Choo Shin-soo

Shin-Soo Choo (; ; born July 13, 1982) is a South Korean former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers before ending his career in the KBO League with the SSG Landers. Choo left MLB as the record holder for most career home runs hit by an Asian-born player in the league, which was later passed by Shohei Ohtani.

Choo was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Best Pitcher of the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup as South Korea won the event. Choo signed a $1.35 million contract with the Mariners after the championship and converted to the outfield. With the Cleveland Indians, Choo recorded two consecutive seasons of 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. Before the 2014 season, he signed a $130 million contract with the Texas Rangers. In 2015, Choo became the first Asian-born player to hit for the cycle in MLB.

In 2018, Choo earned a selection to his first career Major League Baseball All-Star Game. During that season, he safely reached base in 52 consecutive games, the longest such single-season streak in Texas Rangers history. He also ranks 24th among all major leaguers in career hit by pitch, with 152. In 2021, Choo returned to South Korea to play in the KBO League, before retiring at the end of the 2024 KBO League season.

Professional career

Seattle Mariners

On August 14, , the Seattle Mariners signed Choo to a contract with a signing bonus estimated to be worth "between $1.2 million and $1.5 million". He was initially listed as both an outfielder and left-handed pitcher. Mariners scouting director Roger Jongewaard remarked that Choo was "the best kid in Asia that we've seen" and noted that they initially planned to play him in center field. He led the team in stolen bases (12), bases on balls (34), and strikeouts (49). His performance led to a late-season promotion to the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, where he hit .462 with 3 RBI in three games. In 11 games, Choo hit .308 with a home run and 9 RBI. Choo made his Major League Baseball debut on April 21, pinch hitting for Miguel Olivo and grounding out for the final out of the game. On May 3, he recorded his first career hit and RBI with a pinch hit single off Scot Shields of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. After the game, Choo was optioned back to Tacoma. He was recalled again in September, and played out the remainder of the season with the Mariners. With Tacoma, Choo batted .282 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 115 games. During his time in Seattle, Choo appeared in 17 total games, finishing with two hits in 29 at bats (.069 batting average) and one RBI.

Cleveland Indians

On July 26, 2006, Choo was traded to the Cleveland Indians along with minor leaguer Shawn Nottingham in exchange for first baseman Ben Broussard. Choo made his debut with the Indians two days later against his former team, and hit his first major league home run against Mariners pitcher Félix Hernández in a 1–0 Indians victory. In 45 games with the Indians, he batted .295 (43-for-146) with three home runs and 22 RBI. He was optioned back to Buffalo on May 3. Choo missed several months of the 2007 season due to injury, and underwent Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in September 2007.

Choo began the 2008 season on the disabled list as he continued to recover from surgery. After a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo, Choo was activated on May 31 and spent the rest of the season with the Indians. He finished the season (after 317 at-bats) with a .309 batting average, 98 hits, 14 home runs, and 66 RBI in 94 games. During that season, he broke his own records for home runs, RBI, stolen bases and hits. On July 3, Choo hit two home runs and drove in a career-high seven runs in a 15–3 victory over the Oakland Athletics. On October 3, 2009, Choo hit his 20th home run of the season against Paul Byrd of the Boston Red Sox, thus making him a member of the 20-20 club. He became the first Asian to accomplish this feat in the Major Leagues. He was also the only player in the AL to have a .300 average, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases at the same time. He finished the season with a .300 batting average, 20 home runs, 21 steals, and 86 RBI in 156 games. He first hit a two-run homer 420 feet to right in the top of the fourth inning. In his next at bat he hit a towering grand slam to deep center. In the top of the eighth, Choo hit a 405-foot solo homer over the right field wall. Choo finished the game a three-run homer away from the elusive "home run cycle". On September 19, 2010, Choo again reached the 20-20 club of 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases for the second straight year. In 144 games, he batted .300 with 22 home runs, and set career-highs with 90 RBI and 22 stolen bases.

Choo became eligible for arbitration after the 2010 season, and agreed to a one-year, $3.975 million deal. Choo finished the 2011 season with eight home runs, a .259 batting average, 12 stolen bases, and 36 RBI while accumulating 78 strikeouts and 36 walks in 313 at-bats. On August 23, during the first game of a double header against his former club, the Seattle Mariners, Choo hit a double in the third inning as an earthquake occurred. In the ninth inning of the same game, he hit his first walk-off home run, giving the Indians a 7–5 win. On September 1, Choo pulled a side muscle and was placed on the disabled list again, ending his season.

On April 14, 2012, in a game against the Kansas City Royals which would see bench clearings by both teams, Choo was hit by Royals starter Jonathan Sánchez on his right knee. It was a pitch from Sánchez that hit Choo in 2011, resulting in a broken thumb and nearly two months on the disabled list. Choo would finish the game and win it for the Indians in the tenth inning when he hit a two-run double. On April 24, Choo left in the eighth inning in a game against the Royals after suffering a mild hamstring strain. Choo would return on May 2 in a 6–3 Indians win versus the Chicago White Sox. On May 24, in the series finale against the Detroit Tigers, Choo hit a second-deck home run off of Tigers starter Justin Verlander in the first inning. That was Choo's first career lead-off home run. The Indians won that game 2–1, finishing the sweep against the Tigers. Choo ended the season batting .283 with 16 home runs, 67 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 155 games. On February 11, 2013, Choo avoided arbitration with his new team, the Reds, by agreeing to a one-year, $7.375 million deal, the exact midpoint between both sides.

On May 8, 2013, Choo hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in a game with the Atlanta Braves. It was his second walk-off home run in Major League Baseball. On August 27 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Choo hit his 100th career home run. On September 9, 2013, Choo set the Reds' team record for hit by pitches in a season. For the season, he batted .285 with 21 home runs, 54 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 154 games, marking his third career 20–20 season.

On October 1, 2013, Choo homered in the top of the eighth inning in the 2013 National League Wild Card Game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is the first South Korean batter to hit a home run in Major League Baseball postseason.

Texas Rangers

On December 21, 2013, it was reported that Choo had agreed to a seven-year, $130 million contract with the Texas Rangers, pending a physical examination. The Rangers officially introduced Choo on December 27. In his first season with the team, he battled ankle injuries and played in only 123 games while putting up a slash line of .242/.340/.374 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI; making 2014 the worst season of his career.

During the seventh inning of the deciding Game 5 of the 2015 American League Divisional Series, Choo was involved in a bizarre play which saw a routine throw back to the mound by Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin deflect off Choo's bat, resulting in an errant ball which then led to the runner on third base score a run. Since Choo was inside the batter's box, he was ruled to have not interfered on the play, thereby allowing the run to stand. This play was one of several notable plays in the seventh inning, which is considered to be among the most dramatic innings in playoff history. The Rangers went on to lose the game and series in five games. Choo hit .238 with four runs scored, a home run, two RBI and a walk in the series. He returned on May 20 after missing 35 games. He was activated on June 13, and hit his first home run of the season in his return to lineup that day against the Oakland Athletics. On July 20, Choo was placed on the disabled list for third time in the season, this time for lower back inflammation. He returned on August 4 after a 13-game absence. On August 16, it was announced that Choo would miss the rest of the season when he was placed on the 15-day disabled list (his fourth stint on the DL that season) with a fracture in his left forearm. Limited to 42 games in 2016, he hit .242 with seven home runs and 17 RBI. Choo, having set a club record for reaching base in 47 consecutive games, was named to his first career All-Star Game in July. On July 20, Choo extended his on-base streak to 52 games with a lead-off single against the Cleveland Indians; the streak ended on July 21 in a second game against the Indians. Choo's 52-game on-base streak is the longest such single-season streak in Rangers franchise history. He ended the year batting .264 with 21 home runs and 62 RBI in 146 games.

On April 4, 2019, Choo recorded his 1,500th career major league hit with a single against Matt Harvey of the Los Angeles Angels. In 2019, he hit .265/.371/.455/.826 with a career-high 24 home runs and 61 RBI in 151 games.

During the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, Choo hit .236/.323/.400 with five home runs and 15 RBI in 33 games. Choo played in 136 games for the team in 2021, slashing .263/.409/.450 with 21 home runs and 69 RBI in 137 games.

On December 14, 2023, Choo announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2024 KBO season.

World Baseball Classic Choo was on the 2009 World Baseball Classic South Korean roster. Cleveland allowed Choo to play under the condition that he play only one game or less as an outfielder in the first round, and only in two non-consecutive games of the second round. Cleveland lifted this restriction from the semifinals on, and Choo started as an outfielder in the semifinal match against Venezuela. He helped South Korea win 10–2 against Venezuela with a three-run home run against Carlos Silva in the first inning. He also contributed a solo home run in the fifth inning in the finals against Hisashi Iwakuma of Japan, where South Korea lost to Japan 5–3.

Personal life Choo and his wife Won-mi Ha have two sons (b. 2004 and 2010) and a daughter (b. 2011). While playing as a minor leaguer in the U.S. and making just $350 a week, Choo would skip meals to save money to buy diapers for his son. Choo has been a close friend of Lee Dae-Ho, former infielder with the Seattle Mariners organization, since attending the same elementary school together.

In the early morning of Monday, May 2, 2011, Choo was arrested and charged with drunk driving in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. He was pulled over by police around 2:25 a.m. because his vehicle was weaving, and Choo's blood alcohol content (via Breathalyzer test) was reportedly .20%, more than twice the legal limit. He apologized to his team and fans for this incident.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Choo donated $1,000 to each of the 190 players in the Texas Rangers' minor league system who were unable to work due to MLB's shutdown. He also donated $200,000 to the nonprofit Community Chest of Korea to help the city of Daegu, which was the hardest hit city in Korea during the pandemic.

In popular culture Choo has appeared in Running Man, with Hyun-jin Ryu on episode 119. Choo has appeared in 2 Days & 1 Night season 3, episodes 422–424, initially wanting to join the show as a short-term intern cast during his off-season. However, due to funding problems, the show's staffs had to eliminate him from being a continuous cast member. Choo as a character appeared in Reply 1997, on season 1, episode 8, depicting his days as a high school baseball player in Korea, played by Choo's actual younger brother, actor Min-ki Chu.

Walk up songs

Gangnam Style – Psy (April 2014) International Love – Pitbull (April 2014) Turn Down for What – DJ Snake & Lil Jon (April 2014) Regulate – Warren G (June 2016) Despacito – Remix by Luis Fonsi (July 2017) Fire – BTS (April 2018)