NC Dinos’ Son Ah-seop ties KBO career hits record

Son Ah-seop of the NC Dinos tied the all-time hits record in South Korean baseball Wednesday.

Son picked up two hits against the Doosan Bears to reach 2,504 for his career in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), pulling into a tie with former LG Twins star Park Yong-taik.

Son, batting second as designated hitter, grounded out to second in the top of the first inning at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul.

Son then got his first hit of the night in the top of the third inning. With two outs and a runner at second, Son dropped a soft hit in front of left 안전 fielder Kim Dae-han. The ball bounced once and took a funny hop past Kim, allowing Son to take second base. He was credited with a double.

Leading off the top sixth, Son grounded out to first baseman Yang Suk-hwan, with reliever Lee Young-ha just beating Son to the bag when covering first base.

With two outs and two men aboard in the top seventh, Son bounced into a forceout at third base.

Son came up for one last time in the top of the ninth and had another bloop hit to left field for his record-tying base knock.

Son extended his hitting streak to nine games and has hit safely in 14 of 15 games in June so far.

Park finished his career with 2,504 hits in 2,237 games. This was Son’s 2,043rd game.

Son, 36, made his KBO debut with the Lotte Giants in 2007 and has been a veritable hitting machine since becoming an everyday player in 2010.

He has recorded at least 100 hits in every season from 2010 to 2023, and his 1,994 hits and a .327 batting average in that 14-year span are tops in the KBO.

Son has led the league in hits four times, most recently in 2023 with 187. He also won his first batting title in 2023 with a .339 average.

After 15 years with the Giants, based in his hometown of Busan, Son signed a four-year contract with the Dinos as a free agent in December 2021