1988 Korean Series

The 1988 Korean Series was the 7th Korean Series, but the 4th to be won by the Haitai Tigers (and 3rd in a row). This time, they beat the Binggrae Eagles, making their first appearance; the same two clubs would meet in the 1989 Korean Series and 1991 Korean Series, both also won by Haitai.

Haitai finished first in the 1988 KBO regular season at 68-38-2 under the reigns of Eung-ryong Kim. They had five of the ten KBO Gold Glove winners (going to the top player overall at each position): P Dong-yol Son (16-5, 10 Sv, 1.21, 200 K, the league leader in ERA and K), C Chae-keun Jang (.249/.321/.527, 26 HR), 1B Sung-han Kim (.324/.382/.577, a league-leading 30 HR and 89 RBI), 3B Dae-hwa Han (.320/.403/.528, 18 HR) and OF Soon-chul Lee (.313/.404/.483, the leader with 58 SB). Sung-han Kim was the KBO MVP. Sang-yun Lee (16-6, 2.89), Soo-won Pang (2-1, 6 Sv, 1.69) and Dong-soo Shin (5-2, Sv, 2.73) provided quality pitching to support Son.

The Eagles finished second at 62-45-1 for skipper Yeong-duk Kim. They had three players who won Gold Gloves: SS Jong-hun Jang (.241/.337/.427, 15 HR), OF Kang-don Lee (.313/.355/.430) and OF Jung-hoon Lee (.309/.377/.413, 18 SB). Sang-kun Lee (10-3, 2.40, a league-leading 16 Sv) and Hee-min Han (16-5, 5 Sv, 3.11) were their top pitchers.

In game One, on October 19, Haitai shut down Binggrae with a 3-hitter at Moodeung Stadium. Son got the win and Hee-soo Moon the save, while Dong-seok Lee lost. Soon-chul Lee homered in the 6th for the game's first run in a 2-0 win. The next day, Haitai allowed four runs in the first but prevailed for a 6-5 win. Jung-soo Kim got the win, Sang-kun Lee the loss. The Tigers kept rolling on October 22, with a 3-0 win for Moon (Shin saved it). Dae-jung Kim lost it.

Binggrae prevented a sweep on October 23 in a 14-3 romp. Hee-min Han won it, backed by 20 hits, including homers by Jang, Kang-don Lee and Seung-an Yoo. Yoo homered again two days later, as the Eagles won, 5-1, at Jamsil Stadium. Sang-kun Lee won it, Jung-soo Kim lost. On October 26, Haitai came back for a 4-1 win, Korean Series MVP Moon beating Dae-jung Kim in a repeat of game 3.

Primary Source: Korean Wikipedia