Farewell Hong Sung-heon!

It was just released that Hong Sung-heon (홍성흔) of the Doosan Bears is retiring after 18 years in the KBO. He was a catcher for the the first part of his career and he was later switched to a DH. While he didn't play much during the most recent season, he definitely made an impact over the years. He played most of his career with Doosan, but he also had a 4 year run with the Lotte Giants.

During his career, he won Rookie of the Year in 1999 and 3 Gold Gloves (2 as a catcher and 1 as a DH). He managed to end his career with a .301 batting average, 2,046 hits, 208 home runs, and 1,120 RBI. He was also well known for his awesome bat flips.

In his honor, here are a few of his KBO cards.

2016 Baseball's Best (PA02-DO002)

2014 Super Star Baseball (SBC02-015)

2016 Doosan Team Set (SBC16DO-003-BS)

2015 Super Star Baseball Season 1 (SBC1501-126-N)

You can check out some of his awesome bat flips below and read about him talking about his bat flips in this article for ESPN.