For those of you new to Korean baseball and the KBO, or those of you who have been following it, but are interested in some historical information about it, below is a list of links to articles that I wrote a few years back, between 2014-2016. I just thought I'd collect all the links here in one place. I hope you find the articles interesting and entertaining.
Historical Articles:
Baseball in Korea goes back further than you might think
This article looks at the earliest references to baseball being played in Korea.
Why Koreans call baseball 'yagu'
This article looks at some of the early Korean words for 'baseball' and offers a possible explanation of why baseball is called 'yagu' in Korean.
St. Louis Cardinals played in Korea in 1958
An article about when the St. Loius Cardinals played a baseball game in Korea in 1958.
When Hank Aaron came to Korea
An article about the two trips Hank Aaron made to Korea in 1982, including the Atlanta Braves minor league goodwill tour with Ernie Banks and Billy Williams.
When 'mercenaries' first invaded the KBO
An article about the first group of foreigner players in the KBO in 1998.
Lee Seung-yuop all-time best hitter
This article is a recap of the 2015 Spring Conference for the Society of Korean Baseball Studies (SKB). The article focuses on a panel discussion with former KBO greats on the topic of the all-time best hitter in KBO history.
Interviews:
Eric Thames of NC Dinos, a hit on and off field
A feature piece on MLB player and past KBO star of the NC Dinos and his life in Korea.
Oh Seung-hwan, 'Final Boss,' seeks new opponents in MLB
An interview with Korean pitcher Oh Seung-hwan of the Samsung Lions about his career and pitching in Japan.
Lee Dae-ho has right attitude for MLB success
Interview with Lee Dae-ho of the Lotte Giants about his experiences playing baseball in Japan.
Bridging the Gap
An interview with Ryan Sadowski, ex-MLB and KBO pitcher and current international scout for the Kia Tigers. The interview is related to cultural adjustments players need to make when playing in a foreign baseball league.
Baseball fans help grieving American
A couple of Korean baseball fans and a KBO player reach out to an American in Arizona to help him deal with the loss of his brother.
Profitable 2nd league team? Goyang Dinos think it's possible
A look at some of the business ideas of a minor league (Futures League) team, Goyang Dinos, in Korea.
As always, if anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to ask on twitter or in the comments section.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Friday, October 4, 2013
KBO MVPs & ROYs 1982-2013
In the Korea Baseball Championship (the highest professional baseball league in Korea) three MVPs and one rookie of the year award are given each season. There was no ROY in 1982 as it was the inaugural season. In 1985, there was no Korea Series, thus there was no MVP awarded that year.
A few notes:
Lee, Seung-yeop has won the most regular season MVP awards (5)
Tyrone Woods & Lee, Jong-beom are the only players to win all three MVPs
Tyrone Woods was the first foreigner to win the regular season MVP (1998)
Tom Quinlan was the first foreigner to win the Korea Series MVP (2000)
Sun, Dong-yeol (1989 & 1990), Jang, Jong-hun (1991 & 1992), Lee, Seung-yeop (2001-2003) and Park, Byeong-ho (2012 & 2013) are the only players to win back-to-back regular season MVPs
Lee, Seung-yeop has won the most consecutive regular season MVPs (3) 2001-2003
Lee, Jong-beom, Oh, Seung-hwan & Jeong, Min-tae have won the most Korea series MVPs (2)
I will add the two MVPs and rookie of the year for 2013 when they are announced. As the all-star MVP has already been awarded, I included him. Jeon, Jun-woo is also the same player who earlier this year made the mistake of celebrating a home run before the ball left the park, and unfortunately for him it never did. You can see the video here.
A note on the romanization: I apologize for the inconsistent romanization from Korean to English, but unfortunately there is more than one standard way to do it. Additionally, the use of non-standard ways has also been commonly used. This is why it is possible to see at least to, and sometimes up to three or four different spellings for the same Korean name. I have tried to stay as consistent as possible, but for players known outside Korea, I've gone with the most common English spelling of their names. I also checked the English spellings on the player's Korean wikipedia page for further reference. I followed the Korean standard of 'family name, given name' for all Korean names in English. For non-Korean names, I followed the standard American style.
As usual, any questions or comments are always welcome.
Year
|
MVP
|
Rookie of the Year
|
All-Star MVP
|
Korea Series MVP
|
1982
|
Park, Chul-soon (OB, P)
|
Kim, Yong-heui (Lotte, IF)
|
Kim, Yu-dong (OB, OF)
|
|
1983
|
Lee, Man-soo (Samsung, C)
|
Park, Jong-hun (OB, OF)
|
Sin, Kyeong-sik (OB, IF)
|
Kim, Bong-yeon (Haitai, IF)
|
1984
|
Choi, Dong-won (Lotte, P)
|
Yoon, Suk-hwan (OB, P)
|
Kim, Yong-heui (Lotte, IF)
|
Yu, Du-yeol (Lotte, OF)
|
1985
|
Kim, Sung-han (Haitai, IF)
|
Lee, Sun-cheol (Haitai, IF)
|
Kim, Si-jin (Samsung, P)
|
|
1986
|
Sun, Dong-yeol (Haitai, P)
|
Kim, Keon-woo (MBC, P)
|
Kim, Mu-jung (Haitai, C)
|
Kim, Jeong-su (Haitai, P)
|
1987
|
Jang, Hyo-jo (Samsung, OF)
|
Lee, Jeong-hun (Binggrae, OF)
|
Kim, Jong-mo (Haitai, OF)
|
Kim, Jun-hwan (Haitai, OF)
|
1988
|
Kim, Sung-han (Haitai, IF)
|
Lee, Yong-cheol (MBC, P)
|
Han, Dae-hwa (Haitai, IF)
|
Mun, Hui-su (Haitai, P)
|
1989
|
Sun, Dong-yeol (Haitai, P)
|
Park, Jeong-hyeon (Pacific, P)
|
Heo, Kyu-ok (Lotte, OF)
|
Park, Cheol-woo (Haitai, IF)
|
1990
|
Sun, Dong-yeol (Haitai, P)
|
Kim, Dong-soo (LG, C)
|
Kim, Min-ho (Lotte, IF)
|
Kim, Yong-soo (LG, P)
|
1991
|
Jang, Jong-hun (Binggrae, IF)
|
Cho, Kyu-jea (Ssangbangwool, P)
|
Kim, Yeung-kuk (Lotte, OF)
|
Jang, Chae-keun (Haitai, C)
|
1992
|
Jang, Jong-hun (Binggrae, IF)
|
Yeom, Jong-seok, (Lotte, P)
|
Kim, Seong-han (Haitai, IF)
|
Park, Dong-heui (Lotte, P)
|
1993
|
Kim, Seong-rae (Samsung, IF)
|
Yang, Joon-hyuk (Samsung, OF)
|
Lee, Kang-don (Binggrae, OF)
|
Lee, Jong-beom (Haitai, IF)
|
1994
|
Lee, Jong-beom (Haitai, IF)
|
Yu, Ji-hyeon (LG, IF)
|
Jeong, Myeong-won (Pacific, P)
|
Kim, Yong-soo (LG, P)
|
1995
|
Kim, Sang-ho (OB, OF)
|
Lee, Dong-su (Samsung, IF)
|
Jeong, Kyeong-hun (Hanhwa, IF)
|
Kim, Min-ho (OB)
|
1996
|
Koo, Dae-sung (Hanhwa, P)
|
Park, Jae-hong (Hyundai, OF)
|
Kim, Kwang-rim (Ssangbangwool, OF)
|
Lee, Kang-cheol (Haitai, P)
|
1997
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
Lee, Byung-kyu (LG, OF)
|
Yu, Ji-hyeon (LG, IF)
|
Lee, Jong-beom (Haitai, IF)
|
1998
|
Tyrone Woods (OB, IF)
|
Kim, Soo-kyeong (Hyundai, P)
|
Park, Jeong-tae (Lotte, IF)
|
Jeong, Min-tae (Hyundai, P)
|
1999
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
Hong, Seong-heun (Doosan, C)
|
Park, Jeong-tae (Lotte, IF)
|
Koo, Dae-sung (Hanhwa, P)
|
2000
|
Park, Kyung-oan (Hyundai, C)
|
Lee, Seung-ho (SK, P)
|
Song, Ji-man (Hanhwa, OF)
|
Tom Quinlan (Hyundai, IF)
|
2001
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
Kim, Tae-kyun (Hanhwa, IF)
|
Tyrone Woods (Doosan, IF)
|
Tyrone Woods (Doosan, IF)
|
2002
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
Cho, Yong-jun (Hyundai, P)
|
Park, Jae-hong (Hyundai, OF)
|
Ma, Hae-yeong (Samsung, OF)
|
2003
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
Lee, Dong-hak (Hyundai, P)
|
Lee, Jong-beom (Haitai, IF)
|
Jeong, Min-tae (Hyundai, P)
|
2004
|
Bae, Young-soo (Samsung, P)
|
Oh, Jae-yeong (Hyundai, P)
|
Jung, Soo-keun (Lotte, OF)
|
Cho, Yong-jun (Hyundai, P)
|
2005
|
Son, Min-han (Lotte, P)
|
Oh, Seung-hwan (Samsung, P)
|
Lee, Dae-ho (Lotte, IF)
|
Oh, Seung-hwan (Samsung, P)
|
2006
|
Ryu, Hyun-jin (Hanhwa, P)
|
Ryu, Hyun-jin (Hanhwa, P)
|
Hong, Seong-heun (Doosan, C)
|
Park, Jin-man (Samsung, IF)
|
2007
|
Danny Rios (Doosan, P)
|
Lim, Tae-hun (Doosan, P)
|
Jung, Soo-keun (Lotte, OF)
|
Kim, Jae-hyeon (SK, OF)
|
2008
|
Kim, Kwang-hyun, (SK, P)
|
Choi, Hyeong-yu (Samsung, OF)
|
Lee, Dae-ho (Lotte, IF)
|
Choi, Jeong (SK, IF)
|
2009
|
Kim, Sang-hyeon (Kia, IF)
|
Lee, Yong-chan (Doosan, P)
|
An, Chi-hong (Kia, IF)
|
Na, Ji-wan (Kia, IF)
|
2010
|
Lee, Dae-ho (Lotte, IF)
|
Yang, Yui-ji (Doosan, C)
|
Hong, Seong-heun (Lotte, OF)
|
Park, Jung-kwon (SK, IF)
|
2011
|
Yoon, Suk-min (Kia, P)
|
Bae, Yeong-seob (Samsung, OF)
|
Lee, Byung-kyu (LG, OF)
|
Oh, Seung-hwan (Samsung, P)
|
2012
|
Park, Byeong-ho (Nexen, IF)
|
Seo, Geon-chang (Nexen, IF)
|
Hwang, Jae-gyun (Lotte, IF)
|
Lee, Seung-yeop (Samsung, IF)
|
2013
|
Jeon, Jun-woo (Lotte, OF)
|
A few notes:
Lee, Seung-yeop has won the most regular season MVP awards (5)
Tyrone Woods & Lee, Jong-beom are the only players to win all three MVPs
Tyrone Woods was the first foreigner to win the regular season MVP (1998)
Tom Quinlan was the first foreigner to win the Korea Series MVP (2000)
Sun, Dong-yeol (1989 & 1990), Jang, Jong-hun (1991 & 1992), Lee, Seung-yeop (2001-2003) and Park, Byeong-ho (2012 & 2013) are the only players to win back-to-back regular season MVPs
Lee, Seung-yeop has won the most consecutive regular season MVPs (3) 2001-2003
Lee, Jong-beom, Oh, Seung-hwan & Jeong, Min-tae have won the most Korea series MVPs (2)
I will add the two MVPs and rookie of the year for 2013 when they are announced. As the all-star MVP has already been awarded, I included him. Jeon, Jun-woo is also the same player who earlier this year made the mistake of celebrating a home run before the ball left the park, and unfortunately for him it never did. You can see the video here.
A note on the romanization: I apologize for the inconsistent romanization from Korean to English, but unfortunately there is more than one standard way to do it. Additionally, the use of non-standard ways has also been commonly used. This is why it is possible to see at least to, and sometimes up to three or four different spellings for the same Korean name. I have tried to stay as consistent as possible, but for players known outside Korea, I've gone with the most common English spelling of their names. I also checked the English spellings on the player's Korean wikipedia page for further reference. I followed the Korean standard of 'family name, given name' for all Korean names in English. For non-Korean names, I followed the standard American style.
As usual, any questions or comments are always welcome.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
First Group of Foreigners in the KBO 1998
This post is a list of the first group of foreign players to play in the KBO in 1998, including their stats. I am aware of other earlier cases, and will be posting about them later. I am posting some information in both Korean and English as I haven't been able to find a bilingual list in other places. One note about the draft, the Ssangbangwool Raiders did not participate in the draft, nor did they sign any foreign players this year due to financial difficulties.
1998 Season
Samsung Lions / 삼성 라이온즈
1998 Season
OB Bears / OB 베어스
Tyrone Woods (타이론 우즈) / 1B (내야수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.305
|
126
|
452
|
138
|
14
|
1
|
42
|
65
|
1
|
103
|
Eddie Cacerres (에드가 캐세레스) / IF (내야수) / Venezuela (베네수엘라)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.250
|
113
|
408
|
102
|
13
|
1
|
2
|
24
|
18
|
36
|
Hyundai Unicorns / 현대 유니콘스
Joe Strong (조 스트롱)
/ Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
G
|
W-L-S
|
Innings
|
Batters
|
Hits
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SO
|
ER
|
ERA
|
|
1998
|
53
|
6-5-27
|
58
|
262
|
64
|
4
|
29
|
54
|
19
|
2.95
|
Scott Coolbaugh (스캇 쿨바) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.317
|
115
|
410
|
130
|
27
|
1
|
26
|
51
|
2
|
97
|
Jose Parra (호세 파라) / Pitcher (투수) / Dominican Republic (도미니카 공화국)
|
Year
|
G
|
W-L-S
|
Innings
|
Batters
|
Hits
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SO
|
ER
|
ERA
|
|
1998
|
60
|
7-8-19
|
95 2/3
|
406
|
79
|
7
|
40
|
55
|
39
|
3.67
|
Scott Baker (스코트 베이커) / Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
G
|
W-L-S
|
Innings
|
Batters
|
Hits
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SO
|
ER
|
ERA
|
|
1998
|
26
|
15-7-0
|
172
|
740
|
172
|
15
|
78
|
87
|
79
|
4.13
|
Junior Felix (쥬니어 펠릭스 / 후니오르 펠릭스) / OF (외야수) / Dominican Republic (도미니카 공화국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.293
|
33
|
123
|
36
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
11
|
0
|
21
|
Mike Anderson (마이클 앤더슨) / Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
G
|
W-L-S
|
Innings
|
Batters
|
Hits
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SO
|
ER
|
ERA
|
|
1998
|
45
|
4-7-21
|
55 2/3
|
236
|
53
|
4
|
19
|
30
|
22
|
3.56
|
Hanwha Eagles / 한화 이글스
Mike Busch (마이크 부시) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.213
|
76
|
240
|
51
|
11
|
1
|
10
|
16
|
1
|
28
|
Joel Chimelis (조엘 치멜리스) / IF (내야수) / Venezuela (베네수엘라)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.279
|
118
|
409
|
114
|
22
|
0
|
17
|
29
|
1
|
63
|
Lotte Giants / 롯데 자이언츠
Doug Brady (덕 브래디) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.258
|
70
|
155
|
40
|
6
|
4
|
3
|
6
|
4
|
6
|
Haitai Tigers / 해태 타이거즈
Shaun Hare (숀 헤어) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)
|
Year
|
Avg.
|
G
|
AB
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
Walks
|
SB
|
RBI
|
|
1998
|
.206
|
29
|
68
|
14
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
For a little more information about this first group of foreign players you can read the article When 'mercenaries' first invaded the KBO over at the Korea Times.
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