1999 Korea Baseball Organization

The 1999 Korea Baseball Organization was the 18th year for the KBO. The Hanwha Eagles won its only Korean Series (through 2011), despite finishing 4th in the 8-team circuit in the regular season. With a horrendous 28-97 season by the Ssangbangwool Raiders (their last year in the league), only one other team finished under 60-69. The big story of the year was Samsung Lions leader Seung-yeop Lee. Lee set KBO records for home runs (54, 12 more than Tyrone Woods had hit a year earlier and one shy of the Asian record held by Sadaharu Oh), RBI (123, 4 more than Jong-hun Jang's 1992 total) and walks (112).

Awards

The KBO MVP was Seung-yeop Lee of the Samsung Lions. The KBO Rookie of the Year was Doosan catcher Sung-heon Hong, who hit 16 home runs and slugged .439.

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: Min-tae Chung, Hyundai Unicorns
• C: Dong-soo Kim, Samsung Lions
• 1B: Seung-yeop Lee, Samsung Lions
• 2B: Jong-tae Park, Lotte Giants
• SS: Ji-hyun Yoo, LG Twins
• 3B: Han-soo Kim, Samsung Lions
• OF: Soo-keun Jung, Doosan Bears
• OF: Byung-kyu Lee, LG Twins
• OF: Felix Jose, Lotte Giants
• DH: Dan Rohrmeier, Hanwha Eagles

Standings

1. Doosan Bears, 76-51
2. Lotte Giants, 75-52
3. Samsung Lions, 73-57
4. Hanwha Eagles, 72-58
5. Hyundai Unicorns, 68-59
6. LG Twins, 61-70
7. Haitai Tigers, 60-69
8. Ssangbangwool Raiders, 28-97

Playoffs: Hanwha def. Doosan, 4 games to 0; Samsung def. Lotte, 4 games to 3

1999 Korean Series: Hanwha def. Lotte, 4 games to 1

Offensive Leaders

• Average - Hae-young Ma, Lotte .372
• Home Runs - Seung-yeop Lee, Samsung 54
• RBI - Seung-yeop Lee, 123
• Steals - Soo-keun Jung, Doosan 57

Pitching Leaders

• ERA - Chang-yong Lim, Samsung 2.14
• Wins - Min-tae Chung, Hyundai 20
• Saves - Lim, 38
• Strikeouts - Soo-kyung Kim, Hyundai 184

Sources include 2000 Baseball Almanac