Dae-ho Lee (, Hanja: 李大浩; ; born June 21, 1982) is a former South Korean professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. During his career, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Lee batted and threw right-handed. He hit home runs in nine consecutive games for the first time in world baseball history. According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, Lee was chosen as the most popular player in the KBO League.
Amateur career
Lee started baseball because of his childhood friendship with Shin-soo Choo. Lee attended Kyungnam High School in Busan, South Korea. At Kyungnam High School, Lee batted fourth and could throw a mid-90s mph fastball as a pitcher. In 2000, he was selected for the South Korean Junior National Team as a pitcher. The team won the 2000 World Junior Baseball Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Lee led the attack alongside Kim Tae-kyun, Choo Shin-soo (the eventual MVP of this event) and Jeong Keun-woo as a cleanup hitter by racking up 3 home runs. He also finished runner-up behind Joe Mauer of Team USA in batting average (.500).
Notable international careers
Professional career
KBO League
2001 season
As a rookie, Lee joined the Lotte Giants as a pitcher in 2001. However, following an injury, he was officially changed to a position player for the second half of the 2001 season.
2006 season
In the 2006 season, Lee won the league's Triple Crown with a batting average, 26 home runs, and 88 RBIs. This is the second time a hitter has won the Batting Triple Crown in the Korea Professional Baseball league. He finished second in voting for the 2006 MVP behind the Hanhwa Eagles pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, also the winner of the Triple Crown for pitchers in 2006.
2008 season
In 2008, Lee was a member of the South Korea national baseball team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, while he had an average of (9-for-36), 3 home runs, 10 RBIs, 5 runs, and slugging percentage, playing as the designated hitter.
2010 season
On August 13, 2010, Lee wrote a new chapter in Korean baseball by hitting a home run in eight straight games in the league. The eighth home run was hit at an away match against the Kia Tigers in Gwangju in the top of the seventh inning when he sent former Major Leaguer Aquilino López's fifth pitch over the left fence of Moodeung Stadium. This tied the existing record in world professional baseball shared by Ken Griffey Jr. in , Don Mattingly in and Dale Long in . On August 14, 2010, Lee set a world record by hitting a home run in his ninth straight game when, in the second inning of Giants' second away match against the Tigers, he blasted a three-run homer off Tigers reliever Kim Hee-girl over the center fence of Moodeung Stadium. It was his 38th home run of the season. With his 83rd run that year, he set a new Korean League record with a run in 16 consecutive games. In the 2010 season, Lee enjoyed one of the most dominant offensive seasons in world professional baseball history, leading the KBO in seven offensive categories (batting average, HRs, RBIs, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and hits), which made him a Septuple Crown winner (7관왕).
2011 season
Lee led the KBO League in batting average (.357), hits (176), and on-base percentage (.433). After the season, he declared free agency and sought out a new challenge.
Nippon Professional Baseball
In December 2011, Lee signed a two-year contract worth 760 million yen ($9.78 million) with the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball. During his 4 years in the NPB (2012-2015), he recorded the highest OPS rate during this time.
2012 season
On July 20, 2012, at the Osaka Dome, Lee won the NPB Home-run Derby against Wladimir Balentien of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. He belted 6 home runs while Balentien made no home runs. He was rewarded with 500,000 yen ($6,400). He ended his season with a .286 average, 24 home runs, and 91 RBI.
Major League Baseball
Seattle Mariners
On February 3, 2016, Lee signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. The Mariners added Lee to the 40-man roster on March 27, 2016.