1999 Korean Series

The 1999 Korean Series was an interesting match-up as the Korea Baseball Organization split into two leagues for the only time. Each loop's #2 team then beat the top team in the other league to advance to the Korean Series. The Lotte Giants, guided by Myung-sung Kim, had gone 75-52 and then edged the Samsung Lions 4 games to 3 in the playoffs. The Hanwha Eagles had finished 4th overall in the regular season at 72-58 but swept the favored Doosan Bears to advance. Hanwha was making its first trip to a Korean Series; as the Binggrae Eagles the franchise had appeared several times but never won it all.

Lotte was led offensively by batting champion Hae-young Ma (.372/.442/.672, 38 2B, 35 HR, 111 R, 119 RBI), Golden Glove OF Felix Jose (.327/.425/.636, 36 HR, 122 RBI), Kyung-hwan Cho (.284/.347/.526, 19 HR) and Golden Glove 2B Jong-tae Park (.329/.409/.452) while Sang-soo Kim? (5-7, 19 Sv, 2.78) and Dong-hwan Moon (17-4, 3.28) led the staff.

The Hanwha club had four 20-homer men in Golden Glove DH Dan Rohrmeier (.292/.388/.643, 45 HR, 109 RBI, 91 R), Jay Davis (.328/.378/.570, 30 HR, 35 SB, 93 R, 106 RBI), Ji-man Song (.311/.352/.546, 22 HR, 20 SB, 11 3B) and Jong-hun Jang (.284/.365/.533, 27 HR). Their top hurlers were Dae-sung Koo (8-9, 26 Sv, 3.09), Min-chul Jeong (18-8, Sv, 3.75) and Jin-woo Song (15-5, 6 Sv, 4.00).

In the opener on October 22, the clubs combined for four dingers as Hanwha won, 6-3. Jeong got the win and Koo the save, while Jong-seok Yeom was handed the defeat. The next day in Busan, Hanwha won 4-3, with Song getting the win, Moon the loss and Koo the save. Light-hitting Kyeong-taek Cho went deep twice for the victors.

Lotte got its only win on October 25, a 3-2 win in 10 innings. On the 26th, the Eagles rebounded to win 2-1, with a second victory for Jeong and a third save for Koo. Hyung-kung Joo was the loser in the pitching duel. On October 29, the Eagles wrapped up their first title (and only one through 2012) by beating the Giants 4-3. After three saves, Koo got the win to lock up the Korean Series MVP, beating Min-han Son.