The Lotte Giants ( ko, 롯데 자이언츠) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea ...

. 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 Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation, which also owns the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. History The Marines franchise began in 1950 as the Mainichi Orions, an inaugural ...

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 ...

. From 1982 through 1986, they played at

Gudeok Baseball Stadium Gudeok Baseball Stadium was a baseball stadium in Busan, South Korea. It was the former home stadium of the Lotte Giants The Lotte Giants ( ko, 롯데 자이언츠) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a membe ...

and since then have played at

Sajik Baseball Stadium The Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium is a baseball stadium in Sajik-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It was built in 1985 and is the home stadium of KBO club Lotte Giants. It has a seating capacity of 24,500. It is known as a mecca for Korean ba ...

. They 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 ...

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 ( ko, 부산 갈매기) because the official bird of the city of Busan is the seagull, and their main

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

is Moon Seung-jae's "Busan Seagulls".

History

Origins

The Lotte Giants were founded as an amateur baseball team of the

Korea Baseball Association The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA; ko, 대한야구소프트볼협회) is the governing body of baseball in South Korea. KBA was founded in 1946 as Joseon Baseball Association ( ko, 조선야구협회), and renamed in 1954. KBA has ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, South Korea, on 6 May 1975. On 22 February 1982, the Giants became professional and moved to

, the second-largest city in South Korea.

1980s

The Lotte Giants made their

debut against 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 ...

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 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. ...

, Ryu Du-yeol, and

Sim Jae-won Sim Jae-won (born 11 March 1977) is a South Korean footballer. His previous club was Busan I'Park, Gwangju Sangmu Bulsajo in South Korea and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and Changsha Ginde in China. He has played in the 1997 FIFA World Yo ...

of the

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 ...

postponed joining the Giants to play for the country in the

1982 Amateur World Series The 1982 Amateur World Series was the 27th Amateur World Series (AWS), an international men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (which titled it the Baseball World Cup as of the 198 ...

, held in Seoul. In 1984, the Giants won their first

title in the third season after the KBO League was launched. They beat 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 ...

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 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 ...

Award.한국시리즈 '나홀로 4승' 불꽃투, 우승 이끌다
.

Sports Seoul Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

. Retrieved 8 December 2011. In the 1984 Korean Series, he appeared in five out of seven games, had a 4–1 record (one

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 ...

, three

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 ...

s, 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-kin.

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. He was replaced by Woo Yong-deuk. Late in 2007, the Giants signed American

Jerry Royster Jeron Kennis Royster (born October 18, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball player and coach. He was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. He was ...

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.''Korea JoongAng Daily''
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 the most popular team in the

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 K ...

league. According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were chosen as the most popular team three times in a row. They attracted over 1 million fans to

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.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 2011, they drew over 1 million fans for four consecutive years.

Season-by-season records

Team

Current roster

Retired numbers

The club's first

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 squad number 11. Described as one of the top pitchers in the

Korea Professional Baseball 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 are ...

league, he played for the Giants between 1983 and 1988, and won the

KBO MVP The KBO League Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player judged the most valuable player in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock ba ...

award in 1984. Choi died of cancer in 2011.

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) *

(2008–2010) * Yang Seung-ho (2011–2012) * Kwon Doo-jo (2012) ''(caretaker)'' *

Kim Si-jin Kim Si-jin (Hangul:김시진, Hanja: 金始眞; born March 20, 1958 in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea) is a retired pitcher and a former manager in the Korea Baseball Organization. Playing career Amateur career Upon graduation from ...

(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–present)

References

;General * ;Specific

External links

* * {{Lotte KBO League teams Sport in Busan Baseball teams established in 1975 Lotte Corporation 1975 establishments in South Korea