Canadian slugger Jamie Romak retires after 5 seasons in KBO

Jamie Romak, one of the most successful foreign hitters in South Korean baseball history, has announced his retirement after spending his final five seasons here.

The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Sunday the Canadian slugger decided to call it a career following the end of the 2021 season the previous evening.

Romak, 36, batted .273 with 155 home runs and 409 RBIs in 626 games for the Landers, formerly known as the SK Wyverns under the previous ownership during Romak’s first four seasons with the franchise.

Romak is ranked third on the all-time home run list for foreign players, and no foreign player spent more years with the Landers franchise than the native of London, Ontario.

A fourth-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2003, Romak joined the then-Wyverns in the middle of the 2017 season, and made an immediate impact with 31 home runs in only 102 games.

He exploded for 43 home runs and 107 RBIs in 2018, while helping the Wyverns to the Korean Series championship.