Athletes - Byung-Hyun Kim

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	Athletes - Byung-Hyun Kim

Byung-Hyun Kim (born January 21, 1979 in Gwangju, South Korea) is a right-handed pitcher who has played for the Colorado Rockies since 2005. Previously, he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2003) and the Boston Red Sox (2003-2004).

Usually described as a submarine pitcher, Kim is a side-arm and under-arm hard thrower who uses a great variety of deliveries. Kim possesses a 90-MPH fastball, a decent curve, a slider, a sinker, a two-seem fastball, and a changeup which he uses to freeze opposing hitters. Nevertheless, his main problem has been a lack of concentration and an inability to handle pressure. He struggles against left-handed batters.

Named both the Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher for the National High School championships in Korea, Kim was selected to the 1996 National Junior Team, then named to the National Team in both 1997 and 1998. In that year, he manhandled the US Olympic team, striking out 15 batters in 6 2/3 innings. Later, he helped Korea claim the gold medal in the Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Kim was signed by Arizona on February 19, 1999, one month after his 20th birthday, and debuted on May 29 at Shea Stadium. He came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, and after retiring Edgardo Alfonzo and John Olerud, struck out Mike Piazza and got the save in the Diamondbacks' 8-7 victory over the Mets.

In the 2000 season, Kim got the closer role when incumbent Matt Mantei opened the season on the disabled list. For the year, Kim struck out 111 hitters in just 70.2 innings pitched (14.14 per nine innings), including 11 out of 12 batters over five games, and twice struck out eight consecutive batters. But Kim would also struggle in part of the season. After his 14 saves and a 1.82 ERA over his first 28 appearances, he was demoted to Triple-A Tucson at the end of July. Mostly used as a starter in order to restore his confidence, Kim came back to Arizona a month later. With Mantei reinserted as the official closer, Kim pitched as a setup man and also started a game after recording 84 relief appearances.

Arizona turned to Kim again as a closer after Mantei was lost to injury for the rest of the 2001 season. Kim responded with 19 saves, a 2.94 ERA, and 113 strikeouts in 98 innings, but he suffered two humiliating setbacks facing the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.With the Diamondbacks up 2 games to 1 going into Game 4 ,Kim relieved Curt Schilling in the 8th inning with the Diamondbacks leading 3-1. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, Tino Martinez's two-out, two-run home run tied the game, and another home run hit by Derek Jeter in the bottom of the tenth won the game and tied the Series. Kim was charged with the loss. The night after, in Game 5, the Yankees again came from a two-run, two-out deficit in the ninth inning, to defeat the Diamondbacks in 12 innings. Kim was again victimized, this time by Scott Brosius, whose two-run home run tied the score. Later, Alfonso Soriano hit a single in the bottom of the 12th to win the game. Despite Kim's misadventures, the Diamondbacks clinched the World Championship in Game 7.

In 2002, Kim showed no lingering effects from his embarrassing performance in the World Series. He set a single-season franchise record for saves (36), breaking the old mark set by Gregg Olson in 1998 (30). Kim finished the season with an 8-3 record, 92 strike outs, and a career-best 2.04 ERA in a team-high 72 appearances. On May 11, at Philadelphia, he became the 33rd pitcher in major league history to strike out the side on nine pitches. His victims were Scott Rolen, Mike Lieberthal and Pat Burrell. In that season, Kim also was selected for the All-Star Game.

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