An Unexpected Variable in Kim Do-young's Bid for Youngest 40-Home Run Record: Lee Seung-yeop's Lunar Birthdate

KIA Tigers infielder Kim Do-young is challenging the KBO League record for the youngest player to hit 40 home runs, a milestone currently held by former manager Lee Seung-yeop.

However, an unexpected variable has emerged surrounding the record.

Critics point out that because players' birthdates have been registered using a mix of solar and lunar calendars, the benchmark for existing records must be re-examined.

Kim, who currently has 38 home runs, was born on October 2, 2003, according to the solar calendar.

If Kim hits two more home runs by September 6, he could officially surpass the record set by former manager Lee Seung-yeop in 1999 as the youngest player in KBO League history to reach 40 home runs (22 years, 11 months, and 5 days old).

Yet, applying this record as it stands is not straightforward.

This is because former manager Lee's birthdate requires re-evaluation.

When former manager Lee joined the Samsung Lions in 1995, he registered his birthdate using his lunar birthday of August 18, 1976, rather than his solar birthday of October 11, 1976.

That was an era when records for the youngest or oldest players were not considered as significant.

Consequently, if one calculates his age based on his solar birthdate, the baseline for various previously known records for the youngest players changes.

If age is recalculated based on the solar birthday, Kim's challenge to break the record for the youngest 40 home runs has already fallen through.

This issue is not limited to former manager Lee.

The same applies to Samsung's Choi Hyoung-woo, the oldest active player.

Although Choi was born on December 16, 1983, on the solar calendar, he used his lunar birthday of January 18, 1984, as his registered birthdate upon his debut.

As a result, various age-related records concerning Choi are currently calculated based on his registered birthdate of January 18, 1984.

Critics point out that as players' birthdates have been registered using a mix of solar and lunar calendars, the standards for various age records lack consistency.

This is why momentum is growing behind calls to review the registered birthdates of both active and retired players and to overhaul the standards.

If the KBO addresses the issue of mixed solar and lunar birthdates and unifies them under a single standard, many existing age-related records are expected to be rewritten.

In professional baseball, records carry significance beyond mere numbers.

Professional baseball is often called a "sport of records," where the value of numbers is immense.

The KBO also places a high value on numbers and records.

It operates a separate record committee and strives to maintain accurate records.

The KBO also goes through an annual record correction process to rectify any missed or incorrect records.

In 2020, it completed a verification of records from 1982 to 1996, the period prior to computerization.

At the time, KBO staff manually cross-referenced handwritten scorebooks and archived documents spanning a staggering 6,168 games, discovering approximately 1,600 errors to correct the records.

The KBO's tenacity caught every past scorer's clerical error, data entry mistake, and simple tabulation lapse, contributing to enhancing the completeness of professional baseball history.

Even now, the KBO continues to combat inaccurate records and errors.

Now, the issue of player age standards has emerged as a major topic of discussion.

Kim Do-young's pursuit of the record for the youngest 40 home runs has transcended whether an individual player breaks a record, becoming a matter of standardizing age records across the KBO League.

(Photo courtesy of KIA Tigers, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.