2001 Korean Series

The 2001 Korean Series was the 19th Korean Series.

The Samsung Lions had finished first in the 2001 KBO season under Eung-yong Kim, who had won all nine Korean Series he had managed for the Haitai Tigers. Samsung had gone 81-52 with the league's top home run hitter Seung-yeop Lee (.276/.412/.605, 101 R, 95 RBI, 39 HR), also named the top first baseman. Han-soo Kim (.311/.366/.480) had been honored with a Gold Glove as the best overall third baseman. Hae-yong Ma (.328/.418/.557, 30 HR, 95 RBI) and Manny Martinez (.278/.349/.498) also chipped in offensively. Their top pitchers were Balvino Galvez (10-4, 2.47), Ben Rivera (6-3, 21 Sv, 2.62) and Young-soo Bae (13-8, 3.77).

The Doosan Bears had been third at only 65-63-5 under the guidance of In-sik Kim, then beat the Hanwha Eagles and Hyundai Unicorns in the playoffs by taking 5 of 6 games. They had four Gold Glove winners to Samsung's two - C Sung-heon Hong (.267/.318/.375), 2B Kyung-hyun An (.282/.368/.466, 31 2B, 87 RBI), OF Soo-keun Jung (.306/.395/.403, 95 R, a league-high 52 steals) and OF Jae-hak Shim (.344/.473/.599, 24 HR). Dong-joo Kim (.324/.401/.522) and Tyrone Woods (.291/.402/.571, 101 R, 34 HR, a league-leading 113 RBI) were also big offensive weapons. They had no standout starter while Pil-jung Jin (9-6, 3.22) led the league with 23 saves.

Game one was held October 20 at Daegu Ballpark. Samsung won, 7-4, with Galvez beating Kyung-pil Lee and Jin-woong Kim saving it. Galvez became the first foreign pitcher (neither Korean nor of Korean descent) to win a Korean Series game. Woods homered for Doosan and Seung-yeop Lee for Samsung as the sluggers did their share. On October 22, Doosan won a 9-5 slugfest, Hei-chun Lee getting the victory over Hyun-wook Kim. Won-jin Jang hit a 3-run homer in the 8th for Doosan while Seung-yeop Lee and Dong-soo Kim homered in a losing cause.

The Bears won, 11-9, in game 3, October 24 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Doosan scoring 7 in the 6th and Samsung 6 in the 7th. Hei-chun Lee got a second win, Bae took the loss and Jin the save. Ma hit a solo homer for the losers while Woods went deep for the winners.

As if there had not been enough runs so far, Samsung scored 8 runs in the second inning of game 4, 10/25 at Jamsil Stadium, but Doosan topped that with 12 in the third of a 18-11 romp. Myung-joo Cha beat Jin-woong Kim. Woods homered in the first and Dong-joo Kim (grand slam) and Kyung-hyun An (solo shot) both went deep in the huge third inning. The game set Korea Series records for runs for the winning team, most hits (34 total) and most total runs (29).

At Jamsil on October 27, Samsung won, 14-4, Chang-yong Lim getting the win and Ja-woon Koo handed the defeat as the favorites kept their slim hopes alive. Seung-yeop Lee hit his third homer of the Series. On the 28th, Doosan won, 6-5, with Woods cracking his fourth dinger of the Series (this one over 450' and out of the park). Jin got the victory while Lim took the loss. The game ended on an odd note. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th and two on, Seung-yeop Lee came to the plate against Jin. The outfield lights promptly went out, causing a 15-minute delay. When play resumed, Lee singled, but the runners did not score and Jin got the next batter on a grounder to end it. Woods was named the Korean Series MVP, the second straight foreign batter to win; no other foreign batter would win until 2014.

Sources include Korean Wikipedia, 2002 Baseball Almanac