Photo: Baek In-chun c. 1982. Credit: Korea Baseball Organization.
On Aug 15, 2026, Baek In-chun 백인천, the only .400 hitter in Korean Baseball Organization history, died at 83 after a cerebral hemorrhage at Dankook University Hospital 단국대학병원 in Cheonan 천안.
Born in 1942, Baek was a prodigy in the early days of South Korean baseball. In 1960, he became the first high school player to hit a home run at the Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium 동대문 야구장, which opened in 1958 as South Korea’s first baseball stadium. He played in Japan for 19 years, from 1962 to 1981, as a catcher and outfielder.
Baek returned to Korea in 1982 to play in the newly-launched KBO, as a 40-year-old player-manager of Seoul MBC Cheongryong MBC 청룡. Despite his age, Baek batted .412 for the 1982 season, becoming the only .400 hitter in KBO history and the only .400 hitter in any professional baseball since Ted Williams set the record in Major League Baseball in 1941.
Baek retired as a player in 1983 to become a full-time manager. In 1990, Baek returned as the manager of MBC Cheongryong, re-branded that year as Seoul LG Twins, and took the team to its first Korean Series championship that year. Baek retired from coaching in 2003 after a one-season stint as the manager of the Busan Lotte Giants, and spent his later years as a television commentator.
