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Jang Hyo-jo, manager of Samsung Lions’ second tier team, died Wednesday at the age of 55. Jang had been suffering from stomach cancer.
“I hoped not to inform the team of my illness because the young players could be shaken by the news,” Jang said.
He had been on a leave of absence since the All-Star Break and Yang Il-hwan, a former pitching coach for the second tier squad has been performing the managerial duties.
Jang was known as a hitting machine in Korea.
He is the all time best hitter in the Korea Baseball History (KBO) with a .331 batting average over 10 years.
The left-hander won the best hitting award in his debut year of 1983 for the Lions with a .369 batting average and took the titles on four other occasions.
He played for the Lions for six years and was traded to the Lotte Giants in 1989.
Except for his last season in 1992, Jang’s batting average was always above .300 and his best was .387 in 1987.
With the KBO celebrating its 30th year this season, baseball’s governing body conducted a poll to name the sport’s Legendary All-Stars and Jang was selected as an outfielder in July.
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