2007 Korean Series

The 2007 Korean Series featured the SK Wyverns defeating the Doosan Bears to capture their first-ever KBO title. It was the 26th Korean Series; Doosan was aiming for their 4th title and SK their first. The Wyverns were led by Byung-ryong Jae (11-8, 2.84), Kenny Rayborn (17-8, 3.27) and Mike Romano (12-4, 3.69), giving 3 of the KBO's top 12 hurlers in ERA. Doosan also was led by their pitching, with Danny Rios (22-5, 2.07) nearly winning the pitching Triple Crown. Matt Randel (12-8, 3.12) had finished fifth in the league in ERA. One of the few prominent bats on either team belonged to Doosan star Dong-joo Kim, who had led the KBO in OBP (.457) and finished fifth in average (.322) and slugging (.534).

Game One

Doosan won the opener, 2-0, on October 22. Rios went the distance and allowed just four hits in the masterpiece. Rayborn was solid in defeat, but Doosan got all they needed in the first when Young-min Ko drove in Jong-uk Lee. Lee later scored on a sacrifice fly by Dong-joo Kim.

Game Two

Game two was fraught with tension. Doosan accused SK of hiding a video camera behind first base to steal signs; the accusations were unfounded. Later, inside pitching by SK led to more controversy.

On October 23, the Wyverns got a 2-run first-inning homer off of Randel by Ho-jun Lee. Byung-yong Chei plunked Bears 1B Kyung-hyun An in the 2nd inning, breaking his hand and sidelining him for the rest of the Series. Young-min Ko cracked a 2-run homer to tie it in the third; it was the first of 3 hits for Ko. The teams traded solo homers in the 5th inning to keep it even.

In the sixth, Chei hit Dong-joo Kim, who charged the mound to begin a six-minute brawl. Kim and Ko scored on a hit by Dae-soo Lee, who in turn scored on a double by Sang-byung Chae to end it at 6-3. Dae-soo Lae had just been traded from SK to Doosan in April and got his revenge on his former team.

Game Three

On October 25, SK won by a 9-1 margin. Five players had two hits and Mike Romano allowed just one run in six innings. The Wyverns didn't put it away until the 6th, when they scored 7 times. Three errors by Doosan SS Dae-soo Lee that inning were the key to SK's offensive explosion.

Game Four

SK tied the Series on October 26, against Rios, who turned in one of his worst efforts of the year. The Wyverns pounded Danny for 9 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings. 19-year-old rookie Kwang-hyun Kim struck out nine and allowed only one hit in 7 1/3 innings and two relievers completed the 4-0 shutout win as the teenager trumped the league's top hurler of 2007.

Game Five

For the third straight game, SK won on the road with its victory on October 27. Rayborn and Randel pitched scoreless ball for six innings in a fine pitching duel. In the 8th inning, OF Dong-hwa Cho singled and took second on an error by 2B Young-min Ko on the play. 13-year veteran Jae-hyun Kim tripled home Cho and Ho-joon Lee followed with a RBI double. SK tacked on two more that frame for a second straight 4-0 win as the Doosan bats remained silent for the third game in a row. SK was within one game of being the first team in Series history to come back from a 2 games to 0 deficit to win it all.

Game Six

The Wyverns sealed their first title ever with their fourth win in a row. Byung-yong Chei won the 5-2 finale. Keun-woo Jong hit a 2-run homer in the third off of rookie starter Tae-hoon Lim and Jae-hyun Kim followed with a mammoth blast. Kim, who homered twice and drove in four, was named series MVP.

Source: Korea Times