Only .400 hitter in S. Korean baseball history dies

SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Yonhap) -- Baek In-chun, the only man to bat .400 in a South Korean professional baseball season, died Saturday at the age of 83, officials said.

According to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Baek died at 6:41 a.m. Saturday while being treated for a brain hemorrhage at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, some 90 kilometers south of Seoul.

He was found in cardiac arrest in his home in Cheonan early Friday and transported to a nearby hospital.

Doctors told a friend of Baek's that the former athlete had stopped breathing, prompting the friend and first-aid workers to begin preparations for Baek's funeral and to move him to Dankook University Hospital, where Baek had received his regular medical checkups.

After arriving at the second hospital, however, Baek's heart started beating again, and he was connected to a respirator Friday afternoon in the emergency room.

Baek's family members are said to have been opposed to life-sustaining treatment.

Baek had suffered four cerebral infarctions in recent years, though sources close to Baek said he had undergone his regular medical checkup in relatively good condition Thursday.

As player-manager for MBC Chungyong (currently the LG Twins) in the inaugural KBO season in 1982, Baek batted .412. No other player in KBO history has topped the hallowed mark in batting average in any season since.

In 2014, the Korea Pro Baseball Players Alumni Association created the "Baek In-chun Award" in the former star's honor to recognize the best high school or college hitter each year.

The KBO said it will organize an official funeral for Baek, who went on to serve as hitting coach and manager in the KBO following his 23-year playing career in both Japan and South Korea. Baek was named Manager of the Year for the Twins in 1990, when he led them to the Korean Series title.