Finally, a 300th home run! Kim Jae-hwan hits a 130-meter blast to become the 18th in KBO history to reach the milestone

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Jae-hwan (38, SSG Landers) built a golden tower of 300 career home runs with a massive arc.

In the home game against the LG Twins on the 1st at Incheon SSG Landers Field in the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season, Kim Jae-hwan started as the sixth hitter and designated hitter, hitting a home run from his first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning.

Facing LG starting pitcher Im Chan-gyu with two outs and no runners on base, Kim Jae-hwan did not miss a 141 km/h fastball aimed at the middle of the plate as the fourth pitch with a count of one ball and two strikes. The powerfully pulled ball sailed well over the center field fence. It was a solo home run traveling 130 meters, his 24th of the season.

With that single hit, Kim Jae-hwan became the 18th player in KBO League history to reach 300 career home runs. Having recorded 299 home runs in 1,610 games through the previous day (September 30), he finally completed his 300th in his first at-bat of his 1,611st game.

It took a long time to reach 300 home runs. After graduating from Incheon High School and being drafted by the Doosan Bears with the fourth overall pick in the second round of the 2008 KBO Rookie Draft, Kim Jae-hwan recorded his first professional home run on April 14, 2011, against the Busan Lotte Giants after completing his military service at the National COLONY Corps (Sangmu).

From 2016, when he established himself as a power hitter, he began operating his home run factory in earnest. On June 3, 2018, in a game against the Gwangju KIA Tigers, he hit his 100th career three-run homer against Pat Dean. In the same year, with 44 home runs and 133 RBIs, he claimed the double crown for home runs and RBIs, as well as the regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. =

His 200th career home run also came in Gwangju. He reached the 200th-home-run mark with a three-run homer against KIA on October 29, 2021. It was also a meaningful arc that contributed to Doosan's confirmation of their seventh consecutive postseason appearance at the time.

Kim Jae-hwan, who accumulated 276 career home runs solely with Doosan, declared an opt-out after last season ended and left his original team, where he had served for 18 years. He returned to his hometown of Incheon by signing a two-year contract worth a total of 2.2 billion won with SSG, and continues to maintain his power hitting this season as well.

It took a little time for the final one. After hitting his 23rd home run of the season and 299th career solo homer in the seventh inning against the Kiwoom Heroes on the 20th of last month, he failed to add another home run for four games. He launched the awaited 300th home run in his first at-bat after 11 days and five games since his previous one.

Meanwhile, SSG, which gained the upper hand with Kim Jae-hwan's blast, saw its lineup explode immediately. In the third inning, they extended their lead to 4-0 with a sacrifice fly by Eredia and consecutive RBI hits by Jeon Ui-san and Ko Myung-jun, adding two more runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-4 lead.

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*This content was translated by AI.