The 2016 KBO League season was the 35th season in the history of the Korea Professional Baseball League.
Season structure
Stadium changes for 2016 season The Nexen Heroes left the 12,500-seat Mokdong Baseball Stadium and began play in the newly built 17,000-seat Gocheok Sky Dome. The Samsung Lions left the 10,000-seat Daegu Baseball Stadium and began play in the newly built 24,000-seat Daegu Samsung Lions Park. Munhak Baseball Stadium, home of the SK Wyverns, was fitted with a 12,257 square feet scoreboard before the start of the season
Regular season Each KBO team played 144 games during the regular season with all teams playing each other 16 times. The 144-game-schedule began in the 2015 season due to the addition of the KT Wiz. During the 2014 season, each team had played 128 games.
All-Star Game On July 16, the best players participated in the 2016 KBO All-Star Game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The participating franchises were divided into two regions, the Dream All-Stars (Samsung Lions, Doosan Bears, Lotte Giants, SK Wyverns, KT Wiz) and Nanum All-Stars (Kia Tigers, Hanwha Eagles, LG Twins, Nexen Heroes, NC Dinos). The Nanum All-Star team emerged victorious with an 8–4 victory over the Dream All-Star Team in front of a sold-out crowd of 16, 300 fans. Doosan Bears outfielder Min Byung-hun, who hit two home runs during the game, was named the MVP of the game. The KBO All-Star Game however does not determine home-field advantage in the Korean Series.
Postseason The 2016 KBO League season culminates in its championship series, known as the Korean Series. Before the 2015 season, the Semi-playoff format was tweaked. Previously, the top four teams after the end of the regular season qualified for the postseason, but in 2015, the top five teams qualified for the postseason. The team with the best record gained a direct entry into the Korean Series, while the other four teams competed for the remaining place in a step-ladder playoff system. Starting in 2015, the fourth-place and the fifth-place teams played in a "Wildcard" game/series.
Procedure to Determine Final Standings Champion (first place): Korean Series Winner Runner-up (second place): Korean Series Loser Third–Tenth place: Regular Season records determine third to tenth place spots in Final Standings
Standings Rank Team W L D Pct. GB Postseason 1 Doosan Bears 93 50 1 0.650 — Korean Series 2 NC Dinos 83 58 3 0.589 9 Playoff 3 Nexen Heroes 77 66 1 0.538 16 Semi-playoff 4 LG Twins 71 71 2 0.500 21½ Wild Card 5 KIA Tigers 70 73 1 0.490 23 6 SK Wyverns 69 75 0 0.479 24½ Did not qualify 7 Hanwha Eagles 66 75 3 0.468 26 8 Lotte Giants 66 78 0 0.458 27½ 9 Samsung Lions 65 78 1 0.455 28 10 KT Wiz 53 89 2 0.373 39½ Source KBO League (2016). Team Standings. Accessed on 10 Jun 2020.
Postseason
Wild Card The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the fourth-placed team.
Semi-playoff
Playoff
Korean Series
Foreign players Each team could have signed up to three foreign players. Due to the high proportion of pitchers signed in previous years, beginning in 2014 the league mandated that at least one of the foreign players must be a position player. Also with the KT Wiz being an expansion team that started play in 2015, they were given an exemption and were allowed to sign four foreign players instead of just the normally allowed three.
Team Player Position In KBO since Salary NotesSamsung Lions Allen Webster Pitcher 2016 $850,000 Collin Balester Pitcher 2016 $500,000 Released Arnold León Pitcher 2016 $500,000 Signed to replace Collin Balester Aarom Baldiris Infielder 2016 $950,000 NC Dinos Zach Stewart Pitcher 2015 $750,000 Eric Hacker Pitcher 2014 $900,000 Eric Thames Infielder 2013 $1,500,000 KBO All-StarDoosan Bears Dustin Nippert Pitcher 2011 $1,200,000 KBO All-Star, KBO MVP Michael Bowden Pitcher 2016 $650,000 pitched no-hitter on 6/30/16 against NC Dinos Nick Evans First Baseman / Outfielder 2016 $550,000 Nexen Heroes Ryan Feierabend Pitcher 2015 $580,000 Released mid-season; picked up by KT Wiz Robert Coello Pitcher 2016 $550,000 Released Danny Dorn First Baseman / Outfielder 2016 $750,000 Scott McGregor Pitcher 2016 $150,000 Signed to replace Robert CoelloSK Wyverns Merrill Kelly Pitcher 2015 $750,000 KBO All-Star Chris Seddon Pitcher 2013 $500,000 Released Héctor Gómez Infielder 2016 $650,000 Braulio Lara Pitcher 2016 $230,000 Signed to replace Chris SeddonHanwha Eagles Esmil Rogers Pitcher 2015 $1,900,000 Released Alex Maestri Pitcher 2016 ¥50,000,000 (about $440,000) Released Wilin Rosario Catcher / Infielder 2016 $1,300,000 KBO All-Star Fabio Castillo Pitcher 2016 $250,000 Signed to replace Alex Maestri Eric Surkamp Pitcher 2016 $450,000 Signed to replace Esmil RogersKia Tigers Héctor Noesí Pitcher 2016 $1,700,000 KBO All-Star Zeke Spruill Pitcher 2016 $700,000 Brett Pill Infielder 2014 $900,000 Lotte Giants Josh Lindblom Pitcher 2015 $1,200,000 Brooks Raley Pitcher 2015 $680,000 Jim Adduci Outfielder 2015 $780,000 Released Justin Maxwell Outfielder 2016 $280,000 Signed to replace Jim AdduciLG Twins Henry Sosa Pitcher 2012 $900,000 Luis Jimenez Infielder 2015 $900,000 KBO All-Star Scott Copeland Pitcher 2016 $750,000 Released David Huff Pitcher 2016 $550,000 Signed to replace Scott CopelandKT Wiz Yohan Pino Pitcher 2016 $500,000 Sugar Ray Marimón Pitcher 2016 $600,000 Released Travis Banwart Pitcher 2014 $600,000 Andy Marte Infielder 2015 $850,000 Josh Lowey Pitcher 2016 $220,000 Signed to replace Sugar Ray Marimón
Foreign hitters Team Player Batting Average Home runs RBI Notes Doosan Bears Nick Evans .308 24 81 Hanwha Eagles Wilin Rosario .321 33 120 KBO All-Star Kia Tigers Brett Pill .313 20 86 KT Wiz Andy Marte .265 22 74 LG Twins Luis Jiménez .308 26 102 KBO All-Star Lotte Giants Jim Adduci .291 7 41 Released by the team Justin Maxwell .288 4 16 NC Dinos Eric Thames .321 40 121 KBO Home run leader, KBO SLG leader, KBO All-Star, Golden Glove Award Nexen Heroes Danny Dorn .295 16 70 Samsung Lions Aarom Baldiris .266 8 33 SK Wyverns Héctor Gómez .283 21 62
Attendances
TeamTotal attendanceHome averageDoosan Bears 1,165,020 16,180LG Twins 1,157,646 16,078SK Wyverns 865,194 12,016Lotte Giants 852,639 11,842Samsung Lions 851,417 11,825Nexen Heroes 782,121 10,862KIA Tigers 773,499 10,743KT Wiz 682,444 9,478Hanwha Eagles 660,472 9,173NC Dinos 549,125 7,627
References
External links Official website