Sun Dong-yol (; or ; born January 10, 1963) is a South Korean retired

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He was a pitcher in 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 ...

and

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

, and the former manager of the

Samsung Lions The Samsung Lions () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Champ ...

and the

Kia Tigers Kia Tigers ( ko, KIA 타이거즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are ...

in the KBO. Sun is one of the most celebrated pitchers in the history of the KBO League. He was voted

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the league three times, won the

Pitching Triple Crown In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batting achievement of leading a league in batting average, home runs, ...

four times, was awarded six

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

, and was a nine-time KBO All-Star. Sun holds the record for lowest Korea Professional Baseball career ERA, at 1.20, is third all-time in strikeouts, and recorded the top three lowest single-season

ERAs Eras is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Albert Boton and Albert Hollenstein and was released by the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in 1976. Eras is licensed by the Linotype type foundry. A distinct and curious feature of E ...

in KBO League history. His teams won six

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 ...

titles, and his uniform #18 was retired by the Kia Tigers.

Amateur career

Upon graduation from

Gwangju Jeil High School Gwangju Jeil High School ( ko, 광주제일고등학교) is a boys' high school in Gwangju, South Korea. It has 840 students in grades 10, 11, and 12.Keh, Andrew"School Spirit May Be Metaphysical for South Korean Baseball Players,"''New York T ...

,Keh, Andrew
"School Spirit May Be Metaphysical for South Korean Baseball Players,"
''New York Times'' (Oct. 2, 2015). Sun joined the

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

baseball team in 1981. In , Sun competed for the South Korea national junior baseball team in the inaugural

World Junior Baseball Championship The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United S ...

. He tossed a six-hit

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

with 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 win over

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in Game 1 of the final. South Korea eventually won the inaugural championship by defeating USA 3–2 in Game 2 as well, and Sun shared the MVP Award with Team USA

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

Todd Burns Todd Edward Burns (born July 6, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from 1988 to 1993, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics team that won three ...

. In , Sun was called up to the

South Korea national baseball team The South Korean national baseball team ( ko, 대한민국 야구 국가대표팀) is the national baseball team of South Korea. It won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and participated in the Summer Olympic Games of 1984, 1988, 1996, and 2000. At ...

for the 1982 Baseball World Cup hosted by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He led Team Korea to its first champion in the event, posting a 0.31 ERA in 29.0 innings pitched and racking up 3

wins. In South Korea's second game, Sun started against future

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

star

Bill Swift William Charles Swift (born October 27, 1961) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher. Swift played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies. Scholastic career ...

in a matchup of pitchers and notched a five-hit

victory over

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

, allowing only one run and posting 15 strikeouts. In South Korea's final game, he threw a

once again in a 5–2 win over

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was eventually named the MVP and selected to the All-Star team as the best right-handed

. In the

1983 Intercontinental Cup The 1983 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 11 December 1983 between Hamburger SV, winners of the 1982–83 European Cup, and Grêmio, winners of the 1983 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the National Stadiu ...

, Sun was named Best Pitcher, going 3–0 including two

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

wins. In August 1984, Sun competed for the South Korea national team in the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, where they finished 4th in the baseball tournament. He was 1–1 with a 0.56 ERA and 10 strikeouts, allowing only one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

in 16 innings pitched. In October 1984, Sun competed in the

Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament where national baseball teams from around the world competed. It was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). Along with the World Baseball Classic, it was one of two activ ...

again. He was 1–1 with a 0.00 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched, and eventually won the ERA title.

Notable international careers

Professional career

KBO League

Haitai Tigers

Signed by the

Haitai Tigers Kia Tigers ( ko, KIA 타이거즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are a members of the KBO League and are ...

, Sun made his debut in the KBO league against the

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

on July 2, 1985. In his inaugural year, he finished with a 7−4 record, a 1.70 ERA, and 103 strikeouts. That season Sun failed to win the Rookie of the Year award, but won the first of seven consecutive ERA titles as a rookie. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, Sun dominated the league with a record of 24−6 and an ERA of 0.99 with 214 strikeouts in 262.2 innings pitched, and became the second KBO pitcher to win the

(

Park Chul-soon Park Chul-soon (Hangul: 박철순, Hanja: 朴哲淳; also spelled Cheol Sun Park, Bak Cheol-sun; born March 12, 1956) is a former South Korean pitcher in the KBO League who played for the OB Bears. Park batted and threw right-handed. He was the ...

won the first one, in 1983). In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, Sun was 14−2 with a 0.89 ERA and 144 strikeouts, and won the ERA title again and finished 2nd in wins and 3rd in strikeouts. He has pitched one of the finest games of his career in this season: On May 16, in a 2-2 game against the

Lotte Giants The Lotte Giants ( ko, 롯데 자이언츠) 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, which also owns the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Pro ...

, Sun completed a game of

no-decision A no decision (sometimes written no-decision) is one of either of two sports statistics scenarios; one in baseball and softball, and the other in boxing and related combat sports. Baseball and softball A starting pitcher who leaves a game withou ...

through 15 innings – he pitched 232 pitches in total. The opposing pitcher

Choi Dong-won Choi Dong-won (Hangul: 최동원, Hanja: 崔東原) (May 24, 1958 – September 14, 2011) was a South Korean pitcher in the KBO League who played for the Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions. Choi batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Busan. ...

, also regarded as one of the finest in the league, also completed the game, ending up pitching 209 pitches. This matchup of the two Korean ace pitchers is often considered as one of the best moments in Korean baseball history. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, Sun was 16−5, notching 200 strikeouts and a 1.21 ERA, and won the ERA and strikeout titles. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, Sun finished the year by winning his second Pitching Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (21), ERA (1.17) and strikeouts (198). On July 6, 1989, he recorded the fifth

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

in a complete game shut-out in the KBO history against the Samsung Lions. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, Sun won his third Pitching Triple Crown, going 22−6 with a 1.13 ERA and 189 strikeouts, allowing only one home run in 190.1 innings pitched. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, Sun grabbed the fourth of Pitching Triple Crowns with a 19−4 record, a 1.55 ERA, and 210 strikeouts. During the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

season, Sun was on the disabled list for several months. Meanwhile, Tigers' manager

Kim Eung-ryong Kim Eung-Ryong (born September 15, 1941, in Pyongwon County, Pyongwon, South Pyongan Province, South Pyongan, Korea) is a Korean baseball manager. He is the winningest manager in the history of KBO League, Korean professional baseball, having w ...

intended to use him as a

long reliever A long reliever or long-relief pitcher is a relief pitcher in baseball who enters the game if the starting pitcher leaves the game early. Long relievers often enter in the first three innings of a game when the starting pitcher cannot continue, w ...

or closer, and Sun was eventually moved into the closer's role as he came back from injury. In 1992, he saved 8 games and compiled a 0.28 ERA in 32.2 innings pitched. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, his first full season as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, Sun finished with a 10−3 record, a league-leading 31 saves, and 164 strikeouts in 126.1 innings pitched. Though it is very rare for a reliever to get enough innings, he became the first closer relief pitcher to win the ERA title with a 0.78 ERA, pitching more than the required innings to qualify for the title. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he had the only mediocre season of his KBO career. He saved only 12 games with a 6-4 record and 94 strikeouts in 102.1 innings pitched, and his 2.73 ERA was the highest of his career. However, Sun came back strong in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, leading the KBO league with 33 saves and recording a 0.49 ERA in 109.1 innings pitched.

Nippon Professional Baseball

Chunichi Dragons

After the 1995 KBO season, Sun announced that he would leave the KBO league for a move to either

NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. After the announcement, the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

and

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

in NPB swiftly attempted to acquire him to fill bullpen void. In December 1995, Sun managed to sign a contract with the Chunichi Dragons on a four-year loan deal from the Haitai Tigers. On April 6,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, Sun made his NPB debut against

Hiroshima Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

Nagoya Dome The Nagoya Dome (ナゴヤドーム), known as Vantelin Dome Nagoya (バンテリンドームナゴヤ) for sponsoring reasons, is a baseball field, constructed in 1997, located in the city of Nagoya, Japan. The dome has the capacity to seat up ...

, appearing in the 9th inning during the save situation, but got a

blown save In baseball, a save (abbreviated SV or S) is credited to a pitcher who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. Most commonly a pitcher earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team ...

. During his inaugural NPB season, Sun struggled to adjust himself to Japanese style of play, and was sent down to the reserve team of the Dragons several times. He finished the worst year of his career with only 3 saves and a 5.50 ERA, never garnering more than mop-up duties. After the disastrous debut season, Sun performed strongly in the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

season. He led the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

in saves, with 38, posting a 1.28 ERA with 68 strikeouts. During the season, he did not allow any home run in 63.1 innings pitched. Sun also appeared at the 1997 Japan All-Star Game. Sun continued to dominate the league as an elite closer in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, saving 29 games with a 1.48 ERA and 58 strikeouts. in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Sun notched 28 saves (the league's runner-up) and a 2.61 ERA, and allowed only one home run, appearing in 39 games. As a key member of the Chunichi Dragons, he led his team to their first Central League title since 1988. After the 1999 season, the Chunichi Dragons attempted to renew the contract with Sun as the contract was expired, but the Dragons didn't reach agreement on the new contract with Sun's former team Haitai Tigers, which required another loan for the contract extension. Amid controversy, Sun announced retirement on November 22, 1999 after he finally failed to sign with the Dragons. Meanwhile, the Haitai Tigers in the KBO also planned to set his final game with a ceremony in Gwangju, South Korea. However, Sun decided to play his final game in Nagoya, Japan. On March 6, 2000, Sun started the Dragons' first 2000 pre-season game against the

, and threw two pitches against

Hideki Matsui , nicknamed "Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Matsui pl ...

, allowing a single in his final pitch. The game was followed by an elaborate retirement ceremony.

In film

Sun was played by

Yang Dong-geun Yang Dong-geun (; born June 1, 1979) or YDG is a South Korean actor, rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and breakdancer. Yang majored in Theatrical Performance at Yong-In University. Biography Yang enlisted for mandatory military ser ...

in the film ''

Perfect Game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

'' (2011) and Choi Dong-won was played by Cho Seung-woo.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Dong-yol Kia Tigers managers Samsung Lions managers South Korean baseball managers Samsung Lions coaches Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of South Korea Chunichi Dragons players Haitai Tigers players South Korean expatriate baseball players in Japan KBO League Most Valuable Player Award winners KBO League pitchers South Korean baseball coaches South Korean Roman Catholics Korea University alumni 1963 births Living people Baseball players with retired numbers Boseong Seon clan Sportspeople from Gwangju