KBO.999.101: Introduction to the Korean Baseball Organization

Spring 2025

Course description:

Baseball is America’s pastime, but it’s not uniquely theirs. The love for baseball extends across the Pacific Ocean into South Korea, where fans flock stadiums in masses to watch the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO).

Course aims: 

1. The KBO was officially founded in 1982 with only six teams, five of which are still present today.
2. There are now ten teams to choose from in the KBO: Doosan Bears (Seoul), Hanwha Eagles (Daejeon), Kia Tigers (Gwangju), Kiwoom Heroes (Seoul), LG Twins (Seoul), Lotte Giants (Busan), NC Dinos (Changwon), Samsung Lions (Daegu), SSG Landers (Incheon), and KT Wiz (Suwon).
3. Unlike in Major League Baseball (MLB) where teams are divided into the American League and National League, all ten teams compete in a unified league. 

Course methods: 

While KBO stadiums may be smaller than most MLB ballparks, they are packed with passionate fans who love to cheer for their team. The atmosphere is always electric, and the fan experience is very interactive, often including cheerleaders and drum lines providing entertainment to all who attend. In addition to walk-up songs, each hitter has his own cheering song with coordinated dances, a unique aspect of the league! And of course, there are numerous songs that fans sing for their team as well as chants for specific situations — such as strikeouts, full counts or when a player steals a base.

Policies and expectations:

1. Each KBO team is allowed up to three foreign players on their roster. Though the positions are not specified, most teams elect to carry two pitchers (starting pitchers, in particular) and one hitter. 
2. At the end of the season, the teams with the five best records make the playoffs. The first-place team is awarded a direct spot in the Korean Series — the KBO’s version of the World Series — while the others have to fight for a spot through the postseason. 
3. Within the postseason, the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams compete in a best-of-three Wild Card series, the winner of which advances to the semi-playoff. In the semi-playoff, they face the third-seeded team in a best-of-five series, the winner of which plays the second-seeded in another best-of-five series for a spot in the Korean Series. 
4. The pitch timer, introduced to MLB in 2023, was soft-launched in the KBO last year without penalty. The 2025 season is the first to have the pitch clock formally implemented as a rule.

Course calendar:

This KBO season officially began on March 22. The KBO season is shorter than MLB’s 162 games, running for 144 games from March to October. Each team plays against one team from Tuesday to Thursday, before facing another team from Friday to Sunday and then taking a break on Monday.

Required readings:

2024 Season Results. Last season’s champions were the Kia Tigers who beat out the Samsung Lions in five games. Third baseman Kim Do-Yeong won the league MVP, amassing an impressive campaign with 38 home runs and a 1.067 On Base + Slugging Percentage. Kim set an all-time league record with 143 runs scored and became the youngest player in the KBO to achieve a 30-30 season.

Korean players in the MLB. There are quite a few players that have made their way to MLB after a successful KBO career; Hyun-jin Ryu was a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2013 to 2014 and 2016 to 2019 and the Toronto Blue Jays from 2020 to 2023, when he returned to the Hanwha Eagles; shortstop Ha-Seong Kim or “Awesome Kim” recently signed with the Tampa Bay Rays after four successful years playing for the San Diego Padres; outfielder Jung Hoo Lee joined the San Francisco Giants in the 2024 season with a six-year contract worth $113 million.

Supplemental readings

LG Twins (bias warning): As of April 3, LG is at the top of KBO standings, winning eight of the nine games played. Before the game against KT on April 2, the team amassed a perfect seven consecutive victories. 

Since 2019, LG has made it to the postseason in six consecutive seasons. In 2023, the team finally won its third Korean series trophy, ending a 29 year drought. Last year they made it to the playoffs; however, they lost to the Samsung Lions, ending their season in third place.

I believe that a major issue that stopped LG from advancing to the 2024 Korean Series was the lack of reliable relievers. In my opinion — and probably many other LG fans’ too — the only relief pitcher that I was actually relieved to see — other than closer Yoo Young-Chan (#54) — was Kim Jin-Sung (#42).

To make sure this doesn’t repeat itself, LG made moves to improve the pitching lineup during the offseason, signing Jang Hyun-sik (#50) and Kim Kang-Ryul (#37), as well as bringing in Choi Chae-heung (#56) as compensation from the Lions (The KBO Free Agency system is different from MLB, so, when a player in Team A signs a contract with Team B, Team A gets “compensation” from Team B).

Unfortunately, both Yoo and Jang are recovering from injuries at the moment. However, younger pitchers like Woo Kang-Hoon (#20) and Park Myung-geun (#39) are showing potential. Not to mention, rookie Kim Young-woo (#67) — selected by LG in the first round of the 2025 draft — just debuted on March 29. His fastest ball registers at 157km/h (97.5mp/h), and I have high hopes that he might become the new closer before Yoo returns to the mound.

Moreover, LG has one of the best (I would personally argue the best) starting rotations in the league. Franchise star, Im Chan-kyu (#1), pitched his first complete-game shutout of his career on March 26, and Song Seung-ki (#13) made a successful debut as a starting pitcher on March 27 with seven scoreless innings. Yonny Chirinos (#46), Elieser Hernández (#30), Son Ju-young (#29), Im and Song also all turned in quality starts (QS) in their first games, resulting in an impressive six-game streak of QS. I could go on more about the starters, but I will stop here for the sake of conciseness.

Another criticism LG faced last year was not having enough depth beyond their ten “first-string” hitters. Thankfully, some of the rookies have shown noteworthy improvements this season, including outfielder Song Chan-eui (#14) and Moon Jeong-Bin (#53). The starting lineup is changing slightly each day — unlike last season, where it remained mostly static — and I am confident that, with this change, the depth will continue to grow.

So, if you’re interested in following the KBO, why not start rooting for the best team in the league, the LG Twins?