Byung-hyun Kim (; or ; born January 19, 1979) is a South Korean former professional baseball pitcher. He had his most successful years with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox. Kim is remembered for his role in the 2001 World Series, in which he gave up consecutive ninth-inning leads in both Game 4 and Game 5, taking the loss in Game 4, though the Diamondbacks rebounded to win the Championship in 7 games over the New York Yankees. Kim went on to save 36 games for the Diamondbacks in 2002 and 16 for the Red Sox in 2003, and played in the 2002 All Star Game. Early career Kim is a 1997 graduate of Gwangju Jeil High School. Jae Seo and Hee-seop Choi were Kim's teammates in 1996 and they are very close friends. Named both the Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher for the National High School championships in South Korea, Kim was selected to the 1996 National Junior Team, then named to the National Team in both 1997 and 1998. In that year, he pitched against the US Olympic team, striking out 15 batters in 6 innings. Later, he helped Korea claim the gold medal in the Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand. Kim attended Sungkyunkwan University's Faculty of Law until 1999. Professional career 1999 season Kim was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks on February 19, 1999. Kim went 2–0 with 32 strikeouts in 21.1 innings in El Paso (AA) and then went to Tucson Sidewinders (AAA), where he posted 2–0 with 21 strikeouts in 17.1 innings. His ability to strike out batters caught the attention of Diamondbacks coaching staff. He was the youngest player in MLB at the time he debuted on May 29 at Shea Stadium. He came in to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, and after retiring Edgardo Alfonzo and John Olerud, struck out Mike Piazza and got the save in the Diamondbacks' 8–7 victory over the New York Mets. On June 9, 1999, during a game against the Chicago Cubs, a bandage covered in a foreign substance fell from Kim's sleeve after a pitch. He was immediately ejected by umpire Ed Montague for possessing the illegal item but was not disciplined further. 2000 season In the season, Kim got the closer role when incumbent Matt Mantei opened the season on the disabled list. For the year, Kim struck