The Lotte Giants () are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a member of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation.
From 1982 through 1985, 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 in a single season in any South Korean sports league. They are often called the Busan Seagulls () because the official bird of the city of Busan is the seagull, and their main fight song is Moon Seung-jae's "Busan Seagulls".
History
Origins The Lotte Giants were founded by Lotte Confectionery on 6 May 1975 as an amateur baseball team of the Korea Baseball Association, and were based in Seoul. In February 1982, the Giants became professional and moved to Busan, where they remain to this day.
1980s The Lotte Giants made their KBO League debut against the Haitai Tigers at Gudeok Baseball Stadium on 28 March 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, Ryu Du-yeol and Sim Jae-won of the South 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. 한국시리즈 '나홀로 4승' 불꽃투, 우승 이끌다 . Sports Seoul. Retrieved 8 December 2011. 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.
The Giants made one of the biggest trades in KBO League history after the 1988 season when they sent their star pitcher Choi Dong-won and Kim Yong-chul to the Samsung Lions, and received hitter Jang Hyo-jo and pitcher Kim Si-jin.
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 for four consecutive years (2001–2004). In mid-2001, the Giants' manager Kim Myung-seong, who had been in charge of the team since 1998, died of a heart attack.Yonhap. "KBO manager's collapse shows how stressful the job is," Korea JoongAng Daily (28 June 2020). He was replaced by Woo Yong-deuk.
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.. Royster served as the Giants' manager through the 2010 season, guiding the team to the playoffs in all three seasons.
Popularity and attendance
The Giants are one of the most popular teams in the Korea Baseball Organization. According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were voted as the most popular team three times in a row. In 1991, they became the first Korean team to attract more than one million spectators to their home games during a season. In the 2009 season, they set the all-time record of home attendance of 1,380,018 fans.KBO 역대관중현황 In the 2011 season, they also led the league in the total home attendance with 1,358,322 fans at 67 home games. The average attendance was 20,273 fans per game, meaning the stadium was 71% full on average per game. From 2008 to 2012, they drew over 1 million fans for five consecutive seasons.
Season-by-season records
Season Stadium League Finish Regular season Postseason Awards Rank Games Wins Losses Draws Win% BA HR ERA 1982 Gudeok Baseball Stadium KBO 5/6 5/6 40 13 27 0 .325 .256 59 3.95 4/6 40 18 22 0 .450 1983 KBO 6/6 4/6 50 22 27 1 .449 .244 78 3.79 6/6 50 21 29 0 .420 1984 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 () 1/6 50 29 20 1 .592 1985 KBO 2/6 4/6 55 27 28 0 .491 .256 77 3.05 2/6 55 32 23 0 .582 1986 Sajik Baseball Stadium KBO 5/7 3/7 54 30 20 4 .600 .248 37 2.74 5/7 54 20 32 2 .385 1987 KBO 3/7 3/7 54 27 25 2 .519 .268 40 3.36 3/7 54 27 24 3 .528 1988 KBO 3/7 4/7 54 29 24 1 .546 .270 68 3.59 3/7 54 28 25 1 .528 1989 KBO 7/7 7/7 120 48 67 5 .421 .247 38 3.91 1990 KBO 6/7 6/7 120 44 71 4 .388 .245 41 4.43 1991 KBO 4/8 4/8 126 61 62 3 .496 .260 73 3.91 Lost semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (1–1–2) 1992 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) Yeom Jong-seok () 1993 KBO 6/8 126 62 63 1 .496 .248 29 3.33 1994 KBO 6/8 126 56 67 3 .456 .257 58 4.44 1995 KBO 2/8 3/8 126 68 53 5 .560 .255 65 3.47 Won playoff vs. LG Twins (4–2) Lost Korean Series vs. OB Bears (3–4) 1996 KBO 5/8 126 57 63 6 .476 .274 72 4.16 1997 KBO 8/8 126 48 77 1 .385 .237 75 4.58 1998 KBO 8/8 126 50 72 4 .410 .255 86 4.61 1999 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) 2000 Magic League 5/8 2/4 133 65 64 4 .504 .260 104 4.02 Lost semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (1–2) 2001 KBO 8/8 133 59 70 4 .457 .280 121 4.68 2002 KBO 8/8 133 35 97 1 .265 .245 85 4.74 2003 KBO 8/8 133 39 91 3 .300 .256 73 5.01 2004 KBO 8/8 133 50 72 11 .410 .252 88 4.22 2005 KBO 5/8 126 58 67 1 .464 .253 83 4.31 Son Min-han (MVP) 2006 KBO 7/8 126 50 73 3 .407 .250 88 3.88 2007 KBO 7/8 126 55 68 3 .447 .270 76 4.14 2008 KBO 3/8 3/8 126 69 57 0 .548 .282 93 3.64 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 5/9 128 66 58 4 .532 .261 61 3.93 2014 KBO 7/9 128 59 68 1 .457 .287 121 5.19 2015 KBO 8/10 144 66 77 1 .462 .280 177 5.07 2016 KBO 8/10 144 66 78 0 .458 .288 127 5.63 2017 KBO 3/10 3/10 144 80 62 2 .563 .285 151 4.56 Lost semi-playoff vs. NC Dinos (2–3) 2018 KBO 7/10 144 68 74 2 .479 .289 203 5.37 2019 KBO 10/10 144 48 93 3 .340 .250 90 4.83 2020 KBO 7/10 144 71 72 1 .497 .276 131 4.64 2021 KBO 8/10 144 65 71 8 .478 .278 107 5.37 2022 KBO 8/10 144 64 76 4 .457 .267 106 4.45 2023 KBO 7/10 144 68 76 0 .472 .265 69 4.15 2024 KBO 7/10 144 66 74 4 .471 .285 125 5.05 2025 KBO 7/10 144 66 72 6 .478 .267 75 4.75 2026 KBO
Team Current roster
Retired numbers The club's first retired number is Choi Dong-won's squad number 11. Described as one of the top pitchers in the Korea Professional Baseball league, he played for the Giants between 1983 and 1988, and won the KBO MVP award in 1984. Choi died of cancer in 2011. In 2022, the club retired the number 10 in honour of Lee Dae-ho, who spent more than 15 seasons with the Giants. Choi Dong-won
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 (1990–1993) Kim Yong-hee (1993–1998) Kim Myung-seong (1998–2001) Woo Yong-deuk (2001–2002) Kim Yong-hee (2002) (caretaker) Baek In-cheon (2002–2003) Kim Yong-cheol (2003) (caretaker) Yang Sang-moon (2003–2005) Kang Byeong-chel (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 (2019) Kong Pil-seong (2019) (caretaker) Heo Moon-hoi (2020–2021) Larry Sutton (2021–2023) Lee Jong-un (2023) (caretaker) Kim Tae-hyoung (2023–present)
References General
Specific
External links