2003 Korean Series

The 2003 Korean Series took place in October 2003, with the Hyundai Unicorns edging the underdog SK Wyverns in 7 games.

Hyundai had finished first in the 2003 KBO regular season at 80-51-2. Shane Bowers (17-2, 3.01) had led the league in ERA while Min-tae Jeong won the Gold Glove as the top pitcher after posting the most wins (17-2, 3.31). Dong-soo Kim (.308/.390/.485, 16 HR) had won the Gold Glove as the best catcher while Jong-soo Shim (.335/.478/.720, 53 HR, 124 BB, 142 RBI) won one of the Gold Gloves in the outfield after racing Seung-yeop Lee for the league's new home run record (Lee finished two ahead); Shim led in OPS but lost the KBO MVP to Lee. They also got very good seasons in limited time from [[Seong-hoon Jeong] (.343/.397/.509 in 91 G) and Cliff Brumbaugh (.303/.374/.538 in 70 G). Jae-bak Kim was their manager.

SK, meanwhile, had finished fourth at 66-64-3 under Bum-hyun Cho, but upset the Samsung Lions and KIA Tigers in the playoffs, winning all five games, to advance to the Series. They had no Gold Glove winners. Their top hitters were Ho-jun Lee (.290/.389/.564, 36 HR, 102 RBI), Jin-young Lee (.328/.408/.520) and Kyung-hwan Cho (.285/.376/.527, 23 HR) while Ung-cheon Cho (6-5, 30 Sv, 1.97) was their best hurler.

The Series opened October 17 in Suwon. Hyundai won, 3-2, with Min-tae Jeong beating Seung-ho Lee. Yong-joon Cho saved it. The next day, SK tied it with a 5-3 win. Chun-mo Jae got the win, Jun-heon Kim the loss and Ung-cheon Cho the save. Sung-yong Lee homered for Hyundai, while SK got a second-inning homer from Ho-jun Lee to open the scoring and Jae-man An hit a two-run shot in the 5th to tie it. On the 19th, the Series moved to Incheon, where Ung-cheon Cho got the win, a 5-3 decision for the Wyverns; Yong-joon Cho lost. Jin-young Lee hit a two-run homer in the third for the Wyverns to tie it.

On October 21, Hyundai evened things again with a 9-3 romp, Min-tae Jeong winning and Won-hyung Kim losing. Jong-ho Park homered in the top of the first for Hyundai. Jung-soo Kim, at age 42, became the oldest pitcher to start a Korean Series game. On October 23, the first of three games at Jamsil Stadium, Hyundai won again, 8-3. Soo-kyung Kim got the win, Seung-ho Lee the loss in a matchup of members of the South Korean 2000 Olympics team. On the 24th, SK forced game 7 with a 2-0 win, Byung-yong Chei beating Jun-ho Jeon. Ung-cheon Cho saved it. Jin-young Lee hit a two-run homer in the third for all the offense. Game 7 took place October 25 with Hyundai winning easily, 7-0. Min-tae Jeong got his third win of the Series to pick up the Korean Series MVP while Won-hyung Kim lost his second as SK's cinderella postseason hopes fell short.

Primary Source: Korean Wikipedia