Lotte Giants

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.

Lotte Giants
롯데 자이언츠
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueKBO League (1982–present)
LocationBusan, South Korea
Ballpark
Year established1975 (1975) (amateur)
1982 (1982) (professional)
League championships1984[lower-alpha 1]
Korean Series championships1984, 1992
Former ballparks
ColorsBlue and red
         
Retired numbers11[1]
OwnershipLotte Corporation
ManagerHer Mun-hoe[2]
Websitewww.giantsclub.com
Mascot emblem

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[3] in a single season in any South 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 Moon Seung-Jae's "Busan Seagulls".[4] 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 22, 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.[5] 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.[5]

post-1984

Late in 2007, the Giants signed American Jerry Royster to become the manager of the Giants, making him the first-ever non-Korean to take the helm of one of South Korea's professional baseball clubs.[6][7] Royster served as the Giants' manager through the 2010 season.

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.[8] According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were chosen as the most popular team three times in a row.[8] 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.[3] In the 2011 season, they also led the league in the total home attendance with 1,358,322 fans at 67 home games.[9] The average attendance was 20,273 fans per game, meaning the stadium was 71 percent full on average per game.[9] 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
4/64018220.450
1983KBO6/64/65022271.449.244783.79Did not qualify
6/65021290.420
1984KBO1/64/65021281.429.257713.31Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–3)Choi 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 
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 League2/82/413275525.591.2911454.18Won 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 (2–3)Lee 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) 
2018KBO7/107/1014468742.479.2892035.37Did not qualify 
2019KBO10/1010/1014448933.340.250904.87Did not qualify 
Overall recordGamesWinsLossesDrawsWin%
Regular Season477121892471111.470
Postseason8239421.482
Total485322282513112.471

Current roster

Retired numbers
  • 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 between 1983 and 1988 and won the KBO MVP award in 1984.

Managers
  • Park Young-gil (1982-1983)
  • Kang Byeong-chel (1983-1986)
  • Seong Gi-young (1987)
  • Eu Woo-hong (1987-1989)
  • Kim Jin-young (1989-1990)
  • Shosuke Doi (1990) (caretaker)
  • Kang Byeong-chel (2) (1990-1993)
  • Kim Yong-heui (1993-1998)
  • Kim Myeong-seong (1998-2001)
  • Woo Yong-deuk (2001-2002)
  • Kim Yong-heui (2) (2002) (caretaker)
  • Baek In-cheon (2002-2003)
  • Kim Yong-cheol (2003) (caretaker)
  • Yang Sang-moon (2003-2005)
  • Kang Byeong-chel (3) (2005-2007)
  • Jerry Royster (2008-2010)
  • Yang Seung-ho (2011-2012)
  • Kwon Doo-jo (2012) (caretaker)
  • Kim Si-jin (2012-2014)
  • Lee Jong-un (2014-2015)
  • Cho Won-woo (2015-2018)
  • Yang Sang-moon (2) (2018-2019)
  • Kong Pil-seong (2019) (caretaker)
  • Heo Moon-hoi (2019-present)

References
Notes
  1. Latter half pennant winner.
General
  • "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
Specific
  1. Yoon, Hyun (2011-09-30). "Iron arm Choi Dong-Won becomes Busans everlasting number 11" (in Korean). Ohmynews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  2. "KBO club's new manager stresses communication, mental fortitude," Yonhap News Agency (November 01, 2019).
  3. KBO 역대관중현황 Archived December 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Byeong-Min, Yu. MIN"KBO clubs invest in popular cheerleading songs," Korea JoongAng Daily (May 3, 2015).
  5. (in Korean) 한국시리즈 '나홀로 4승' 불꽃투, 우승 이끌다 Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Seoul. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  6. Herman, Ken (June 26, 2008). "Ex-Brave Royster now managing in Korea". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  7. Korea JoongAng Daily.
  8. 프로야구 롯데, 3회 연속 최고 인기구단 (in Korean). Article.joinsmsn.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  9. "Archived copy" 홈관중몰이 1위 롯데 (in Korean). News.sportsseoul.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2013-08-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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