Korea Baseball Organization
| Korea Baseball Organization | |
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| Current season or competition: 2008 Korea Baseball Organization season |
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| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1982 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country(ies) |  South Korea |
| Most recent champion(s) |
SK Wyverns |
| Official website | koreabaseball.com (Korean) |
| Korea Baseball Organization | ||||||||
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The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) of South Korea is the country's professional baseball league. KBO was originally founded with six teams in 1982 and currently has eight teams. The teams are generally named after the companies or business conglomerates which own them.
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[edit] History
The first game was played on March 27, 1982 between Samsung Lions and the MBC Blue Dragons (now the LG Twins) in Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul. Then-president Chun Doo-hwan threw the first pitch .
The inaugural teams were:
- Samsung Lions, based in Daegu.
- Haitai Tigers, based in Gwangju.
- Lotte Giants, based in Busan.
- MBC Cheongryong (Blue Dragons), based in Seoul.
- OB Bears, based in Daejeon.
- Sammi Superstars, based in Incheon.
In 1985, the Sammi Superstars became known as the Cheongbo Pintos. The next year, 1986, saw some major changes, with the OB Bears moving from Daejeon to share the Jamsil Baseball Stadium with MBC Cheongryong in Seoul. A new team, the Binggeurae Eagles, joined to replace OB in Daejeon and expanding the league to seven teams. 1988 saw the Cheongbo Pintos change ownership again, becoming the Taepyeongyang Dolphins. In 1990, MBC Cheongryong became the LG Twins and an eighth team was added, the Ssangbangul Raiders who represented the Jeollabuk-do region.
There was little change in the 90's except for a few major sponsors: 1993 saw the Binggeurae Eagles become the Hanhwa Eagles, in 1995 the Taepyeongyang Dolphins became the Hyundai Unicorns and the OB Bears in 1999 became the Doosan Bears. Bigger changes were affected in 2000 when the Hyundai Unicorns moved from Incheon to Suwon, and a new team, the SK Wyverns took their place in Incheon. The Ssangbangul Raiders became defunct. In 2001, the Haitai Tigers became the Kia Tigers.
In 2008, the Hyundai Unicorns franchise was sold, renamed the Woori Heroes and moved to Mok-dong in Seoul, after a disappointing season in 2007 both on and off the field. Despite winning championships in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004, fans never really took to the team after their move from Incheon. Also, while the franchises in Daegu, Busan, Gwangju and Daejeon did not have to compete with other teams for fans, the Suwon-based Unicorns struggled to compete with the nearby Seoul franchises.
As of 2007, founding member the Kia Tigers (formerly the Haitai Tigers) had won 9 of the 26 national championships.
Most players are Korean, but teams are allowed a limited number foreign players, with Americans, Dominicans and Cubans featuring in the league. The foreign player limit is currently set at two.
On the 17th of July every year, the best players participate in the Korean All-star game. The teams participating are divided into two regions: East (SK, Samsung, Doosan, Lotte) and West (Kia, Hanhwa, LG and Woori). The titles 'East' and 'West' do not directly correspond to the geographical regions of the teams involved, as both SK and Doosan, being from Incheon and Seoul respectively, are clearly based on the Western region of Korea, despite representing the East. Unlike in the MLB, the Korean All-star game does not determine home-ground advantage in the Korean Series. The most recent Korean All-star game was played in Busan and won 6:3 by the East team.
Many of the players who excel in the Korean league go on to play for teams in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Current successful players in the NPB who have played for Korean teams in the past include Lee Seung-Yeop for the Yomiuri Giants (former Samsung Lions player), Lee Byung-gyu for the Chunichi Dragons (former LG Twins player) and Tyrone Woods also for the Chunichi Dragons (former Doosan Bears player).
[edit] Current teams
| Team | Stadium | Capacity | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 30,500 | Seoul |
| Hanhwa Eagles | Daejeon Baseball Stadium | 10,500 | Daejeon,Cheongju |
| Kia Tigers | Moodeung Stadium | 13,400 | Gwangju |
| Lotte Giants | Sajik Baseball Stadium | 30,000 | Busan,Masan |
| LG Twins | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 30,500 | Seoul |
| Samsung Lions | Daegu Baseball Stadium | 12,000 | Daegu |
| SK Wyverns | Munhak Baseball Stadium | 30,400 | Incheon |
| Heroes | Mokdong Baseball Stadium | 14,500 | Seoul |
[edit] Season structure
Currently, each team plays 126 games in the regular season. Each team plays every other team 18 times.[1]
The KBO season culminates in its championship series, known as the Korean Series. Currently, the top four teams qualify for the post-season; the team with the best record gains a direct entry into the series. The other three teams compete in a step-ladder playoff: the first, best-of-five series involves teams finishing 3rd and 4th; the winner of this series then plays off in a best-of-seven series against the team finishing 2nd. The winner of this final playoff wins the other entry into the best-of-seven Korean Series.
[edit] Champions
- 1982: OB Bears
- 1983: Haitai Tigers
- 1984: Lotte Giants
- 1985: Samsung Lions
- 1986: Haitai Tigers
- 1987: Haitai Tigers
- 1988: Haitai Tigers
- 1989: Haitai Tigers
- 1990: LG Twins
- 1991: Haitai Tigers
- 1992: Lotte Giants
- 1993: Haitai Tigers
- 1994: LG Twins
- 1995: OB Bears
- 1996: Haitai Tigers
- 1997: Haitai Tigers
- 1998: Hyundai Unicorns
- 1999: Hanhwa Eagles
- 2000: Hyundai Unicorns
- 2001: Doosan Bears
- 2002: Samsung Lions
- 2003: Hyundai Unicorns
- 2004: Hyundai Unicorns
- 2005: Samsung Lions
- 2006: Samsung Lions
- 2007: SK Wyverns
- 2008: SK Wyverns
[edit] References
- ^ Korea Baseball Organization (English site): Game System. Accessed on 2007-12-26.
[edit] See also
- Sports in South Korea
- List of professional sports leagues
- Players from South Korea in Major League Baseball
- Non-Korean baseball players in Korea
- Man Soo Lee
[edit] External links
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Korea Baseball Organization (KBO)Each of the eight teams (Taegu’s talented Samsung Lions; Gwangju’s wildly popular Kia Tigers; Seoul’s LG Twins and Doosan Bears; Incheon’s SK Wyverns; Busan’s Lotte Giants; Suwon’s Hyundai Unicorns and Daejeon’s Hanwha Eagles who have one of the friendliest mascots around) plays an approximate 130-game regular season schedule, with the top four clubs advancing to the playoffs. The top two teams await the winner of the best-of-five series between the No. 3 and No. 4 teams. The winner then plays the No. 2 team in a best-of-five series to determine who will oppose the No. 1 team in the Korea Series, which is best-of-seven. Extra inning games are limited to 12 innings (When a 12-inning game is finished at the same score, two teams share the draw). Each team is allowed two foreign-born players. Like in Japan, teams are named after a large corporation where corporate bragging rights are on the line when teams compete. The calibre of play is approximately AAA level. Foreign-born players earn about $170,000-200,000 (U.S.) per season, and are usually signed to one-year contracts initially. Only the very best Korean players earn about the same amount. The minimum salary is about $20,000 (U.S.) Korean pros are locked into a seven-year contract before they can be posted to an MLB team and nine years before they can test free agency. Teams hold spring camp in Hawaii, some at Aloha Stadium, while others have trained at Pirate City in Bradenton and at other sites in Florida.
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