By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

It was a bittersweet end to the 2009 season for Yomiuri Giants player Lee Seung-yeop.

Although the Tokyo-based team won the Japan Series Saturday for the first time since 2002, he was a nonfactor in the title run.

It was Lee's second championship since winning the 2005 title with the Lotte Chiba Marines.

Four years ago, the left-handed batter hit .545 (6-for-11) with three homers and six RBIs in the Marines title run, but this year, despite hitting a solo shot in Game 3, he was not as impressive, going 3-for-12 with two RBIs in six games, including three starts.

It was a fitting conclusion to a season where Lee did not live up to expectations yet again.

The former Samsung Lion in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) appeared in 77 games and produced 16 home runs, 36 RBIs and hit .229 - his worst batting average in his six-year stint in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

After last year's awful slump, which limited him to eight homers, 27 RBIs and .248 average along with a spell with the second-string team, he skipped the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March to focus on the 2009 season and work on regaining the form which saw him hit a combined 71 home runs in 2006 and 2007.

After joining the Giants in 2006, he ripped 41 long balls, drove in 108 RBIs and batted .323, which earned him a three billion yen (38 billion won), four-year contract.

But since the megadeal, injuries have cause his performance to deteriorate.

He had a knee surgery in late 2006 and one year later, a bad finger led to another operation, which affected him throughout the 2008 season.

This season, Lee was hit by back pain, which led to a two-month stint with the Giants' second string club, where he finished the regular season.

While the Giants were progressing toward their 21st title, Lee, who will enter the final year of his contract in 2010, saw his role on the team diminish.

Alex Ramirez and Michihiro Ogasawara, who each had 31 homers in the season, provided big strokes and outfielder Yoshiyuki Kamei patrolled first base down the stretch, putting Lee's future role with the club in question.

Lee and the Giants will meet the KBO champion Kia Tigers in the maiden Korea-Japan Club Championship at Big N Stadium in Nagasaki, Japan on Nov. 14.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr