The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...

. They are a member of the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the

Korean Series The Korean Series is the final championship series of the KBO League. It has been held since the KBO League's first season in and is the final series of the post-season play-offs. From to 2013, the winner of the Korean Series went on to play in ...

once, in 1999, and the league pennant twice. As of 2022, the Eagles have played in the

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

13 times, being the runner-up in the Korean Series five times.

History

Founded in 1985 as the Binggrae Eagles (

Binggrae Binggrae Co., Ltd. (), is a South Korean food and beverage corporation that manufactures ice cream, milk products, and snacks. Binggrae was founded in 1967 by Hong Soon-ji as Daeil Corporation (). The B in the Binggrae Logo is modeled after a hear ...

was the then-trademark of

Hanwha , former_name = Korea Explosives Group , type = Public , traded_as = , industry = Conglomorate , founded = , founder = Kim Chong-hee , hq_location_city = Seoul , hq_location_country = South Korea , area_served = Global , key_people = K ...

's confectionery branch), they debuted in 1986 as the seventh franchise of the league. Japanese-born pitcher Jang Myeong-bu went 1–18 with a 4.98 ERA in the 1986 season. The team went 31–76 overall in 1986, and Jang retired after the season. The Eagles made it to the

four times in their first seven years of existence (in 1988, 1989, 1991, and 1992), losing each time. In 1993, the club changed its name to Hanwha Eagles after Binggrae's separation from Hanwha conglomerate. Pitchers

Song Jin-woo Song Jin-woo (Hangul: 송진우, Hanja: 宋津宇; born February 16, 1966) is a retired South Korean left-handed pitcher who played for the Hanwha Eagles his entire career. Song played in the KBO League for 21 seasons between and . He current ...

and Jung Min-cheul were the team's one-two punch through the 1990s and much of the 2000s. Song played for the team for 21 seasons, between and . He currently holds several KBO pitching records, including his 210 wins, 2,048

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, and 3,003

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He is the only pitcher in KBO League history to win 200 games, and the only one to strike out 2,000 or more batters. Jung, for his part, played 16 seasons for the Eagles (1992–1999 and 2002–2009). He won at least ten games for the team for eight straight seasons, from 1992 through 1999. The club was renowned for its

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, nicknamed the "Dynamite Bats" in reference to explosive products under one of Hanwha's main business lines. The 1999 championship team was led by American imports

Dan Rohrmeier Daniel Rohrmeier (born September 27, 1965) is a former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners in , and in the Korea Baseball Organization from to for the Hanwha Eagles and LG Twins. Roh ...

and

Jay Davis Jay Davis (born October 3, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois) is a former professional baseball player. He played seven seasons as an outfielder with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Davis had the longest career of a foreign playe ...

, as well as Koreans Song Ji-man and Chang Jong-hoon, and had a slugging percentage of .487, the highest team total in KBO League history. The Eagles made it back to the Korean Series in 2006, again falling short. The Eagles did not make the KBO playoffs for eleven years, from 2008 through 2017, despite going through five managers during that time, including the KBO's two winningest managers, Kim Eung-ryong (2013–2014) and

Kim Sung-keun Kim Sung-keun (Hangul: 김성근, Hanja: 金星根) (born December 13, 1942, in Kyoto, Japan) is a retired South Korean left-handed baseball pitcher and KBO League manager. Over the course of his managerial career, Kim managed seven different ...

(2015–2017).

Han Yong-duk Han Yong-duk (born June 2, 1965) is a South Korean former professional baseball player and former Manager (baseball), manager of the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. Han was signed to a three-year contract in October 2017 to become Eagle's 11th ...

was hired as Eagles' manager in 2018 (he had been a caretaker manager for the team in 2012), and in his first full season he succeeded in bringing the team to the postseason for the first time since 2007. On 7 June 2020, however, Han resigned as manager after a 14th straight loss, and was replaced by the team's minor league manager (and former television announcer), Choi Won-ho. The team also revamped its roster, sending ten players to the minor-league

KBO Futures League KBO Futures League () or Korea Baseball Futures League is South Korea's second level of baseball, below the KBO League. It serves as a farm league with the purpose to develop professional players on-demand to play in the KBO League. The league ...

team — including veterans An Young-myung, Jang Si-hwan, Lee Tae-yang, Song Kwang-min, and

Lee Sung-yul Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

— and bringing up nine players to the KBO League team. After tying the record for the KBO's longest losing streak at 18, on 14 June 2020, the Eagles escaped a 19th-straight defeat after a long struggle: Hanwha won a suspended game against

Doosan Bears The Doosan Bears ( ko, 두산 베어스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and ...

thanks to

Roh Tae-hyung Roh or ROH may refer to: * ''Roh'' (film), a 2020 Malaysian horror film * Roh (name), a Korean surname * Roh, Maré, New Caledonia * Revoluční odborové hnutí, labour union in Czechoslovakia 1945–1990 * Ring of Honor, American professional ...

's walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning. On 27 November 2020,

Carlos Subero Carlos Ingver Subero (born June 15, 1972) is a Venezuelan professional baseball coach and former player. He is currently manager for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. Subero previously served as first base and infield coach for the Milwaukee B ...

was announced as the Eagles' new manager.

Season-by-season records

Personnel

Current lineup

Managers

* Bae Seong-seo (1986–1987) *

Kim Yeong-duk Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

(1988–1992) * Kang Byeong-cheol (1993–1998) *

Lee Hui-su Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

(1998–2000) *

Lee Kwang-hwan Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

(2001–2002) * Yu Seung-an (2003–2004) *

Kim In-sik Kim In-Sik ( ko, 김인식, Hanja: 金寅植) is a former manager of the Korea Baseball Organization. He was the manager of the South Korean national baseball team in the late 2000s and again in the 2010s when he was named as such in June . ...

(2005–2009) * Han Dae-hwa (2010–2012) *

(2012) ''(caretaker)'' * Kim Eung-ryong (2013–2014) *

(2015–2017) *

Lee Sang-gun Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

(2017) ''(caretaker)'' *

(2018–2020) * Choi Won-ho (2020) ''(caretaker)'' *

(2020–present)

Retired numbers

The Eagles have three

retired number Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows upon a player, usually after the player has left the team, retires from the sport, or dies, by taking his or her former number out of circulation. Once a number is retired, no future pla ...

s on their roster. Those are for the slugger Chang Jong-hoon (35), and the pitchers Jung Min-cheul (23) and

(21).

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

Official website
{{Hanwha KBO League teams Baseball teams established in 1985 1985 establishments in South Korea Sport in Daejeon Hanwha