1997 Korea Baseball Organization

The 1997 Korea Baseball Organization was the 16th Korea Baseball Organization season. It was the last season that did not include foreign players with no Korean descent. The Haitai Tigers ended their dominant run with 9 titles in 15 years; it would be 12 years until the Tigers won their next championship.

Awards

The KBO MVP was Seung-yeop Lee of Samsung, winning the first of five such awards; he led the league in both home runs and RBI. The KBO Rookie of the Year was LG outfielder Byung-kyu Lee, who hit .305 with 23 stolen bases. Both Lees would later play in Nippon Pro Baseball.

The following players won Gold Gloves, which in the KBO go to the best overall player at each position are not a defensive (only) award.

• P: Dae-jin Lee, Haitai Tigers
• C: Dong-soo Kim, LG Twins
• 1B: Seung-yeop Lee, Samsung Lions
• 2B: Tae-won Choi, Ssangbangwool Raiders
• SS: Jong-beom Lee, Haitai Tigers
• 3B: Hyun-woo Hong, Haitai Tigers
• OF: Joon-hyuk Yang, Samsung Lions
• OF: Jae-hong Park, Hyundai Unicorns
• OF: Byung-kyu Lee, LG Twins
• DH: Jae-yong Park, Haitai Tigers

Standings

1. Haitai Tigers, 75-50-1
2. LG Twins, 73-51-2
3. Ssangbangwool Raiders, 71-53-2
4. Samsung Lions, 66-53-7
5. OB Bears, 57-64-5
6. Hyundai Unicorns, 51-71-4
7. Hanwha Eagles, 51-73-2
8. Lotte Giants, 48-77-1

Playoffs: Ssangbangwool def. Samsung, 2 games to 1; LG def. Ssangbangwool, 3 games to 2

1997 Korean Series: Haitai def. LG, 4 games to 1

Offensive Leaders

• Average - Ki-tae Kim, Ssangbangwool .344
• Home Runs - Seung-yeop Lee, Samsung 32
• RBI - Seung-yeop Lee, 114
• Steals - Jong-beom Lee, Haitai 64

Pitching Leaders

• ERA - Hyun-wook Kim, Ssangbangwool 1.88
• Wins - Hyun-wook Kim, 20
• Saves - Sang-hoon Lee, LG 37
• Strikeouts - Min-chul Chung, Hanwha 160