The 1990s saw the KBO League continue to grow in popularity, and an eighth team was added in 1990 with the Ssangbangwool Raiders. In 1984, Haitai's Bang Soo-won pitched the first no-hitter in KBO League history. Stars of that era for Haitai were infielders Kim Seong-han and Han Daw-hwa, along with pitcher Sun Dong-yol. The Haitai Tigers, based in Gwangju, were the KBO League's dynasty of the 1980s, winning the Korean Series five times in the decade, first in 1983 and then four consecutive championships from 1986 to 1989. That meant plenty of players had to pitch and play another position.īy the end of the 1980s, the KBO League consolidated to one, 120-game season and expanded to seven teams with the addition of the Binggrae Eagles. The league started with 80 regular-season games and small rosters - sometimes just 14 players. The KBO League started off with a split season between the spring and the fall in its first few years, culminating in the Korean Series that pitted the winner of the spring pennant against the fall pennant. KBO League Finds Out What Works and What Doesn't They also have innings limits before games are declared a tie - 12 innings during the regular season and 15 innings in the postseason. In some cases, the KBO League might even have things figured out a little better, actually.įor example, the KBO League employs a universal designated hitter, meaning that pitchers never have to hit. The KBO League's rules are very similar to those of Major League Baseball. How Is the KBO League Different From MLB? Which means a series could actually last more than the allocated five or seven games, and in 2004, the Korean Series ended up at 10 games after three ties. Playoff games have a 15-inning limit, and if they end in a tie, the entire game is replayed. 1 seed in the KBO Korean Series, which is best-of-seven. 2 seed in the KBO playoffs in a best-of-five series to determine who will play the No. The winner of the KBO semi-playoffs faces the No. That series is called the KBO semi-playoffs. 5 seeds play a wild-card game, and the winner of that game plays the No. KBO League Has a Unique Postseason FormatĬurrently, the league's postseason features five teams - the No. President Chun was sentenced to death for crimes of corruption in 1996 but later received a pardon. Citizens became fiercely loyal to their regional teams, and victories were looked at as more than just baseball wins, but wins over Doo-hwan's regime, which crumbled in 1987. He did so as a direct response to an unstable political climate in his country created by his regime, known as the Fifth Republic, which was essentially a dictatorship operating under the guise of democracy.ĭoo-hwan's idea was to create regional loyalty around the baseball teams, which he believed would distract from politics. It backfired in the best way. South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan was one of the driving forces behind creating the KBO League. Baseball and Politics in South Korea Mixed From the Start The OB Bears won the first Korean Series championship, led by pitcher Park Chul-soon, the league MVP. The first game was played on March 27, 1982, between the Samsung Lions and MBC Chungyong in Seoul, and the first pitch was thrown out by South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan. The first season of the Korean Baseball Organization League, then called the Korean Baseball Championship, was played in 1982 with six teams - the Haitai Tigers, Lotte Giants, MBC Chungyong, OB Bears, Sammi Superstars and Samsung Lion. The First Season of the KBO League Was Played in 1982 But that's not the only reason baseball fans love South Korea's unique, eccentric and sometimes wild KBO League. The baseball being played in the KBO League looked a lot like the highest levels of baseball in the U.S. The first live sports games to air in the United States (and the world) came in May 2020, when ESPN began to televise professional baseball games from South Korea's ultra-popular Korean Baseball Organization League. When the world shut down at the beginning of 2020, one of the first signs that people were trying to get back to normal came from a baseball league in Asia. Inside the Wide World of Pro Baseball in South Koreaīaseball might be America's pastime, but it's a global game. South Korea's KBO League continues to rise in popularity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |