led the Dodgers with four homers in Spring Training...led all National Leaguers with 13 walks during the spring.

2004

Acquired by the Dodgers from Florida on July 30 along with right-handed pitcher Brad Penny and left-handed pitcher Bill Murphy...at the time he was acquired, was batting .270 with 15 homers, 16 doubles and 40 RBI for the Marlins...went on to set career highs in hits (86), home runs (15) and RBI (46)...became the second Korean to appear for the Dodgers and first position player when he went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in his Dodger debut on July 31 at San Diego...made 19 starts for the Dodgers at first base...batted .295 with nine homers and 18 RBI in April...the nine home runs that month were tied for second in the Major Leagues with Richie Sexson and Miguel Cabrera behind only Barry Bonds (10)...batted .292 (21-for-72) in the month of June...registered his first career multi-homer game when he went 2-for-4 with two solo homers on April 10 vs. Philadelphia...had his first career three-hit game on June 18 vs. Texas, as he went 3-for-4 with a solo homer...went 3-for-5 with June 30 at Atlanta...went 0-for-0 with a career-high four walks on May 24 vs. Arizona...tied his career high with three runs batted in on July 28 vs. Philadelphia...made his Dodger debut on July 31 at San Diego and doubled to right field in his second at-bat, finishing the game 1- for-3 with a walk...had a leadoff pinch-hit double in the bottom of the 10th inning that led to the game-tying run in the Dodgers' 4-2, 11-inning win on Sept. 30 vs. Colorado...drew a pinch-hit walk in the Dodgers' division-clinching victory on Oct. 2 vs. San Francisco...went 0-for-1 in his lone plate appearance in the National League Division Series vs. St. Louis.

2003

Appeared in 80 games for the Chicago Cubs, hitting .218 with 17 doubles, eight home runs and 28 RBI Made 55 starts at first base, posting a .991 fielding percentage, five errors in 568 total chances ... Was voted the National League's Rookie of the Month for April, as he hit .241 with five homers, 14 RBI and a .431 on-base percentage ... Was on the disabled list from June 8-30 with a concussion after a collision with Kerry Wood...suffered the injury on June 7 vs. the New York Yankees while catching a Jason Giambi popup ... Returned to the Cubs on June 30 and played in 26 games, hitting .177 (11-for-62) with one homer and six RBI ... Was sent to Triple-A Iowa following that stretch, where he played 12 games and hit .311 (14-for-45) with five homers and 12 RBI ... Hit .271 with four homers and 14 RBI in in 23 games for Magallanes in Venezuela in the offseason.

2002

Hit .180 (9-for-50) with two homers and four RBI in 24 Major League games after his September recall from Triple-A Iowa ... Made his Major League debut on Sept. 3 vs. Milwaukee and struck out in his only at-bat, becoming the first Korean-born position player to appear in a Major League game ... Saw action in 22 games at first base (12 starts) with Chicago ... Made his first start on Sept. 8 at St. Louis and went 1-for-3 and hit a solo homer off right-hander Jason Simontacchi ... Played 135 games for Triple-A Iowa and hit .287 with 24 doubles, 26 home runs and 97 RBI ... Selected as the Pacific Coast League's eighth-best prospect by Baseball America in their annual survey of league managers ... Was selected as the Cubs' minor league Player of the Year by USA Today and was named to The Sporting News second-team all-prospects team ... Ranked second among all Cubs minor leaguers in homers and RBI ... Had a .513 slugging percentage and a .406 on-base percentage, as he led the PCL in walks Ranked fifth in the league in runs (94) and on-base percentage ... Committed 12 errors in 1,161 total chances in 128 games at first base (.990 fielding percentage) ... Led PCL first basemen in total chances and putouts (1,074) Was the starting first baseman for the World Team in the 2002 All-Star Futures Game ... After the season, played for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League Was named the the league's all-prospect team after batting .345 with eight homers and 17 RBI in 25 games ... Twice selected as the league's Player of the Week.

2001

Limited to 77 games with Triple-A Iowa due to injuries to his left hand and wrist ... Hit .229 with 13 homers and 44 RBI between a pair of trips to the disabled list (May 24-June 17 and June 25- August 3) ... Returned to action on June 17 and played in seven games (.200, 5-for-25) before going back on the DL ... Returned for the second time on August 3 and hit .230 (23-for-100) over his final 29 games.

2000

Played for Single-A Daytona and Double-A West Tennessee, combining to hit .298 in 132 games with 34 doubles, 25 homers and 95 RBI ... His RBI total led all Cubs minor leaguers, while his home run total was second ... Hit .296 with 15 homers and 70 RBI in 96 games at Daytona, posting a .533 slugging percentage, the third-best mark in the Florida State League ... Hit .303 with 10 homers and 25 RBI in his 39 games with West Tennessee, including a 4-for-5, three-homer, six RBI contest on August 22 at Chattanooga.

1999

Spent his first professional campaign with Single-A Lansing, where he hit .321 in 79 games with 18 doubles, 18 homers and 70 RBI ... Led the team in slugging percentage (.610) and on-base percentage (.422) ... Joined the Lugnuts on June 5 after spending the first two months in extended Spring Training.