"He Had a Good Checkup Just Yesterday": Former Manager Baek In-cheon Passes Away at 83

Former baseball manager Baek In-cheon, the sole 400-plus hitter in South Korean professional baseball history, has passed away at the age of 83 due to a worsening cerebral infarction.

Residing in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the late manager was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital in a state of cardiac arrest, but ultimately passed away around 6:30 AM today.

Having collapsed four times from cerebral infarctions, the former manager had fought the illness with indomitable grit and was reported to have undergone a regular hospital checkup in relatively good condition just yesterday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has decided to hold an official KBO funeral for him.

His wake is scheduled to be set up at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, and funeral arrangements, including the procession, will be finalized as soon as his younger brother residing in the United States returns to South Korea.

Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China in 1942, the former manager 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 corporate baseball team National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) in 1961, and in 1962, through a free agent contract, he advanced to the Toei Flyers, the precursor to today's Nippon Ham Fighters in Japanese professional baseball.

Having won the Pacific League batting title in 1975 with a batting average of 0.319, the late manager played in the Japanese league until 1981 before returning home.

Returning to South Korea as a player-manager for the MBC Bluebirds in 1982 with the launch of domestic professional baseball, the former manager recorded a batting average of 0.412 that year, remaining the only 400-plus hitter in our professional baseball history.

His coaching career was also illustrious.

The late manager took the helm as the inaugural manager of the LG Twins, who re-founded the team after acquiring the MBC Bluebirds in 1990, and won the Korean Series.

Later, he managed teams such as the Samsung Lions and Lotte Giants.

However, in his later years, he suffered hardships due to a turbulent family life, ongoing cerebral infarction symptoms that first developed during his tenure as manager of the Samsung Lions, and fraud committed by an acquaintance.

With the passing of the former manager, all of the inaugural managers of the six founding clubs from the professional league's inaugural year have now passed away, with the exception of former Lotte manager Park Young-gil.

Former baseball manager Baek In-cheon, the sole 400-plus hitter in South Korean professional baseball history, has passed away at the age of 83 due to a worsening cerebral infarction.

Residing in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, the late manager was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital in a state of cardiac arrest, but ultimately passed away around 6:30 AM today.

Having collapsed four times from cerebral infarctions, the former manager had fought the illness with indomitable grit and was reported to have undergone a regular hospital checkup in relatively good condition just yesterday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has decided to hold an official KBO funeral for him.

His wake is scheduled to be set up at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, and funeral arrangements, including the procession, will be finalized as soon as his younger brother residing in the United States returns to South Korea.

Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China in 1942, the former manager 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 corporate baseball team National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) in 1961, and in 1962, through a free agent contract, he advanced to the Toei Flyers, the precursor to today's Nippon Ham Fighters in Japanese professional baseball.

Having won the Pacific League batting title in 1975 with a batting average of 0.319, the late manager played in the Japanese league until 1981 before returning home.

Returning to South Korea as a player-manager for the MBC Bluebirds in 1982 with the launch of domestic professional baseball, the former manager recorded a batting average of 0.412 that year, remaining the only 400-plus hitter in our professional baseball history.

His coaching career was also illustrious.

The late manager took the helm as the inaugural manager of the LG Twins, who re-founded the team after acquiring the MBC Bluebirds in 1990, and won the Korean Series.

Later, he managed teams such as the Samsung Lions and Lotte Giants.

However, in his later years, he suffered hardships due to a turbulent family life, ongoing cerebral infarction symptoms that first developed during his tenure as manager of the Samsung Lions, and fraud committed by an acquaintance.

With the passing of the former manager, all of the inaugural managers of the six founding clubs from the professional league's inaugural year have now passed away, with the exception of former Lotte manager Park Young-gil.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.