Hanwha Eagles

The Hanwha Eagles (Korean: 한화 이글스) is a South Korean professional baseball club based in the city of Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series once, in 1999, and the league pennant twice. As of 2020, the Eagles have played in the postseason 13 times, being the runner-up in the Korean Series five times.

Hanwha Eagles
한화 이글스
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueKBO League (1986–present)
LocationDaejeon, South Korea
Ballpark
Year established1985 (1985)
League championships1989, 1992
Korean Series championships1999
Former name(s)
  • Binggrae Eagles (1986–1993)
ColorsOrange, black and grey
              
Retired numbers21, 23, 35
OwnershipHanwha
ManagerChoi Won-ho - Interim
Websitewww.hanwhaeagles.co.kr

History

Founded in 1985 as the "Binggrae Eagles" (Binggrae was the then-trademark of Hanwha's confectionery branch),[1] they debuted in 1986 as the seventh franchise of the league.

The Eagles made it to the Korean Series three times in their first seven years of existence (in 1988, 1991, and 1992), losing each time.

The club changed their name to "Hanwha Eagles" after Binggrae's separation from Hanwha conglomerate in 1993. Hanwha, the owner of the club, is one of the largest business conglomerates, or chaebol, in South Korea.

The club was renowned for its slugging percentage from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, nicknamed the "Dynamite Bats" in reference to explosive products under one of Hanwha's main business lines. Led by American imports Dan Rohrmeier and Jay Davis, as well as Koreans Song Ji-man and Chang Jong-hoon, the 1999 championship team had a slugging percentage of .487, the highest team total in KBO League history.[2]

The Eagles made it back to the Korean Series in 2006, again falling short. The Eagles did not make the KBO playoffs for 11 years, from 2008 through 2017, despite going through five managers during that time, including the KBO's two winningest managers, Kim Eung-ryong (2013–2014) and Kim Sung-keun (2015–2017).

Han Yong-duk was hired as Eagles' manager in 2018 (he had been a caretaker manager for the team in 2012), and in his first full season he succeeded in bringing the team to the postseason for the first time since 2007.[3] On June 7, 2020, however, Han resigned as manager after a 14th straight loss, and was replaced by the team's minor league manager (and former television announcer), Choi Won-ho.[4] The team also revamped its roster, sending ten players to the minor-league KBO Futures League team — including veterans Song Kwang-min, Lee Sung-yul, An Young-myung, Jang Si-hwan, and Lee Tae-yang[5] — and bringing up nine players to the KBO League team.[6] After tying the record for the KBO's longest losing streak at 18,[7] on June 14, 2020, the Eagles escaped a 19th-straight defeat after a long struggle: Hanwha won a suspended game against Doosan thanks to Roh Tae-hyung's walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.[8]

Season-by-season records
SeasonLeagueFinishRegular seasonPost seasonAwards
RankGamesWinsLossesDrawsWin%BAHRERA
Binggrae Eagles
1986KBO7/77/75412420.222.236463.67Did not qualify 
6/75419341.358
1987KBO6/76/75424282.463.274483.78Did not qualifyLee Jeong-hun (ROTY)
6/75423292.444
1988KBO2/72/75434200.630.266733.72Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (3–0)
Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers (2–4)		 
3/75428251.528
1989KBO2/71/712071463.604.276973.50Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers (1–4) 
1990KBO4/73/712068502.575.2701123.41Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (0–2) 
1991KBO2/812672495.591.2741363.35Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (3–1)
Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers (0–4)		Chang Jong-hoon (MVP)
1992KBO2/81/812681432.651.2671463.68Lost Korean Series vs. Lotte Giants (1–4)Chang Jong-hoon (MVP)
1993KBO5/812661614.500.238813.46Did not qualify 
Hanwha Eagles
1994KBO3/812665592.524.247683.52Won Semi-playoff vs. Haitai Tigers (2–0)
Lost Playoff vs. Taepyongyang Dolphins (0–3)		 
1995KBO6/812655710.437.249964.04Did not qualify 
1996KBO4/812670551.560.245903.79Lost Semi-playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns (0–2)Koo Dae-sung (MVP)
1997KBO6/812651732.413.2531024.06Did not qualify 
1998KBO7/812655665.455.2501234.26Did not qualify 
1999KBO Magic League1/82/413272582.554.2831974.88Won Playoff vs. Doosan Bears (4–0)
Won Korean Series vs. Lotte Giants (4–1)		 
2000KBO Magic League7/83/413350785.391.2761805.24Did not qualify 
2001KBO4/813361684.473.2751484.85Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears (0–2)Kim Tae-kyun (ROTY)
2002KBO7/813359695.461.2561704.79Did not qualify 
2003KBO5/813363655.492.2541214.38Did not qualify 
2004KBO7/813353746.417.2681405.24Did not qualify 
2005KBO4/812664611.512.2701594.41Won Semi-playoff vs. SK Wyverns (3–2)
Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears (0–3)		 
2006KBO2/83/812667572.540.2531103.37Won Semi-playoff vs. Kia Tigers (2–1)
Won Playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns (3–1)
Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (1–1–4)		Ryu Hyun-jin (ROTY)
Ryu Hyun-jin (MVP)
2007KBO3/812667572.540.2541043.54Won Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–1)
Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears (0–3)		 
2008KBO5/812664620.508.2541204.43Did not qualify 
2009KBO8/813346843.354.2691645.71Did not qualify 
2010KBO8/813349822.374.2441045.43Did not qualify 
2011KBO6/813359722.450.255935.11Did not qualify 
2012KBO8/813353773.408.249714.55Did not qualify 
2013KBO9/912842851.331.259475.31Did not qualify 
2014KBO9/912849772.389.2831046.35Did not qualify 
2015KBO6/1014468760.472.2711305.11Did not qualify 
2016KBO7/1014466753.468.2891425.76Did not qualify 
2017KBO8/1014461812.430.2871505.28Did not qualify 
2018KBO3/1014477670.535.2751514.93Lost Semi-playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (1–3) 
2019KBO9/1014458860.403.256884.82Did not qualify 
Overall recordGamesWinsLossesDrawsWin%
Regular Season43812037226282.474
Postseason7832451.417
Total44592069230783.473

Personnel

Current lineup

Managers
  • Bae Seong-seo (1986–1987)
  • Kim Yeong-duk (1988–1992)
  • Kang Byeong-cheol (1993–1998)
  • Lee Hui-su (1998–2000)
  • Lee Kwang-hwan (2001–2002)
  • Yu Seung-an (2003–2004)
  • Kim In-sik (2005–2009)
  • Han Dae-hwa (2010–2012)
  • Han Yong-duk (2012) (caretaker)
  • Kim Eung-ryong (2013–2014)
  • Kim Sung-keun (2015–2017)
  • Lee Sang-gun (2017) (caretaker)
  • Han Yong-duk (2) (2018–2020)
  • Choi Won-ho (2020–present)

Retired numbers

The Eagles have three retired numbers on their roster, more than any other team in the league. Those are for the slugger Jang Jong-hoon (35), and the pitchers Jung Min-cheul (23) and Song Jin-woo (21).


Chang
Jong-hoon
SS, 1B, DH
Retired since September 16, 2005
Jung
Min-cheul
P
Retired since September 11, 2009
Song
Jin-woo
P
Retired since September 23, 2009

References
General
  • "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
Specific
  1. Bulley, Jim. "A brief history of KBO franchise names," Korea JoongAng Daily (November 14, 2018).
  2. Viquez, Marc. "Getting to Know Korean Baseball Teams, Uniforms, and Logos," Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.net (June 19, 2020).
  3. Kim, Seyoung-hoon. "Hanwha advances to Postseason, Solved 11 Years Old," OhMyStar (Sept. 29, 2018).
  4. Yonhap. "KBO's Hanwha Eagles name interim manager during 14-game slide," The Korea Herald (Jun 8, 2020).
  5. Last-place KBO club demotes 10 players to minors," Yonhap News Agency (June 09, 2020).
  6. "KBO's Hanwha Eagles suffer 15th straight loss," Yonhap News Agency (June 09, 2020).
  7. Yonhap. "Hanwha Eagles lose 18th straight to tie all-time KBO record," The Korea Herald (Jun 12, 2020).
  8. Moo, Lee-seok. "Hanwha Eagles 18 consecutive losses after two days of competition," eDaily (June 14, 2020).
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