Sang-Hoon Lee

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Born:	Thursday Mar 11 1971
Birthplace:	Seoul, South Korea
Hometown:
Height:	6 ' 1
Weight:	190
Bats:	Left
Throws:	Left
Drafted:	signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox (1999)
College:
High School:
Other Teams:	none
Years with Boston:	2000

Samson (Sang-Hoon) Lee, a left-handed pitcher, appeared in nine games for the Red Sox during the 2000 season, compiling a 3.09 ERA. He wore uniform number 40 while with the Sox.

1 Overall Career
2 Lee's Moments in the Sun
3 Trivia
4 Transactions
5 External Links

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Overall Career

Sang-Hoon Lee was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher from Korea with a live fastball (topping out at about 93 mph). He began his career with the LG Twins of Korea, leading the league in wins in both 1994 and 1995. In 1995, he also won the Korean version of the Cy Young Award (as the league's top pitcher), posting a 20-5 record and a 2.05 ERA at the age of 24. After a conversion to relief pitching, he was signed away from the Twins by the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese League in March 1998. After giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, Sang-Hoon Lee settled down to pitch two seasons with Chunichi, compiling a 3.31 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 127 2/3 innings (mostly as a reliever).

Despite Lee's good-but-not-great numbers, Dan Duquette (in his quest to corner the Asian pitching market) signed Sang-Hoon Lee two a two-year contract for $2.3 million (including a $1.05 million bonus) before the 2000 season. Lee pitched most of the 2000 season in Pawtucket, posting a 2.03 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He was first called up to Boston in June, and made his major league debut on June 29, 2000 against Baltimore (allowing a solo homer in 2/3 of an inning). Lee returned to the majors in September of 2000, pitching another 11 innings and allowing 2 more earned runs. His final appearance came on October 1, 2000 (2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs). Although his performance for the year was decent (11 2/3 innings, 3.09 ERA, 6 K), he was not the dominating lefty reliever that the Sox had hoped he'd become, and October 1, 2000 proved to be his final appearance in the major leagues. He was sent to Pawtucket to start the 2001 season, but did not pitch.

Lee went to spring training with the Oakland Athletics as a non-roster invitee, but he did not make the team. He then reportedly retired, saying he was "tired", but almost immediately signed with the LG Twins of the Korean league.

He spent 2002 and 2003 with the LG Twins. Despite missing time in 2003 due to injuries, he finished the 2003 season with 30 saves, a record of 4-4, and a 3.34 ERA. However, during that offseason Lee was traded from the LG Twins to the SK Wyverns "due to a conflict with the manager over his increasing focus on playing guitar". In June of 2004, Sang-Hoon Lee again announced his retirement, saying that he did not want to keep playing when he felt he could no longer help the team. Lee had 3 saves, 3 losses, and a 5.14 ERA before being demoted to the minors.

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