Baseball league MVP voted by peers as top player of 2017

INCHEON -- Reigning baseball league MVP Yang Hyeon-jong was voted by his peers as the top player of the season Tuesday.

Yang, voted the regular season MVP in the Korea Baseball Organization last month, earned the Player of the Year honors at the 2017 Players' Choice Awards, hosted by the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association.

The KPBPA created the awards in 2013, with all active KBO players casting votes for the best player in the league each year.

Yang, a left-handed ace for the Kia Tigers, set a career high with 20 victories in 31 starts in 2017, becoming the first South Korean pitcher in 22 years to notch 20 wins in a season. He posted an ERA of 3.44 to rank fifth in the league and claimed his first MVP award in November.

In this file photo taken Nov. 6, 2017, Yang Hyeon-jong of the Kia Tigers smiles during the annual Korea Baseball Organization awards ceremony in Seoul. Yang was voted by his peers as the best player of 2017 on Dec. 5. (Yonhap)

Yang was also voted the MVP of the Korean Series, as his Tigers knocked out the Doosan Bears in five games to capture their first championship since 2009. Yang threw a complete game shutout in Game 2 and came out of the bullpen to record a save in the clinching Game 5.

Yang is the first player to win both the regular season and Korean Series MVP awards in the same season.

Among other winners Tuesday, Nexen Heroes outfielder Lee Jung-hoo was voted the best rookie. The 19-year-old set KBO rookie records with 179 hits and 111 runs scored, and was the runaway winner of the Rookie of the Year award in the regular season. (Yonhap)