Lotte Giants

Lotte Giants
롯데 자이언츠
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League KBO League (1982–present)
Location Busan, South Korea
Ballpark
Year established 1975 (1975)
Nickname(s) Busan Seagulls
Korean Series championships (2) 1984, 1992
Former ballparks
Colors Blue and red
         
Retired numbers 11[1]
Ownership Lotte Corporation
Manager Cho Won-woo
General Manager Lee Chang-won
Website www.giantsclub.com
Uniforms
Mascot emblem

The Lotte Giants (Korean: 롯데 자이언츠) are a professional baseball team based in the southeastern city of Busan, South Korea, and one of the original franchises of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation, which also owns the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball.

From 1982 through 1986, they played at Gudeok Baseball Stadium and since then have played at Sajik Baseball Stadium. They won the KBO Championship twice, in 1984 and 1992. The team drew about 1.38 million spectators during the 2009 season, a record which remains as the highest attendance[2] in a single season in any Korean sports league.

They are often called the Busan Seagulls (Korean: 부산 갈매기) because the official bird of the city of Busan is the seagull, and their main fight song is Busan Seagulls. Coincidentally, a seagull also serves as the mascot for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

History

The Lotte Giants were founded as an amateur baseball team of the Korea Baseball Association in Seoul, South Korea, on May 6, 1975, when there was no professional sports team in the country. On February 22nd, 1982, the Giants became professional and moved to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea after Seoul.

1982 season

The Lotte Giants made their KBO League debut against the Haitai Tigers at Gudeok Baseball Stadium on March 28, 1982. They defeated the Tigers 14–2, but finished the year in fifth place out of six teams with a .388 winning percentage. Choi Dong-won, Yu Do-yeol, and Sim Jae-won of the Korea national baseball team postponed joining the Giants to play for the country in the 1982 Amateur World Series held in Seoul.

1984 season

In 1984, the Giants won their first Korean Series title in the third season after the KBO League was launched. They beat the Samsung Lions 4–3 in the Korean Series. They were led by Choi Dong-won, one of the most dominant pitchers in the Korea Professional Baseball league, who finished the 1984 season with 27 wins, 223 strikeouts, and a 2.40 ERA and won the regular season MVP Award.[3] In the 1984 Korean Series, he appeared in five out of seven games, had a 4–1 record (one shutout, three complete games, and one five-inning relief appearance), and pitched 40 innings in ten days.[3]

Popularity and attendance

Fans cheering the Giants at Sajik Baseball Stadium in 2011

The Giants are the most popular team in the Korea Baseball Organization league.[4] According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were chosen as the most popular team three times in a row.[4] They attracted over 1 million fans to Sajik Baseball Stadium in 1991 for the first time in league history. In the 2009 season, they set the all-time record of home attendance of 1,380,018 fans.[2] In the 2011 season, they also led the league in the total home attendance with 1,358,322 fans at 67 home games.[5] The average attendance was 20,273 fans per game, meaning the stadium was 71 percent full on average per game.[5] From 2008 to 2011, they drew over 1 million fans four years consecutively, which was the first time in Korean professional baseball history.

Season-by-season records

SeasonStadiumLeagueFinishRegular seasonPostseasonAwards
RankGamesWinsLossesDrawsWin%BAHRERA
1982Gudeok Baseball StadiumKBO5/65/64013270.325.256593.95Did not qualify
5/64018220.450
1983KBO6/64/65022271.449.244783.79Did not qualify
6/65021290.420
1984KBO1/64/65021281.429.257713.31Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions 4–3Choi Dong-won (MVP)
1/65029201.592
1985KBO2/64/65527280.491.256773.05Did not qualify 
2/65532230.582
1986Sajik Baseball StadiumKBO4/73/75430204.600.248372.74Did not qualify 
5/75420322.385
1987KBO3/74/75427252.519.268403.36Did not qualify
3/75427243.528
1988KBO3/74/75429241.546.270683.59Did not qualify 
T-3/75428251.528
1989KBO7/77/712048675.421.247383.91Did not qualify 
1990KBO6/76/712044714.388.245414.43Did not qualify 
1991KBO4/84/812661623.496.260733.91Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions 1–1–2
1992KBO1/83/812671551.563.288684.28Won Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions 2–0
Won Playoff vs. Haitai Tigers 3–2
Won Korean Series vs. Binggrae Eagles 4–1
Yeom Jong-seok (ROTY)
1993KBO6/86/812662631.496.248293.33Did not qualify
1994KBO6/86/812656673.456.257584.44Did not qualify 
1995KBO2/82/812668535.560.255653.47Won Playoff vs. LG Twins 4–2
Lost Korean Series vs. OB Bears 3–4
1996KBO5/85/812657636.476.274724.16Did not qualify
1997KBO8/88/812648771.385.237754.58Did not qualify
1998KBO8/88/812650724.410.255864.61Did not qualify 
1999Dream League2/81/413275525.591.2911454.18Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions 4–3
Lost Korean Series vs. Hanwha Eagles 1–4
2000Magic League5/82/413365644.504.2601044.02Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions 1–2 
2001KBO8/88/813359704.457.2801214.68Did not qualify
2002KBO8/88/813335971.265.245854.74Did not qualify
2003KBO8/88/813339913.300.256735.01Did not qualify
2004KBO8/88/8133507211.410.252884.22Did not qualify
2005KBO5/85/812658671.464.253834.31Did not qualifySon Min-han (MVP)
2006KBO7/87/812650733.407.250883.88Did not qualify
2007KBO7/87/812655683.447.270764.14Did not qualify 
2008KBO4/83/812669570.548.282933.68Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions 0–3
2009KBO4/84/813366670.496.2771214.75Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears 1–3 
2010KBO4/84/813369613.531.2881854.82Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears 2–3Lee Dae-ho (MVP)
2011KBO3/82/813372565.563.2881114.20Lost Playoff vs. SK Wyverns 2–3
2012KBO4/84/813365626.512.263733.48Won Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears 3–1
Lost Playoff vs. SK Wyverns 2–3		 
2013KBO5/95/912866584.532.261613.93Did not qualify 
2014KBO7/97/912859681.457.2871215.19Did not qualify 
2015KBO8/108/1014466771.462.2801775.07Did not qualify
2016KBO8/108/1014466780.458.2881275.63Did not qualify 
2017KBO3/103/1014480622.563.2861514.57Lost Semi-playoff vs. NC Dinos 2–3 
Overall recordWinsLossesDrawsWin% 
20732304106.474
39421.481
21122346107.474

Current roster

Lotte Giants roster
Players Coaches/Other
Pitchers
Starting rotation

Bullpen

  • 35 Lee Myung-woo
  • 37 Jo Jung-hoon
  • 49 Bae Jang-ho
  • 55 Kim Yoo-young
  • 60 Jang Si-hwan
  • 62 Park Shi-young

Closer

 Catchers
  • 13 Kim Sa-hoon
  • 39 Na Jong-deok
  • 64 Na Won-tak

Infielders

  •  6 Moon Kyu-hyun
  •  7 Shin Bon-ki
  • 10 Lee Dae-ho
  • 15 Hwang Jin-soo
  • 33 Jung Hoon
  • 66 Kim Sang-ho
  • 67 Kim Dong-han
  • 98 Andy Burns
Outfielders
 Manager

Coaches

  • 75 Kim Won-hyong (head/pitching)
  • 99 Lee Yong-hoon (pitching)
  • 72 Chang Jea-jung (battery)
  • 95 Kim Seung-kwan (hitting)
  • 80 Jung Bo-myung (hitting)
  • 78 Kim Min-jae (infield defense)
  • 94 Kim Dai-ick (hitting/outfielder defense)
  • 82 Choi Man-ho (operations)
Futures League


updated on 15 February 2018
→ All KBO League rosters

Retired numbers


Choi Dong-won
P
  • Number 11
The club's first retired number is Choi Dong-won's squad number 11. He was one of the top pitchers in the Korea Professional Baseball league and died of cancer in 2011.[1] He played for the team from 1983-1988 and won the KBO MVP in 1984.

References

General
  • "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
Specific
  1. 1 2 Yoon, Hyun (2011-09-30). "Iron arm Choi Dong-Won becomes Busans everlasting number 11" (in Korean). Ohmynews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  2. 1 2 KBO 역대관중현황 Archived December 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 (in Korean) 한국시리즈 '나홀로 4승' 불꽃투, 우승 이끌다 Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine.. Sports Seoul. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  4. 1 2 프로야구 롯데, 3회 연속 최고 인기구단 (in Korean). Article.joinsmsn.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  5. 1 2 홈관중몰이 1위 롯데 (in Korean). News.sportsseoul.com. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
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