Lee Hits His 100th Homer in Japan

Lee Seung-yeop (31. Yomiuri Giants) slammed his 100th Japanese baseball league home run yesterday.

His 14th homer this season and 99th homer total in the Japanese league came in an inter-league game against Lotte on June 20.

In the second inning of an away game against Hiroshima and facing a 1-0 count with Yomiuri leading with no outs and a runner on first base, Lee hit a 120-meter two-run homer over the right field fence off Hiroshima’s lefty starter Takahiro Aoki. Lee batted in the sixth spot.

Since entering the Japanese league, Lee took three years and six months (432 games) to reach 100 home runs. With his 100th home run, Lee became the third foreign player on Yomiuri to hit 100 home runs after Warren Cromartie (356 games) and Jack Howell (405 games).

Lee’s rival Tyrone Woods (Chunichi Dragons) hit his 100th homer in the Japanese league in 321 games.

Lee’s homer was his 424th in the Korean and Japanese leagues combined.

Of his 100 homers, 58 were solo home runs, followed by 30 two-run homers, and 12 three-run homers. 59 of his homers went over the right field fence, 18 homers went over the center field fence, and 23 homers went over the left field fence. Lee slammed 32 homers at his home stadium, the Tokyo Dome.

Lee, whose 56 home runs in 2003 broke Softbank’s manager Sadaharu Oh`s Asian record (55) in the Korean league while playing for Samsung, advanced to the Japanese baseball league, moving to Chiba Lotte Marines, the next year.

Lee had hard time adapting to the new league and was demoted to the minors and hit 14 homers in his first year in Japan. Lee solidified his slugger status later, however, hitting 30 homers in 2005. Lee also moved to a new team, accepting a cut in his salary last year. He was the 70th clean-up hitter in Yomiuri history and had a fine.323 batting average and 41 homers.

Lee raised his batting average from .251 to .257 yesterday with three hits in five bats, tallying three RBIs and scoring a run. Yomiuri won in a come-from-behind victory, 9-6, scoring five runs in the ninth inning.

why@donga.com