1984 Korean Series

The 1984 Korean Series was the third Korean Series. It featured one of the top workhorse performances in any country's postseason history, as Dong-won Choi won four games for the Lotte Giants and also losing one in a 10-day period. He edged out another workhorse, Hisao Niura of the Samsung Lions, who got his team's three wins and also lost twice.

The Giants had only gone 50-48-2 under manager Byung-chul Kang, fourth in the six-team league in the 1984 KBO regular season. They had won the second half, though, at 29-20-1. They also had three players named the best at their positions: 1B Yong-cheol Kim (.327/.398/.590, 21 HR, 2nd in the league in homers, third in average and RBI [63]), OF Mun-jong Hong (.339/.415/.539, 36 SB, first with 25 doubles, 122 hits and 62 runs, second in average and steals) and P Dong-won Choi (27-13, 6 Sv, 2.40, over half the team's wins). Choi led the KBO in wins and was named MVP.

The Lions had won the first half at 32-18 but fell to 5th in the second half. Overall, they had gone 55-45 under manager Young-duk Kim. They had two players named the best at their positions in OF Hyo-jo Jang (.324/.422/.498) and C Man-soo Lee (.340/.409/.633). Man-soo Lee won the Triple Crown with 23 home runs and 80 RBI to go with his .340. Their top pitchers were Hisao Niura (16-10, 3 Sv, 2.27) and Si-jin Kim (19-11, 2 Sv, 3.18).

In game one, on September 30, Dong-won Choi tossed the first shutout in Korean Series history, beating Si-jin Kim, 4-0. The next day in Daegu, Samsung tied the Series at one with a 8-2 win, Niura going the distance and Hyo-jo Jang hitting a 2-run homer. On October 3, Lotte edged Samsung, 3-2, with Dong-won Choi setting a Series record with 12 whiffs to beat Young-ho Kwon. Samsung tied the Series on the 4th, as Niura beat Ho-kyun Lim.

On October 6, at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the Lions won by a 3-2 score, Niura getting his third win to beat Dong-won Choi. The next day, Samsung stayed alive with a 6-1 victory, Choi beating Si-jin Kim. That set up a dramatic October 9 matchup of Choi and Niura. Neither was at his sharpest, with Choi winning a 6-4 decision. Choi got a crucial 3-run homer in the 8th from Doo-yeol Yoo, who would win the Korean Series MVP.

Primary Source: Wikipedia