2012 Korean Series

The 2012 Korean Series was the 30th Korean Series. The Samsung Lions and SK Wyverns meet for the third straight Series, SK having won in 2010 and Samsung in 2011. SK was in its 6th straight Korean Series, setting a new record. Samsung won this time, behind the efforts of Series MVP Seung-yeop Lee (8 for 23, 7 RBI).

The Teams

SK Wyverns

SK was guided by Man-soo Lee. They finished second in the regular season at 71-59-3, led offensively by veteran slugger Ho-joon Lee (.300/.407/.488) and Jung Choi (.300/.395/.538, 26 HR, 85 R, 85 RBI), one of the top batters of recent years. The top hurlers were Hee-sang Yoon (10-9, 3.36), Hee-soo Park (8-1, 6 Sv, 1.32) and Woo-ram Jung (2-4, 30 Sv, 2.20).

Samsung Lions

Samsung was led by manager Jung-il Ryu. They had the best regular-season record at 80-51-2. Their offense boasted four .300 hitters in Seok-min Park (.312/.433/.524, 23 HR, 91 RBI, 2nd in the KBO in RBI and 4th in homers), Seung-yeop Lee (.307/.384/.502, 21 HR, 85 RBI), Kab-yong Jin (.307/.354/.419) and Han-lee Park (.304/.393/.381). They also had a strong staff with Won-sam Jang (17-6, 3.55) leading the league in wins and being supported by Mitch Talbot (14-3, 3.97), Young-soo Bae (12-8, 3.21) and Brian Gordon (11-3, 3.94) in the rotation and a bullpen headed by Seung-hwan Oh (2-1, 37 Sv, 1.94), Chang-min Shim (2-2, Sv, 1.83) and Ji-man An (1-2, 1.71).

The Games

• October 24: Samsung 3, SK 1. Samsung opened with a strong win, with 1B Seung-yeop Lee hitting a 2-run homer in the first off SK ace Hee-sang Yoon. It marked a triumphant Korean Series return for Lee, who had spent years playing Japan. SK closed the gap in the 4th when DH Ho-joon Lee drove in 2B Keun-woo Jeong off Seung-hwan Yoon. It was the only run SK would get off Yoon and four other relievers. In the 7th, Samsung got some insurance when Seung-yeop Lee doubled home 2B Myung-gu Kang. Seung-hwan Oh closed up the win for Samsung by retiring all four batters he faced, two by strikeout.
• October 25: Samsung 8, SK 3. Samsung's offense had an explosive third to run away with it. 2B Dong-chan Cho and C Kab-yong Jin both reached against Mario Santiago, then LF Young-seop Bae hit a 2-run double. 1B Seung-yeop Lee and 3B Seok-min Park both walked, then DH Hyung-woo Choi cracked a grand slam. Bae later added a RBI double for insurance. SK didn't score off Won-sam Jang until the 6th, when 2B Keun-woo Jeong homered.
• October 28: SK 12, Samsung 8. SK got back into the Series in a back-and-forth slugfest. 2B Keun-woo Jeong began things with a double off Young-soo Bae and came around on a sacrifice fly by 3B Jung Choi in the first. In the third, Samsung pounded Dave Bush and Byung-yong Chei for six runs, recapping their game 2 performance; 1B Seung-yeop Lee's 2-run single and DH Hyung-woo Choi's 3-run homer were the big blows. SK was within 7-5 by the 6th, when they had their own 6-run frame, the key hit being a 3-run homer by CF Kang-min Kim off Ji-man An. SK finished with 17 hits, 3 apiece by Jung Choi, Keun-woo Jeong, Kang-min Kim and SS Jin-man Park.
• October 29: SK 4, Samsung 1. The Wyverns tied the Series as Kwang-hyun Kim and 3 relievers combine to stymie the red-hot Lion hitters to one run, despite a 3-hit day from leadoff man Young-seop Bae. LF Jae-sang Park hit a 2-run homer off Mitch Talbot in the 4th and 3B Jung Choi followed with a solo shot to do the necessary damage.
• October 31: Samsung 2, SK 1. Samsung returned to the winner's column in a close match. They scored in the bottom of the first off Hee-sang Yoon, on one-out singles by CF Hyung-sik Jung and 1B Seung-yeop Lee, followed by a Yoon wild pitch. In the 3rd, Seung-yeop Lee scored on a grounder by RF Han-lee Park. Samsung did not score again, but Seung-hwan Yoon and three relievers held SK to a single run. The Wyverns got their run in the 4th when LF Jae-sang Park, 3B Jung Choi and DH Ho-joon Lee got three straight hits to cut it to 2-1. With Choi and Lee on the corners and two out, SK tried a delayed double steal, but it failed and a rundown ended the inning. In the top of the 9th, Jung Choi led off with a triple off the center-field fence against Seung-hwan Oh. With one out, 1B Jung-kwon Park walked but Oh struck out CF Kang-min Kim and SS Jin-man Park to wrap up his 8th career Korean Series save.
• November 1: Samsung 7, SK 0. In a pitching rematch of game 2, the outcome was the same, as Won-sam Jang (1 H, 9 K in 7 IP) was superb and Mario Santiago again got battered in the third inning. This time, 3B Seok-min Park's 2-run homer and 1B Seung-yeop Lee's 3-run triple are the big blows in the third. LF Young-seop Bae was 3 for 5 from the leadoff slot to complement Seung-yeop Lee's 3 hits.

Sources

• Korea Times
• Korea Baseball