Baek In-cheon, KBO's Only .400 Hitter and Former Manager, in Critical Condition... "Had Checkup Until Yesterday"

Former manager Baek In-cheon, the sole .400 hitter in South Korean professional baseball, is currently in critical condition following a worsening of cerebral infarction symptoms.

Residing in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, former manager Baek was transported in an ambulance to a nearby hospital around 6 a.m. today (August 14) in a state of cardiac arrest.

After family members were told at the hospital that "he had stopped breathing" and began preparing for funeral procedures, his pulse faintly returned, and he is currently staying in the emergency room wearing an oxygen respirator.

Medical staff are closely monitoring his condition, and it is reported that his family does not wish for life-sustaining treatment.

Having collapsed from cerebral infarction four times, former manager Baek had fought back against illness with indomitable willpower, and it was reported that even yesterday he underwent a regular hospital checkup in relatively good condition.

Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China, in 1942, former manager Baek defected to South Korea during the Korean War and learned baseball at Kyungdong Middle School and Kyungdong High School.

Playing as a catcher, he joined the commercial agricultural cooperative NACF's industrial baseball team in 1961, and in 1962, through a free agent contract, he moved to the Toei Flyers, the predecessor of Japan's current Nippon Ham Fighters in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Winning the Pacific League batting title with a .319 batting average in 1975, former manager Baek played in the Japanese league until 1981 before returning to South Korea.

Returning to South Korea in 1982 as the player-manager of the MBC Blue Dragons with the launch of domestic professional baseball, former manager Baek recorded a .412 batting average that year, remaining the only .400 hitter in the history of South Korean professional baseball.

His coaching career was also brilliant.

Former manager Baek took the helm as the inaugural manager of the LG Twins, who re-founded the team after acquiring the MBC Blue Dragons in 1990, and won the Korean Series.

Afterwards, he led the Samsung Lions and Lotte Giants.

However, his later years were marred by hardships, including troubled family affairs, continuing cerebral infarction symptoms that first developed during his tenure as manager of the Samsung Lions, and fraud suffered at the hands of an acquaintance.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Chang Yujin | Graphics by Yang Hyemin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.