2011 Korean Series

The 2011 Korean Series is the 29th Korean Series. The Samsung Lions won their fifth title, topping the reigning champion SK Wyverns in five games; Samsung had lost to SK in the 2010 Korean Series.

The Teams

SK Wyverns

SK was guided by Man-soo Lee. The team had a 584-522 run differential, finishing second in the league in fewest runs allowed (9 more than Samsung). Jung Choi (.310/.402/.526) led their offense; he tied for third in the KBO in homers, was 4th in OBP and third in slugging. Eun-beom Song (8-8, Sv, 3.43) led the team in wins on a staff that was 72-56-5 despite no one in double-digit wins. Tae-hyon Chong (3-3, 16 Sv, 1.48) and Woo-ram Jung (4-0, 7 Sv, 1.81) led a superb bullpen.

Samsung Lions

Samsung was led by rookie skipper Jung-il Ryu. They led the 2011 KBO in the regular season at 79-50-4. They outscored opponents 625-513, leading the league in ERA (3.15) and fewest runs allowed. They had the league's top home run hitter in Hyung-woo Choi (.340/.427/.617, 30 HR); Choi also was second in average, first in RBI (118), second in doubles (37, one off the pace) and 3rd in OBP in a dominating season. He was supported by Seok-min Park (.278/.374/.442, 4th with 86 RB) and Young-seop Bae (.294/.363/.356, 33 SB, 8 CS, 3rd in SB) among others. Seung-hwan Yoon (14-5, 3.59) was 5th in the league in wins and Seung-hwan Oh was 1-0 with 47 saves, a 0.63 ERA and 27 hits in 57 innings. Oh easily led the KBO in saves, with more than the next two hurlers combined.

The Games

• October 25: Samsung 2, SK 0. After getting swept last year, Samsung started strong in the rematch of the 2010 finalists. Doug Mathis, Woo-chan Cha, Ji-man An, Hyuk Kwon and Seung-hwan Oh combined on a five-pitcher shutout, Mathis getting yanked after four innings as he had survived several scares. In the 4th, Samsung got the game's only runs, off Hyo-joon Ko. DH Hyung-woo Choi doubled, LF Byung-kyu Kang was hit by a pitch and 2B Myung-chul Shin had a towering 2-run double to left.

• October 26: Samsung 2, SK 1. In another pitchers' duel at Daegu Baseball Stadium, the Lions again prevailed. SK starter Hee-sang Yoon was yanked in the first inning with a sore shoulder but Seung-ho Lee, Brian Gordon and Hee-soo Park provided fine relief. On the other side, Won-sam Jang whiffed 10 in 5 1/3 shutout innings for Samsung. The deadlock was broken in the 6th. Park allowed a hit and a walk but struck out two of the first four batters. Veteran catcher Kab-yong Jin then singled to load the bases. Rookie outfielder Young-seop Bae did his share with a 2-run single to give Samsung its only runs (and all it would need). SK challenged in the 8th. LF Jae-sang Park doubled, Jung Choi walked and Jung-kwon Park singled to make it 2-1. Jung-il Ryu turned to closer Seung-hwan Oh, who got the next two outs. 1B Dong-soo Choi singled to center, but the Samsung center fielder threw out Jung Choi at home. Oh then went 1-2-3 in the 9th. It was his fifth Korean Series save, a new career record.

• October 28: SK 2, Samsung 1. The Series remained pitcher-dominated in game 3, held at Munhak Stadium. Eun-beom Song tossed five shutout innings for SK but ran into trouble in the third. Samsung loaded the bases with one out but Song whiffed 1B Tae-in Chae and DH Hyung-woo Choi, Samsung's 3rd and 4th batters, to escape trouble. In the 4th, LF Bong-kyu Kang was on second for the Lions when C Kab-yong Jin singled to left; Kang tried to score but was thrown out at home by LF Jae-sang Park. Park then hit a solo homer to left off Justin Germano in the bottom of the inning. In the 5th, Germano served up another gopher ball, this one to DH Dong-soo Choi. Germano allowed just 3 hits in 5 innings but the two homers were enough to hand him the loss. Four relievers succeeded Song and also did well, allowing only a 8th-inning run, driven in by Hyun-woo Choi.

• October 29: Samsung 8, SK 4. The road team won for the first time, with the first real offensive show of the Series. A balanced SK offense leads the charge against former star Kwang-hyun Kim and four relievers. LF Jae-sang Park hits a 3-run homer for the losing side. 2B Keun-woo Jeong gets 3 hits for the winners.

• October 31: Samsung 1, SK 0. At Jamsil Ballpark, the Series reverts to a pitchers' duel. Woo-chan Cha tosses 7 shutout innings to lead Samsung to the Series win. LF Bong-kyu Kang provides all the game's offense, homering off Brian Gordon in the 4th inning. Seung-hwan Oh got his 3rd save of the Series, retiring all four batters he faces, to take home his second Korean Series MVP (he also won in 2005).

Sources

• Korea Times
• Korea Baseball