2000 Korea Baseball Organization

The 2000 Korea Baseball Organization was the 19th Korea Baseball Organization season. The SK Wyverns played their first season and finished a distant last; just 7 years later, they would win the Korean Series. This year, the Series went to the Hyundai Unicorns for the second time in three seasons. Hyundai had an absolutely dominant season at 91-40-2, boasting the league leaders in average (Jong-ho Park), homers (Kyung-wan Park), RBI (Jae-hong Park) and wins (a three-way tie between Min-tae Chung, Sun-dong Im and Soo-kyung Kim.

The league had its longest in-season break to this point, a three-week hiatus due to the 2000 Olympics. The KBO sent an All-Star team, which picked up the Bronze Medal. The season almost had a longer break, as a unionization effort nearly led to a breakdown between owners and players. Over 100 players were let go, but stars and union leaders like Hae-yong Ma, Joon-hyuk Yang, Jin-woo Song and Jong-tae Park held firm and won some concessions without costing the league its season. It was the third effort to unionize the KBO and was the first lasting one - the role of superstars like Song (who would set a slew of career pitching records) and Yang (who retired as the all-time KBO hit and home run leader) proved crucial this time.

Standings

1. Hyundai Unicorns, 91-40-2
2. Doosan Bears, 76-57
3. Samsung Lions, 69-59-5
4. LG Twins, 67-63-3
5. Lotte Giants, 65-64-4
6. Haitai Tigers, 57-72-4
7. Hanwha Eagles, 50-78-5
8. SK Wyverns, 44-86-3

Playoffs: Samsung def. Lotte, 2 games to 1; Hyundai def. Samsung, 4 games to 0; Doosan def. LG, 4 games to 2

2000 Korean Series: Hyundai def. Doosan, 4 games to 3

Leaders

Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic	Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average	Jong-ho Park	Hyundai Unicorns	.340
Runs	Seung-yeop Lee	Samsung Lions	108
Hits	Byung-kyu Lee Won-jin Jang	LG Twins Doosan Bears	170
Doubles	Young-woo Lee	Hanwha Eagles	36
Triples	Jae-hong Park Jong-bum Chae Won-jin Jang Young-woo Lee	Hyundai Unicorns SK Wyverns Doosan Bears Hanwha Eagles	5
Home Runs	Kyung-wan Park	Hyundai Unicorns	40
Runs Batted In	Jae-hong Park	Hyundai Unicorns	115
Stolen Bases	Soo-keun Jung	Doosan Bears	47
Walks	Sung-ho Jang	Haitai Tigers	88

Pitching

Statistic	Leader	Team	Number
ERA	Dae-sung Koo	Hanwha Eagles	2.77
Wins	Sun-dong Im Soo-kyung Kim Min-tae Chung	Hyundai Unicorns	18
Losses	Yong-deok Han Won-hyung Kim	Hanwha Eagles SK Wyverns	13
Holds	Woong-cheon Cho	Hyundai Unicorns	16
Saves	Pil-jung Jin	Doosan Bears	42
Innings Pitched	Denny Harriger	LG Twins	225
Appearances	Hei-chun Lee	Doosan Bears	78
Hits Allowed	Sang-duk Choi	Haitai Tigers	193
Home Runs Allowed	Sang-duk Choi	Haitai Tigers	28
Strikeouts	Sun-dong Im	Hyundai Unicorns	174
Base-on-Balls	Soo-kyung Kim	Hyundai Unicorns	91

Award Winners

Award	Player	Team	Position	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	W - L	SV	IP	HA	HRA	BB	SO	ERA
Most Valuable Player	Kyung-wan Park	Hyundai Unicorns	Catcher	408	83	115	40	95	7	.282	.419	.615	Did not pitch
Rookie of the Year	Seung-ho Lee	SK Wyverns	Pitcher	Did not bat									10 - 12	9	139.2	130	14	70	132	4.51

Gold Glove

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2000.

Position	Player	Team
P	Seon-dong Im	Hyundai Unicorns
C	Kyung-wan Park	Hyundai Unicorns
1B	Seung-yeop Lee	Samsung Lions
2B	Jong-ho Pak	Hyundai Unicorns
3B	Dong-ju Kim	Doosan Bears
SS	Jin-man Park	Hyundai Unicorns
OF	Jae-hong Pak	Hyundai Unicorns
OF	Byung-kyu Lee	LG Twins
OF	Ji-man Song	Hanwha Eagles
DH	Tyrone Woods	Doosan Bears

Sources include 2001 Baseball Almanac