Lotte Giants

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Lotte Giants
롯데 자이언츠
Lotte Giants.png Busan Giants cap insignia.svg
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueKBO League (1982–present)
LocationBusan
BallparkBusan Sajik Baseball Stadium (1986–present)
Year established1975; 46 years ago (1975) (amateur)
1982; 39 years ago (1982) (professional)
League championships1984[a]
Korean Series championships1984, 1992
Former ballparks
ColorsBlue and red
   
Retired numbers11[1]
OwnershipLotte Corporation
ManagerLarry Sutton
Websitewww.giantsclub.com

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 have won the Korean Series 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 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 's "Busan Seagulls".[3] Coincidentally, a seagull also serves as the mascot for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Since 2018, uniforms have been in use in white tops for home games and navy tops for away games. In common, red lines are placed around the sleeves of the arms, and red side lines are drawn on the trousers. The center of the top is marked with a red "Giants" word mark, and the undershirt is indigo for both home and away.

History[]

Mascot emblem

Origins[]

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.

1980s[]

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, , and of the Korea national baseball team postponed joining the Giants to play for the country in the 1982 Amateur World Series held in Seoul.

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.[4] 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.[4]

The Giants made one of the biggest trades in KBO League history after the 1988 season when they sent star pitcher Choi Dong-Won and to the Samsung Lions for star hitter Jang Hyo-jo and star pitcher Kim Si-Jin.[5]

1990s[]

The Giants made it back to the Korean Series in 1995 and 1999, losing both times. They have not appeared in the Korean Series since 1999.

2000s[]

From 2001 to 2007 the Giants did not qualify for the postseason, finishing in last place four consecutive years (2001-2004). In mid-season 2001 the Giants' manager , who had been in charge of the team since 1998, died of a heart attack.[6] He was replaced by .

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.[7][8] Royster served as the Giants' manager through the 2010 season, guiding the team to the playoffs all three years he was at the helm.

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.[9] According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were chosen as the most popular team three times in a row.[9] 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.[10] The average attendance was 20,273 fans per game, meaning the stadium was 71 percent full on average per game.[10] 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[]

Season Stadium League Finish Regular season Postseason Awards
Rank Games Wins Losses Draws Win% BA HR ERA
Gudeok Baseball Stadium KBO 5/6 5/6 40 13 27 0 .325 .256 59 3.95 Did not qualify
4/6 40 18 22 0 .450
KBO 6/6 4/6 50 22 27 1 .449 .244 78 3.79 Did not qualify
6/6 50 21 29 0 .420
KBO 1/6 4/6 50 21 28 1 .429 .257 71 3.31 Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–3) Choi Dong-won (MVP)
1/6 50 29 20 1 .592
KBO 2/6 4/6 55 27 28 0 .491 .256 77 3.05 Did not qualify  
2/6 55 32 23 0 .582
Sajik Baseball Stadium KBO 4/7 3/7 54 30 20 4 .600 .248 37 2.74 Did not qualify  
5/7 54 20 32 2 .385
KBO 3/7 4/7 54 27 25 2 .519 .268 40 3.36 Did not qualify
3/7 54 27 24 3 .528
KBO 3/7 4/7 54 29 24 1 .546 .270 68 3.59 Did not qualify  
3/7 54 28 25 1 .528
KBO 7/7 7/7 120 48 67 5 .421 .247 38 3.91 Did not qualify  
KBO 6/7 6/7 120 44 71 4 .388 .245 41 4.43 Did not qualify  
KBO 4/8 4/8 126 61 62 3 .496 .260 73 3.91 Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (1–1–2)
KBO 1/8 3/8 126 71 55 1 .563 .288 68 4.28 Won Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–0)
Won Playoff vs. Haitai Tigers (3–2)
Won Korean Series vs. Binggrae Eagles (4–1)
(ROTY)
KBO 6/8 6/8 126 62 63 1 .496 .248 29 3.33 Did not qualify
KBO 6/8 6/8 126 56 67 3 .456 .257 58 4.44 Did not qualify  
KBO 2/8 2/8 126 68 53 5 .560 .255 65 3.47 Won Playoff vs. LG Twins (4–2)
Lost Korean Series vs. OB Bears (3–4)
KBO 5/8 5/8 126 57 63 6 .476 .274 72 4.16 Did not qualify
KBO 8/8 8/8 126 48 77 1 .385 .237 75 4.58 Did not qualify
KBO 8/8 8/8 126 50 72 4 .410 .255 86 4.61 Did not qualify  
Dream League 2/8 2/4 132 75 52 5 .591 .291 145 4.18 Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (4–3)
Lost Korean Series vs. Hanwha Eagles (1–4)
Magic League 5/8 2/4 133 65 64 4 .504 .260 104 4.02 Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (1–2)  
KBO 8/8 8/8 133 59 70 4 .457 .280 121 4.68 Did not qualify
KBO 8/8 8/8 133 35 97 1 .265 .245 85 4.74 Did not qualify
KBO 8/8 8/8 133 39 91 3 .300 .256 73 5.01 Did not qualify
KBO 8/8 8/8 133 50 72 11 .410 .252 88 4.22 Did not qualify
KBO 5/8 5/8 126 58 67 1 .464 .253 83 4.31 Did not qualify Son Min-han (MVP)
KBO 7/8 7/8 126 50 73 3 .407 .250 88 3.88 Did not qualify
2007 KBO 7/8 7/8 126 55 68 3 .447 .270 76 4.14 Did not qualify  
2008 KBO 4/8 3/8 126 69 57 0 .548 .282 93 3.68 Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (0–3)
2009 KBO 4/8 4/8 133 66 67 0 .496 .277 121 4.75 Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears (1–3)  
2010 KBO 4/8 4/8 133 69 61 3 .531 .288 185 4.82 Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears (2–3) Lee Dae-ho (MVP)
2011 KBO 3/8 2/8 133 72 56 5 .563 .288 111 4.20 Lost Playoff vs. SK Wyverns (2–3)
2012 KBO 4/8 4/8 133 65 62 6 .512 .263 73 3.48 Won Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears (3–1)
Lost Playoff vs. SK Wyverns (2–3)		  
2013 KBO 5/9 5/9 128 66 58 4 .532 .261 61 3.93 Did not qualify  
2014 KBO 7/9 7/9 128 59 68 1 .457 .287 121 5.19 Did not qualify  
2015 KBO 8/10 8/10 144 66 77 1 .462 .280 177 5.07 Did not qualify
2016 KBO 8/10 8/10 144 66 78 0 .458 .288 127 5.63 Did not qualify  
2017 KBO 3/10 3/10 144 80 62 2 .563 .286 151 4.57 Lost Semi-playoff vs. NC Dinos (2–3)  
2018 KBO 7/10 7/10 144 68 74 2 .479 .289 203 5.37 Did not qualify  
2019 KBO 10/10 10/10 144 48 93 3 .340 .250 90 4.87 Did not qualify  
2020 KBO 7/10 7/10 144 71 72 1 .497 Did not qualify  
Overall record Games Wins Losses Draws Win% Lotte Giants.png
Regular Season 4914 2259 2543 112 .471
Postseason 82 39 42 1 .482
Total 4996 2298 2585 113 .471

Current roster[]

Retired numbers[]

KBO Retired Lotte 11.svg

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, playing for the Giants between 1983 and 1988, and winning the KBO MVP award in 1984. Choi died of cancer in 2011.[1]

Managers[]

References[]

Notes
  1. ^ Latter half pennant winner.
General
  • "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
Specific
  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Yoon, Hyun (2011-09-30). "Iron arm Choi Dong-Won becomes Busans everlasting number 11" (in Korean). Ohmynews.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b KBO 역대관중현황 Archived December 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Byeong-Min, Yu. MIN"KBO clubs invest in popular cheerleading songs," Korea JoongAng Daily (May 3, 2015).
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b (in Korean) 한국시리즈 '나홀로 4승' 불꽃투, 우승 이끌다 Archived 2012-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Seoul. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  5. ^ Yoon, Chul (2011-09-07). "Korean baseball legend Jang dies at 55". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  6. ^ Yonhap. "KBO manager's collapse shows how stressful the job is," Korea JoongAng Daily (June 28, 2020).
  7. ^ Herman, Ken (June 26, 2008). "Ex-Brave Royster now managing in Korea". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  8. ^ Korea JoongAng Daily.[dead link]
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b 프로야구 롯데, 3회 연속 최고 인기구단 (in Korean). Article.joinsmsn.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "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)

External links[]

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