Former All-Star Shin-Soo Choo retires after 24 professional seasons
Former All-Star outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, the most decorated Korean-born position player in MLB history, announced his retirement Thursday after a 24-year professional career that included 16 big-league campaigns.
Choo, 42, spent the final four seasons of his career in his home country with SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization. He last appeared in the majors with the Texas Rangers in 2020.
"This is former baseball player Choo Shin-soo," a smiling Choo told reporters at the start of his retirement press conference in Incheon, South Korea, per Yonhap News. "I truly enjoyed my time in Korea, and I won't trade memories here for anything else."
Choo took a rare path to the majors by signing with the Seattle Mariners out of high school rather than joining the KBO. It proved to be the right decision, as he made his MLB debut four years later. Over 16 big-league seasons with the Mariners, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers, he posted a .275/.377/.447 slash line with 1,671 hits, 218 home runs, 782 RBIs, and 157 stolen bases. An excellent batting eye allowed him to finish top 10 in both OBP and walks six times, and he set a Rangers record with a 52-game on-base streak in 2018.
A groundbreaker for Korean-born position players, Choo is MLB's all-time leader in nearly every important offensive category among Koreans. In 2018, he became the first Korean position player to be named an All-Star. Choo's 218 homers also marked the MLB record among all Asian-born players until Shohei Ohtani passed him this year. In 2009, he became the first Asian player to record a 20-20 season, something he accomplished three times.
Choo returned to his home country after his contract with Texas expired and continued to hit well with SSG Landers, putting up another 20-20 season in 2021 and winning a Korean Series title the next year. He primarily served as a pinch-hitter this past season due to injuries but was still Landers' captain and donated his entire salary of 30 million won ($21,480 USD) to charity, per Yonhap.
Looking back on his career in both the U.S. and Korea, Choo remarked that he hopes to be remembered as a player who loved and respected baseball.
"Objectively speaking, I don't think I had special talent in any particular aspect of the game, but I always considered myself a versatile player," Choo said. "But if people remember me as a player who was completely dedicated to baseball and serious about the craft, then I think it will make all the years I put in this sport worth it."