2008 Korea Baseball Organization

The 2008 Korea Baseball Organization was dominated by the SK Wyverns. They went 83-43 then won the 2008 Korean Series in five games. Jerry Royster made history as the first American to manage in the Korea Baseball Organization, taking the Lotte Giants to a third-place finish. Jin-woo Song also made history, by being the first pitcher in KBO history to collect 2,000 career strikeouts.

The Woori Heroes were a new team, replacing the Hyundai Unicorns, but they did not perform well, placing 7th.

Standings

1. SK Wyverns, 83-43
2. Doosan Bears, 70-56
3. Lotte Giants, 69-57
4. Samsung Lions, 65-61
5. Hanwha Eagles, 64-62
6. KIA Tigers, 57-69
7. Woori Heroes, 50-76
8. LG Twins, 46-80

Playoffs: Samsung def. Lotte, 3 games to 0; Doosan def. Samsung, 4 games to 2

2008 Korean Series: SK def. Doosan, 4 games to 1.

Leaders

Italics indicate all-time record

Batting

Statistic	Leader	Team	Number
Batting Average	Hyun-soo Kim	Doosan Bears	.357
Runs	Jong-wook Lee	Doosan Bears	98
Hits	Hyun-soo Kim	Doosan Bears	168
Doubles	Hyun-soo Kim	Doosan Bears	34
Triples	Joo-chan Kim	Lotte Giants	7
Home Runs	Tae-kyun Kim	Hanwha Eagles	31
Runs Batted In	Karim Garcia	Lotte Giants	111
Stolen Bases	Dae-hyung Lee	LG Twins	63
Walks	Hyun-soo Kim	Doosan Bears	80

Pitching

Statistic	Leader	Team	Number
ERA	Suk-min Yoon	KIA Tigers	2.33
Wins	Kwang-hyun Kim	SK Wyverns	16
Losses	Chan-heon Jeong	LG Twins	13
Holds	Woo-ram Jung	SK Wyverns	25
Saves	Seung-hwan Oh	Samsung Lions	39
Innings Pitched	Jung Bong	LG Twins	186 1/3
Appearances	Woo-ram Jung	SK Wyverns	85
Hits Allowed	Min-han Son	Lotte Giants	183
Home Runs Allowed	Young-soo Bae Matt Randel	Samsung Lions Doosan Bears	15
Strikeouts	Kwang-hyun Kim	SK Wyverns	150
Base-on-Balls	Won-sang Yoo Chris Oxspring	Hanwha Eagles LG Twins	77

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	Kwang-hyun Kim	SK Wyverns	Pitcher	Did not bat									16 - 4	0	162.0	127	9	63	150	2.39
Rookie of the Year	Hyung-woo Choi	Doosan Bears	Outfielder	384	68	106	19	71	3	.276	.364	.487	Did not pitch

Gold Glove

The following players were the recipients of the Gold Glove Award in 2008.

Position	Player	Team
P	Kwang-hyun Kim	SK Wyverns
C	Min-ho Kang	Lotte Giants
1B	Tae-kyun Kim	Hanwha Eagles
2B	Sung-hwan Cho	Lotte Giants
3B	Dong-joo Kim	Doosan Bears
SS	Ki-hyuk Park	Lotte Giants
OF	Hyun-soo Kim	Doosan Bears
OF	Karim Garcia	Lotte Giants
OF	Jong-wook Lee	Doosan Bears
DH	Sung-heun Hong	Lotte Giants