1992 Korean Series

The 1992 Korean Series was the 10th Korean Series. The Lotte Giants won their second Series, having previously won in 1984, their only other appearance to that point. Meanwhile, the Binggrae Eagles were in their 4th Series in five years but lost each time; Binggrae would never get another chance before becoming the Hanwha Eagles.

Binggrae had finished first in the regular season at 81-48-2 under manager Yeong-duk Kim. They boasted the batting champion, OF Jeong-hoon Lee (.360/.435/.621, 25 HR, 21 SB) and KBO MVP and home run leader Jong-hun Jang (.299/.446/.659, 41 HR, 100 BB, 106 R, 119 RBI) as well as a third key offensive contributor in Kang-don Lee (.320/.379/.524). Jin-woo Song (19-8, 17 Sv, 3.76) led the league in wins but three other staff mainstays had better ERAs: Min-chul Jeong (14-4, 7 Sv, 2.48), Yong-deok Han (9-11, 3 Sv, 2.99) and Jeong-sun Chang (14-7, 2 Sv, 3.25). Their only players to be named best at their positions were Lee in an outfield spot and Jang at 1B.

Lotte, while boasting a worse record (71-55, 3rd place in the regular season, then 5-2 in the playoffs) for skipper Byung-chul Kang, had four people picked as the best at their spots in 2B Jong-tae Park (.335/.424/.539, 43 2B, 91 R), OF Eung-guk Kim (.319/.399/.504, 29 SB), SS Kye-won Park (.243/.321/.370) and P Jong-seok Yeom (17-9, 2.33). Yeom was also the KBO Rookie of the Year. Hak-kil Yoon (17-5, 3.61) was another key starter while Min-ho Kim (.322/.418/.525, 16 HR, 88 RBI) was another solid bat.

In game one, Lotte topped Binggrae, 8-6, with Dong-hee Park fanning 10 in a win over Jin-woo Song. Jong-un Lee homered for the Giants. Game 2 was a pitching duel between Jeong (Binggrae) and Yeom (Lotte) with neither team scoring for the first 8. The bullpens weren't as good and Lotte scored 3 runs in the 9th, Binggrae 2. Hyung-bae Yoon got the win, Song a second loss and Hak-kil Yoon a save. In game 3, Binggrae won their lone match, 5-4, Song getting his third straight decision for the Eagles. Hak-kil Yoon lost.

Lotte won game 4, 6-5, with Yeom topping Jeong in a more offensive version of the game 2 matchup. Dong-hee Park notched a save. Backup Seong-ok Cho went 5 for 5 for the Giants. In game 5, the Eagles put it away, 4-2, at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Dong-hee Park got his second win to pick up Korean Series MVP while Yong-deok Han was handed the defeat.

Source: Korean Wikipedia