KBO League


The KBO League, originally called the Korea Baseball Championship, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982, and has expanded to ten franchises. Nine of the ten franchises are named after the companies or business conglomerates which own them, while one sold their naming rights. The KBO League is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most successful team, having won 11 out of the 38 championships.
In comparison with American Major League Baseball, ESPN reports that the KBO level of play "appears to be somewhere between Double-A and Triple-A, on average, though the best players are more likely to be MLB-quality than your typical Double-A league." Historically, the KBO is known for its vocal and exuberant fan base, as well as the widespread practice of bat flips by hitters after stroking what they think will be a home run. In the KBO, the bat flipping tradition dates back to the 1990s.

League structure

Regular season

Starting with the 2015 season, each team plays 144 games in the regular season, increased from 128 in 2015 with the addition of the KT Wiz to the league. Each team plays every other team 16 times. In general, Korean teams play six games a week, with every Monday off.

KBO All-Star Game

In mid-July of every season, the best players participate in the KBO All-Star Game. The franchises participating are divided into two sets of teams: "Dream All-Stars" and "Nanum All-Stars". The KBO All-star game does not determine home-field advantage in the KBO Korean Series.

Post-season

The KBO League's season culminates in its championship series, known as the KBO Korean Series. Currently, the top five teams qualify for the post-season based on win/loss records. The lowest-qualifying teams face off in a step-ladder playoff system, where each winner then faces the next-highest team, culminating in the Korean Series against the top-ranked team.
Any playoff games ending in an official tie are replayed, thereby raising the possibility of a close series containing more than the scheduled five or seven games.

Rules

The KBO League rules are essentially those of the American Major League Baseball. The designated hitter rule is universal in KBO.
Traditionally, South Korean professional baseball games have a maximum number of extra innings before a game is declared an official tie. The KBO abolished this limit for the 2008 season, but it was reinstated in 2009, with a 12-inning limit imposed during the regular season, and a 15-inning limit for playoff games.

History

Origins

The first game was played on March 27, 1982, between the Samsung Lions and the MBC Chungyong at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium, Seoul. Then-president Chun Doo-hwan threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The inaugural franchises were:
The first Korean Series featured the Bears versus the Lions, with OB winning the championship 4-games-to-1, with a tie.

The 1980s

The Haitai Tigers dominated the 1980s, winning the Korean Series five times — in 1983, 1986, and 1987 through 1989. They were led by pitcher Sun Dong-yol and infielders Kim Seong-han and Han Dae-hwa. Other KBO stars whose careers took off in the 1980s were sluggers Chang Jong-hoon and Lee Man-soo.
From 1982 to 1988, the regular season was divided into two, with a first-half pennant winner and a latter-half pennant winner. The two pennant winners then played each other for the Korean Series championship. The 1982 campaign featured an 80-game season, which expanded to 100 games from 1983 to 1984. Rosters for each team were small, and many players in the league both pitched and batted. Bang Soo-won of the Haitai Tigers pitched the first no-hitter in Korean professional baseball history, in 1984 against the Sammi Superstars.
Mid-season 1985, the Sammi Superstars were sold and became known as the Chungbo Pintos, and the full season expanded to 110 games. Because the Samsung Lions won both half-season pennants, the Lions won the title outright so no Korean Series was played that year.
Because of the lack of a postseason in 1985, the next year saw some major changes, with the adoption of a playoff system, in which the top two teams from each half-season played for the right to get to the Korean Series. 1986 also saw the OB Bears moving from Daejeon to share Jamsil Baseball Stadium with MBC Chungyong in Seoul. A new franchise, the Binggrae Eagles, joined the league, replacing the vacancy in Daejeon made by OB's move, and expanding the league to seven teams. From 1986 to 1988, the regular season shrunk to a total of 108 games.
1988 saw the Cheongbo Pintos change ownership again, becoming the Taepyoungyang Dolphins. In 1989 the KBO eliminated the two half-season pennants, moving to a single season of 120 games.

The 1990s

In the 1990s the Tigers were again dominant, winning the championship four times in the decade — 1991, 1993, 1996, and 1997. The Tigers were led by hitting-machine Lee Jong-beom and slugger Lee Ho-joon. Other KBO players who starred in the 1990s were Eagles' pitcher Song Jin-woo, who eventually became the all-time KBO leader in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched; slugging catcher Park Kyung-oan, the first catcher in KBO history to hit 300 home runs; and stolen base king Jeon Jun-ho. But probably the most notable hitters to emerge from the 1990s were the Lions' Lee Seung-yuop and Yang Joon-hyuk, who between them now hold most of the KBO's career offensive records.
In 1990, MBC Chungyong became the LG Twins and an eighth franchise was added, the Ssangbangwool Raiders, who represented the Jeollabuk-do region.
From 1991 to 1998, the season increased to 126 games. The Lotte Giants won the Korean Series championship in 1992; the team has not won it since. There was little other change during this period except for a few major sponsors: in 1993 the Binggrae Eagles became the Hanwha Eagles, in 1996 the Taepyoungyang Dolphins became the Hyundai Unicorns, and in 1999 the OB Bears became the Doosan Bears.
The 1998 Korean Series was won by the Hyundai Unicorns for the franchise's first championship in 16 years of existence.
In 1999 the season was expanded to 132 games, and the KBO separated into two divisions — the Dream League and the Magic League. The 1999 Dream League consisted of the Doosan Bears, the Lotte Giants, the Haitai Tigers, and the Hyundai Unicorns; the 1999 Magic League consisted of the Hanwha Eagles, the LG Twins, the Samsung Lions, and the Ssangbangwool Raiders. That year the Eagles — in their 14th season — won their franchise's first Korean Series championship, after 14 years in the KBO.

The 2000s

Bigger changes were affected in 2000 when the Hyundai Unicorns moved from Incheon to Suwon, and a new franchise, the SK Wyverns, took their place in Incheon. The Ssangbangwool Raiders became defunct. The league's two-division structure slightly shifted as well, with SK taking Ssangbangwool's place in the Magic Division and Lotte and Samsung switching divisions. Thus, the 2000 Dream League was composed of Doosan, Haitai, Hyundai, and Samsung; while the 2000 Magic League was composed of Hanwha, LG, Lotte, and SK.
Parity ruled the 2000s, with the Unicorns and Lions each winning three titles, and the upstart Wyverns coming away with two. The hard-luck Doosan Bears appeared in the Korean Series five times in the decade but only won it once, in 2001. Stars who emerged in the 2000s include all-time KBO hit king Park Yong-taik, Giants's first-baseman Dae-ho Lee, and Eagles' first-baseman Kim Tae-kyun. Other notable players from the era include slugging third-basemen Lee Bum-ho and Choi Jeong, the Bears' designated hitter Hong Sung-heon, and the Twins' long-time outfielder Lee Byung-kyu.
In 2001, the KBO returned to a single-division format. The Haitai Tigers became the Kia Tigers. From 2000 to 2012 the length of the regular season fluctuated between 126 and 133 games.
Despite its string of championships in the early 2000s, in 2008 the Hyundai Unicorns franchise was disbanded. It re-founded as the Woori Heroes and moved to Mok-dong in Seoul. In 2010, the team's naming rights were sold to Nexen Tire and the team was renamed the Nexen Heroes until the end of the 2018 season, when its naming rights were sold to Kiwoom Securities.

The 2010s

The Samsung Lions were a powerful team in the 2010s, winning the championship four times during six straight appearances in the Korean Series. The Doosan Bears were also a powerhouse, appearing in the Korean Series six times in the decade, winning it three times.
Expansion resumed in the 2010s, with the addition of the NC Dinos, located in Changwon, which joined the league in 2013. It is the first team located in Changwon, the city having previously been the second home of the nearby Lotte Giants. The KBO played 128-game seasons in 2013–2014.
In 2015, the KT Wiz became the league's tenth franchise. They play their home games in Suwon, which had not had a team since the Hyundai Unicorns' disbandment. Since 2015 the KBO has played a 144-game season each year, and has added a fifth team to the playoffs, with the introduction of the Wild Card game. In 2015 the league also increased the active roster size of each team, from 26 to 27.
After a number of seasons of inflated offensive production, the KBO introduced a new "dejuiced" baseball before the 2019 season. The results showed in a significant decrease in runs per game and home runs per game.
The 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but finally started play on May 5, 2020, with no fans in attendance. In response to the lack of live sports programming due to the pandemic, ESPN and the KBO League entered into an agreement to broadcast six games weekly. The Opening Day game between the NC Dinos and Samsung Lions was broadcast as the first game under the agreement that night. Karl Ravech, Jason Benetti, Boog Sciambi, Eduardo Perez, and Jessica Mendoza, along with various guests, broadcast the game remotely via Internet from their homes.

Expatriate baseball players in the KBO

As with Nippon Professional Baseball, the KBO league places a cap on the number of foreign players allowed on club rosters. The foreign player limit is set at three, increased from two players from 2014. Foreign players can only sign single-season contracts, and they are restricted by a salary cap. Since 2019, the total compensation for a foreign player has been capped at $1 million. The foreign hitters on each team are expected to provide power in the middle of the order, while the foreign pitchers are expected to anchor the starting rotation. As with foreign players in the NPB, many of the most celebrated foreign players came to Korea after not finding success in the Major Leagues.
The KBO first began allowing foreign players in 1998, when each team was allowed to sign up to two imports. Traditionally, teams chose one hitter and one pitcher, although there were exceptions. By 2012, teams were using all their foreign-player allotments on pitchers, and there were no more foreign hitters in the KBO. After this happened again in 2013, the following season the KBO League raised the foreign-player limit to three for each team, but mandated that at least one foreign player had to be a hitter.
American Tyrone Woods was the first notable import. Debuting with the Doosan Bears in 1998, Woods was the first foreign player to hit a home run. In his first year Woods set a then-KBO record with 42 homers and won the MVP award. In five years in Korea, Woods hit 174 homers, drove in 510 runs, and batted.294. Woods left Korea with the longest career of any foreign player in KBO history, a record later eclipsed by hitter Jay Davis and pitcher Dustin Nippert. Davis played seven seasons for Hanwha, compiling a.313 batting average, 167 home runs, and 591 RBI during that span.
Foreign pitchers with extended careers in the KBO include Dustin Nippert, who compiled a win-loss record of 102–51 and 1,082 strikeouts in eight seasons ; and Danny Rios, who in six seasons was 90–59 with 807 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.01, which is the lowest career ERA of any foreign pitcher in the KBO. Josh Lindblom pitched in the KBO for five seasons, compiling a 63–34 record and 750 strikeouts. Rios was given the 2008 KBO League Most Valuable Player Award, Nippert was KBO MVP in 2016, and Lindblom won the award in 2019.
American Jerry Royster was the first-ever non-Korean to take the helm of one of South Korea's professional baseball clubs when he was signed as manager of the Lotte Giants in 2007.
Over the league's history, more than 200 Americans have played in the KBO; other countries which have produced many current and former KBO players include the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

KBO players in Japan and the U.S.

Several Korean players have had successful careers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball, most notably Isao Harimoto, who holds the record for most hits in the Japanese professional leagues. Harimoto played in the 1960s and 1970s, before the formation of the KBO. Similarly, Baek In-chun played professionally in Japan from 1963 to 1981, compiling 209 home runs, 776 RBI, and 1,831 hits in the NPB. Lee Seung-yuop, who holds the KBO records for career home runs, runs scored, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage and OPS, also played eight seasons in the NPB, accumulating an additional 159 home runs and 439 RBI. Other KBO hitters who had some success in the NPB include Kim Tae-kyun and Dae-ho Lee. Korean pitchers who have had an impact in the NPB include Sun Dong-yol, Lim Chang-yong, and Seung-hwan Oh.
Several Korean players have also successfully transitioned from the KBO to American Major League Baseball, starting in 1994 with pitcher Chan Ho Park. Other former KBO players who have had lengthy MLB careers include outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and pitchers Hyun-jin Ryu and Byung-hyun Kim. Altogether, 23 South Korean players have made it to the MLB as of 2020.

Teams

League sponsorship

Ballparks


Doosan Bears / LG TwinsHanwha EaglesKia TigersKiwoom HeroesKT Wiz
Jamsil Baseball StadiumHanwha Life Eagles ParkGwangju-Kia Champions FieldGocheok Sky DomeSuwon kt wiz park
Capacity: 25,553Capacity: 13,000Capacity: 27,000Capacity: 16,813Capacity: 22,800
Lotte GiantsNC DinosSamsung LionsSK Wyverns-
Busan Sajik Baseball StadiumChangwon NC ParkDaegu Samsung Lions ParkMunhak Baseball Stadium-
Capacity: 26,800Capacity: 22,011Capacity: 24,000Capacity: 26,000-
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In addition to these ballparks, the Lotte Giants play some games at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium, the Samsung Lions at Pohang Baseball Stadium and the Hanwha Eagles at Cheongju Baseball Stadium.

Attendance figures

The league has recently enjoyed a surge in popularity, with increased attendance every year.
In 2016 season, a new national record of over 8 million attendance figures was set. There was massive increase of 1 million compared with previous season.
The record was smashed again in 2017 season with over 8.4 million fans to their games during the regular season. Bears, Twins, Giants and Tigers all attracted over 1 million fans. The average game attendance was above 11,600 fans.
This increase in popularity has been accompanied by the building of larger and more modern ballparks to further enhance the fan experience and their expenditures during games, such as Gwangju-Kia Champions Field, Gocheok Sky Dome, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, and Changwon NC Park.

Associations

KBO League players and coaches have formed a number of associations:

Korean Series champions

ClubChampionsRunners-upChampionship seasonsRunners-up seasons
Kia Tigers1101983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2009, 2017—
Samsung Lions8101985, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 20141982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1993, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015
Doosan Bears671982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, 20192000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2018
SK Wyverns442007, 2008, 2010, 20182003, 2009, 2011, 2012
Hyundai Unicorns 421998, 2000, 2003, 20041994, 1996
LG Twins241990, 19941983, 1997, 1998, 2002
Lotte Giants231984, 19921985, 1995, 1999
Hanwha Eagles1519991988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2006
Kiwoom Heroes02—2014, 2019
NC Dinos01—2016
KT Wiz00——

Playoff results

;Legend

Batting




Pitching




No-hitters

DatePitcherClubScoreOpponentBallparkNotes
May 5, 1984Bang Soo-wonHaitai Tigers5–0Sammi SuperstarsGwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium
June, 5, 1986Kim Jeong-haengLotte Giants8–0Binggrae EaglesSajik Baseball Stadium
April 2, 1988Jang Ho-yeonOB Bears4–0Lotte GiantsSajik Baseball StadiumOpening day of the season
April 17, 1988Lee Dong-seokBinggrae Eagles1–0Haitai TigersGwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium
July, 6, 1989Sun Dong-yolHaitai Tigers10–0Samsung LionsGwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium
August 8, 1990Lee Tae-ilSamsung Lions8–0Lotte GiantsSajik Baseball Stadium
April, 30, 1993Kim Won-hyeongSsangbangwool Raiders3–0OB BearsJeonju Baseball StadiumAt age 20, Kim was the youngest KBO pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter
September 9, 1993Kim Tae-wonLG Twins9–0Ssangbangwool RaidersJamsil Baseball Stadium
October 20, 1996Jeong Myeong-wonHyundai Unicorns4–0Haitai TigersSungui StadiumGame 4 of the Korean Series
May 23, 1997Jung Min-cheulHanwha Eagles8–0OB BearsJeonju Baseball Stadium-
May 18, 2000Song Jin-wooHanwha Eagles6–0Haitai TigersGwangju Mudeung Baseball StadiumAt age 34, Song was the oldest KBO pitcher to throw a no-hitter
June 25, 2014Charlie ShirekNC Dinos6–0LG TwinsJamsil Baseball StadiumFirst foreign player to throw a KBO League no-hitter
April 9, 2015Yunesky MayaDoosan Bears1–0Nexen HeroesJamsil Baseball Stadium
June 30, 2016Michael BowdenDoosan Bears4–0NC DinosJamsil Baseball Stadium
April 21, 2019Deck McGuireSamsung Lions16–0Hanwha EaglesHanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park

Sources: