KBO Legend Baek In-chun in Critical Condition After Cerebral Infarction Worsens

Baek In-chun, the legendary former manager and the sole player in Korean professional baseball history to achieve a batting average of .400, is in critical condition following a deterioration of his cerebral infarction. The former coach was reportedly found in cardiac arrest on August 14 and was rushed to a hospital.

Initial reports of his passing led some media outlets, including Hankyoreh, to publish obituaries, and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) began preparations for a funeral service. However, the situation changed when Baek was transferred to Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, where he had previously received regular check-ups. There, his pulse was detected, indicating he was still alive.

Currently, Baek is on a respirator in the emergency room. His family, friends, and KBO officials are at the hospital monitoring his condition. Baek, born in China in 1942, had a distinguished career, playing over 1,500 games in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball before debuting in the KBO in 1982. That year, as a player-manager for MBC Cheongryong, he recorded an astonishing .412 batting average at age 40, a record that remains unbroken.