1989 Korean Series

The 1989 Korean Series was the 4th straight Korean Series won by the Haitai Tigers. Through 2013, it marks the best run of any Korea Baseball Organization team. The Korean Series MVP was Cheol-woo Park, who hit .444.

Haitai was not the favored team based on regular-season performance, though. Their 65-51-4 was second-best in the 1989 KBO. They swept the Taepyungyang Dolphins 3-0 in the playoffs to advance to the Series. Managed by Eung-yong Kim, they did have the most Golden Glove winners (given to the best player at each position) with 1B Sung-han Kim (.280/.407/.512, 26 HR, 32 SB, 93 R, the league home run and runs scored leader), 3B Dae-hwa Han (.279/.409/.439), DH Cheol-woo Park (.318/.381/.482) and P Dong-yol Son (a pitching Triple Crown and MVP thanks to a 21-3, 8 Sv, 1.17, 198 K season). Other contributors included Kye-hyun Cho (7-9, 4 Sv, 2.84) and Kang-chul Lee (15-8, 5 Sv, 3.23).

The Binggrae Eagles, managed by Yeong-duk Kim, were runners-up in 1988 as well. They had the best regular-season record at 71-46-3 and had three Golden Glove winners in catcher Seung-an Yoo (.281/.363/.492, 21 HR, a league-high 85 RBI), OF Won-bu Go (.327/.405/.439, the batting titlist) and OF Kang-don Lee (.295/.342/.422). Also contributing were Il-seop Song (.330/.416/.526 in a part-time role) and Jong-hun Jang (.254/.351/.508, 18 HR). Their staff was led by two players with nearly identical stats: Hee-min Han (16-4, 6 Sv, 2.50) and Sang-kun Lee (16-5, 3 Sv, 2.57).

In game one, on October 26, Binggrae got a 4-0 shutout win, with Sang-kun Lee getting the win and Hee-min Han the save. The nearly untouchable Dong-yol Son gave up a homer to Kang-don Lee in the first and the Eagles never looked back. The next day, Haitai took advantage of 3 Eagles error to tie the Series with a 6-4 win; Dong-soo Shin got the win, Kang-chul Lee the save and Jin-woo Song the loss.

On October 29, Haitai won a 2-0 pitching duel, with Hui-soo Moon (?) getting the win and Dong-yol Son the save. Hee-min Han took the loss. Haitai went up 3 games to 1 with a 6-2 win on the 30th, Jung-soo Kim getting the decision for Haitai, Sang-kun Lee taking the loss and Kang-chul Lee getting the save. Haitai hit four homers, 2 by Sung-han Kim and one apiece by Soon-chul Lee and Dae-hwa Han. The Series wrapped up at Jamsil Baseball Stadium on November 1 with Haitai winning 5-1, Dong-yol Son getting the win and Hee-min Han his second loss (after only two in the regular season).

Sources include Korean Wikipedia