The Kia Tigers star became the first KBO player this season to hit 40 home runs, just missing out on becoming the youngest in league history to achieve the feat.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers hits his 40th home run of the season at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sept. 8.NEWS1
Kia Tigers third baseman Kim Do-yeong on Tuesday became the first player in the KBO this year to hit 40 home runs, doing so two days after missing the chance to be the youngest player to ever reach the mark.
As the leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning of a road game against the Samsung Lions at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, Kim connected off Samsung's second pitcher, Satoshi Miyamori. A 149-kilometers-per-hour (92.6 miles-per-hour) fastball that caught too much of the plate was crushed well over the left-field wall, a 128-meter (420-foot) blast. The homer extended his lead over second-place Austin Dean of the LG Twins, who has 36 dingers, to four.
The home run came after a tense few weeks. After hitting his 39th home run last month, attention turned to whether Kim would break the record held by Samsung legend Lee Seung-yuop, now a coach with the Yomiuri Giants, to become the youngest player in league history to reach 40 home runs — at 22 years, 11 months and 5 days. But Kim went six straight games without a home run, missing the record's deadline on Sunday. Some worried he'd fallen into a stall — Koreans call it “the nine jinx,” the superstition that hitters get stuck just short of a round number. Kim downplayed the pressure himself, saying, “I don't yet have the strength to bear the weight of the crown.”
He didn't crumble for long, however. Though he missed the “youngest ever” title by two days, Kim reached the 40-home run mark showing power and a star quality that rivaled Lee, who set the record at the same age. As it happened, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu — the very ballpark where a massive mural of Lee Seung-yeop looks on.
Kim's 40-home run season is the 30th in KBO history, and the first by a Korean-born hitter since 2018, when Kim Jae-hwan, then with the Doosan Bears, Park Byung-ho, then with the Nexen Heroes and Han Yu-seom, then with the SK Wyverns, each reached the mark.
Kim Do-yeong of the Kia Tigers is congratulated by teammates after hitting his 40th home run of the season at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sept. 8.NEWS1
A new franchise record is also just a matter of time. Tracy Sanders hit 40 home runs for the club's predecessor, the Haitai Tigers, in 1999, which was the first and, until now, the only time it had been done. Kim has now reached the same peak 27 years later, and every home run he adds from here on out rewrites Kia franchise history.
A graduate of Gwangju Dongsung High School, Kim is by common consent the KBO's marquee star. In 2024, he hit 38 home runs and stole 40 bases, becoming the youngest player ever to join the 30-30 club. That same year, he led Kia to a championship sweep of both the regular season and the Korean Series, and took home both MVP and a Golden Glove. Last year, he suffered three hamstring injuries and appeared in just 30 games, but after shaking off the injury bug this season, he has shown an even more powerful bat than before.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
