Samsung Lions History
Copy Intro from previous episode
Opening joke
SA: Today on the show, Mr. J joins us again!
JT: *cheering sounds* Thank you thank you,Last one for awhile cause I go to america (borat voice), but always happy to be here to talk baseball. Certainly this will be less teeth pulling like the football episode. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Coach Hong?
SA: I heard he’s hiding in a laundromat in Koreatown! *joke sting*. Anyway, we’ve got a fun topic today! The Samsung Lions! (sound upbeat) YAY!
JT: (sound depressed) Yaaaaaaaay. As a Kia fan, I’ll try to hold back my bias. (sound peeved) But we have the better stadium and glorious history and the better animal! The lions may be king of the jungle, but the tiger is king of the KBO! Paws down!
SA:(laughing) As usual for an older KBO team, there will be rivalries, player beefs, and sketchy behavior. Get ready for a very deep dive!
Samsung Lions History
SA: The Samsung Lions are one of the OGs of Korean Baseball. They’re one of the first 6.
JT: Do they have a weird origin story like the other teams had?
SA: Not exactly. Samsung was based in Daegu, was a big company in the 70s, and the owner Lee Byeong-cheol was from the Daegu area. The military government wanted a team in Gyeongbuk, so everyone was happy.
JT: They also got a big boost because they could draft players from the best high school teams which were in their region. They were also the richest owners so they were able to bring in 19 players from the business league and 3 college players. To coach the team they brought in Woo Yong-deuk and he also was their backup catcher because reasons.
SA: They only had 5 pitchers that 1982 season, which is odd to me. They ran out of pitchers at Nonghyup? *joke sting*
JT: Unfortunately they overworked Park Young-jin and he couldn’t pitch much later in the year, especially since his shoulder was worn out from all the high school pitching just a few years prior. So technically they only had 4 pitchers.
SA: I tell ya, listeners. Early KBO was something special. Anyway, OB won the first half and Samsung won the second half title, setting up the first Korean Series. Samsung had the momentum and Bears’ ace Park Chul-Soo was injured so this was shaping up to be a very competitive series.
JT: Which did not happen and they got gentlemen swept 4 to 1. The first game ended in a draw after 15 innings, the first draw in KBO history. Samsung won game 2 decisively but OB destroyed them in the following games.
SA: They got little bro’d *joke sting*. They didn’t make the playoffs next season, then in 84 they brought in Kim Yeong-Duk, who led the Bears to the championship. Kinda started a trend of hiring managers that beat you recently in the series. That season, Samsung won the first half championship, then slacked off in the second half. Lotte had a big comeback and took the lead in the second half, and then the quote losing game unquote happened.
JT: The coaching staff figured Lotte would be a better matchup so they deliberately had the team play badly against Lotte in the final games of the season to keep OB from winning the chip. But fans and broadcasters were like, this is so dumb, and the broadcast team even considered stopping the transmission. The reason why was because Samsung dominated Lotte all season and would rather face them.
SA: Did it work?
JT: Oh yes, Lotte took the title, but it haunted the Lions because they lost in 7 games. The key player for Lotte was Choi Dong-won who pitched 40 innings in 5 games and threw 9 innings in game 7. He pitched so hard his nose bled during the party. This series left a huge egg on the team’s face, so next season they won both season titles to skip the series.
SA: Ah yes, the championship that doesn’t count. But it was the highest win percentage in KBO history at 700 so not a loss by any stretch of the imagination. Yet the team didn’t think so and didn’t celebrate the championship in subsequent years. This was possible because the KBO changed their rules to allow skipping the postseason but because it was skipped, they had to change the rules again.
JT: And that’s how we get the 1986 Korea series. Samsung played well and got first place in the first half of the season. OB tied with Haitai for the second half, lost the rubber match, then Samsung played against them in a 5 game playoff thriller. After that experience, they went up against the well-rested Tigers in the Korea series.
SA: And that’s where the infamous soju bottle game happens. In game 1, the Lions had the lead in the seventh inning when a Haitae fan threw a soju bottle and hit Lions reliever Jin in the head, taking him out of the game. *(justin says brutal). Then they had to put in a new reliever but he got shook and the Tigers won game 1. The manager blamed the loss on the fan, which enraged the Lions fans. And that’s when the beef really kicked in.
JT: When Kia won game 3 in Daegu, Lions fans threw bottles at Tigers players, then they blocked the Tigers bus and burned it down. Such passionate fans lemme tell you!
SA: The Tigers manager laughed at the burning and called it a good omen, which it was because they went on to win the series, and started their 1980s dynasty. Game 4 also had a riot which required police to come in and tear gas the Daegu fans.
JT: Never a dull moment when Samsung’s in the series. There’s always drama. But for the rest of the 80s the Lions were competitive, either making the playoffs or the series where they ran into the buzzsaw yet again. They were a bit hamstrung when some more bad luck came their way. A foundational death.
SA: Technically speaking, the main death in the team was of Samsung chairman Lee Byung-cheol. He had lung cancer when he started the team so he was a bit distracted. But he knew the team would become a target for family division and split the team’s shares up in the will. So the family companies control the shares, but not the family members themselves. Daegu city also owns some shares and so does Shinsegae group which is odd because-
JT: Because Shinsegae owns the Landers but they got around this…how?
SA: SSG put its shares of the Landers into Emart to get around the KBO ownerage runs, but they own Emart, so…. yeah? Yeah!
JT: I feel like I slept through business law class *joke sting*.
SA: The key part here is that Daegu city got shares from Samsung’s Lee Kun-hee’s death as a way to pay the inheritance tax. The key takeaway here is that some of the Hyundai Unicorn issues were avoided due to Lee writing a detailed will. Those money matters will be discussed later.
JT: But for the 90s, Samsung had no championships and even a 3 year dark age. They recovered and went to the playoffs in 99 and 2000. Then they made the big swing and brought in the coach that beat them, Tigers Kim Eung-yong. Took 2 tries but they finally won a Korea series in 2002, thanks to star players like Lee Seung-yuop, shortstop Tilson Brito, and pitcher Narciso Elvira, but the hero of the series was Haeyoung Ma who hit the game winning home run in Game 6 against LG.
SA: And with that the curse of 1984 was broken. Samsung, always the maid, became the bride. It only took 8 wedding *joke sting*.
JT: They returned the Korean series in 2004 but there was a big problem. Both the Lions and the Unicorns lost players due to the military service corruption scandal when…am I reading this right? The players hired brokers to fake kidney disease tests by mixing drugs and blood in their urine tests to get a fake test result, then drinking a lot of coffee to get a skewed second test result, and for the grand finale, injecting blood and kidney medicine into their urethra so they could pee out fake piss during the final test. What…the…hell. Why do I always gotta read the weird dick stories?!
SA: We should compile a bunch of these horror cheating stories into a special episode.
JT: Yeah, for halloween because that… ugh the stuff of nightmares. Anyway the Lions lost a bunch of their bullpen pitchers when the scandal broke and they went into the series short-handed and relying on their weaker pitchers.
SA: Still it was an exciting series that went 9 games because of 2 ties and a rainout. But that was the end of Coach Kim, and they replaced him with Coach Sun Dong-yeol. Sun was bolstered by the returning suspended pitchers and the Lions won 2 straight championships.
JT: Could’ve been a dynasty as well if they won in 2004.
SA: They were decent the rest of the decade, making the playoffs 3 out of 4 years. The 10s started well with another trip to the Korean series but they ran into the buzzsaw again, this time the Wyverns cut them down in 4 games. That was the end of Coach Sun, but it meant the start of something new, fresh, and better. After this break.
The Samsung Dynasty and the Dark ages
SA: So now we’re onto the high life of the Lions, the 4 season-
JT: DYN-NASTY *joke sting* because it didn’t end well.
SA: The king wore a tarnished crown, and we’re not just saying that because we’re Tigers fans and we didn’t play them in the series in that period.
JT: So where do we begin with this brief foray?
SA: The fans! Because after 2010 the fan base kinda improved. They went from being seen as grumpy old men who were hostile to other fans, to a more relaxed but excessively proud fanbase.
JT: Winning mellowed them out, huh?
SA: That and the team & league cracked down on some of the worst behaviors like stopping people from hanging off the poles and throwing crap at the players. So instead they took their excessive pride online and would write “I’m a Samsung fan but blah blah blah” in other team chatrooms. American college football fans remember when Alabama fans were like that.
JT: They used to call themselves the chosen ones. So what did they have to be proud of?
SA: Let’s start in 2011, when they promoted Ryu Joong-il to head coach. Since he knew the players, he had a much better start than most new coaches. They also had the Jokka line of relief pitchers! The Jokka line refers to 5 relief pitchers that started at Samsung and became famous in 2011 when all 5 were in top shape and out of trouble.
JT: That would be Hyun-wook Jeong , Seung-hwan Oh , Hyuk Kwon , Oh-jun Kwon, and Ji- man Ahn. Hitting against them was not a laugh. *joke sting* They had the lowest bullpen ERA and only 8 blown saves in 2011. They were only slightly worse in 2012, but still good enough to be the best.
SA: Outfielder Bae Yeong-Seop won rookie of the year and Choi Hyoung-woo hit the most home runs and RBIs that season. This team was so good it won the pennant race, the korea series and beat Fukuoka in the Asian series! The rare triple crown of baseball!
JT: It’s a shame they didn’t continue the Asian Series. Though these days, I think a KBO team might struggle against an Australian team.
SA: 2013 started off rather rough, but not for the team. Samsung Coach Ryu took on the WBC manager role for Team Korea, but things went badly. In Korea they call it the Taichung Disaster because they were eliminated in the group stage, even though they won 2 games. In the tournament rules, Wins and TQB determine if a team advances to the final round and Korea’s TQB wasn’t higher than the Netherlands, which beat them in the first game 5 to 0. There were lots of reasons the team struggled but some of that was due to bad coaching. One JTBC commentator said the team was exhausted from intense training and their batting was sluggish, hence the .237 average over the 3 games. But after some preseason scares, the team got rolling again and won the championship. There they waited and thought they were getting runner-up Twins but the Bears smashed their way from the wild card to the series.
JT: This is where the curse of LG comes in, but the truth of the matter was that LG had only 1 left-handed pitcher. Which against the Samsung collection of left-handed hitters, was a major liability. But it didn’t seem to stop them that much.
SA: Yeah this series went 7 games. Doosan was down 8 players and their starting catcher Yang was banged up. Doosan actually took a 3 to 1 lead, which in the tens was an omen for disaster. Victory was right there and… it got choked away, especially in game 7 when Samsung scored 3 times thanks to an error by Lee Won-seok that led to a big inning. And with that, Samsung became a true dynasty.
JT: And on came the ego-holic fans all over the galleries and fan sites. But while the fans were cheering, the lineup was shifting. What happened?
SA: in 2014 Oh Seung-hwan moved to Japan, so they brought in Lim Chang-yong from the Cubs, who had also won the series with the Haitai Tigers and the Lions. He’s also the guy with all the gambling problems. More on that soon enough.
JT: So the best reliever in the Jokka line was gone, and Oh-Jun Kwon was out for the season with Tommy John’s surgery. But they still had Ahn Ji-man and Kwon Hyuk so their bullpen was still good. It was their great hitting that carried the team, right?
SA: Exactly! They brought in Yamaico Navarro, who overperformed the team’s expectations. Once again, they won the pennant but not easily. This year’s opponent was the Nexen Heroes who came within 0 point 5 games of first place. Some analysts and fans predicted a Heroes upset because they had the slight advantage in hitting.
JT: The Lions had the better pitching and it showed up in Games 3 and 5. They didn’t need it in Game 6 which was an 11 to 1 whooping because Navarro and Choi Hyeon Woo broke their hearts in the walk-off victory in game 5. Complete with dramatic slide at home to close out the childhood fantasy.
SA: Lions love to live on the edge in their titles, huh? Well, from great heights comes the inevitable fall. But here’s the key part- they didn’t fall right away. In 2015 they lost Kwon Hyuk and Rick Vadenhulk to free agency, but they kept Navarro and Koo Ja-wook won rookie of the year. They once again relied on their hitting and decent pitching which got them the pennant. They had 3 weeks off while they waited for their opponent, which turned out to be the… Doosan Bears! A continuation of the Korean Series Rivalry!
JT: Lions Tiger Bears! Oh Korean Series *joke sting*
SA: Unfortunately for the dynasty, a problem surface. Remember Lim? Well, turns out he has gambling problems, which got blasted into the press on October 15th. Apparently after the 2014 korean series, Lim Yoon Seong-hwan, An Ji-man and Oh Seung-hwan went to Macau via Hong Kong to hide the entry on their passports, then got taken by helicopter to a mafia gambling den. With the controversy swirling around their best 3 pitchers, Coach Ryu had no choice but to keep them off the roster. Probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway because Samsung’s offense was pathetic against Dustin Nippert and the Bears.
JT: You can’t expect the pitchers to hit the ball. That’s baseball 101 *joke sting*.
SA: And with a 5 game victory with a 4 game sweep, Doosan Bears repeated their miracle season since they came from 4th place to win it all.
JT: And now we enter the dark ages for the Lions. (make fun of fan sadness)
SA: So where to begin? Hmm, let’s start with free agency. They lost most of the Jokka line, the gambling scandal wounded the team’s image and cost them players, the ownership at Samsung became annoyed with the team and also the CEO Lee Jae Yong was in hot water, and then CEO Lee Kun-hee went to the hospital and turned over controls to Jae Yong.
JT: Who was getting run through the press and the courts over the President Park scandals. Which one was he involved in? The stocks, the ship, or the horses?
SA: The stock thing in exchange for bribery through the Mir Foundation which was where the equestrian scandal came from. Anyway, he was busy and the main owner was sick, so the Lions management was transferred from Samsung to Cheil Worldwide, an affiliate company. While not a factor in the dark ages entirely, they had to make funding cutbacks because of the shipbuilding recession. That’s also why the badminton league and rugby league disappeared and why all the Samsung-owned teams began to suck. Cheil was about to be sold to a French company but apparently running the Lions was a significant problem and the sale was canceled.
JT: Kinda puts a bad spotlight on private equity-run teams. But money wasn’t the only problem, right?
SA: Yeah after 2016 they lost Coach Ryu, and Ahn Ji-man went to prison. They also opened Lapark their new stadium, which you know cost a chunk of change. Their foreign players underperformed, their draft picks were bad because of all the winning, and they had a ton of injuries.
JT: They were falling apart all over the place. What about the fans?
SA: Some of them turned away from the team when those scandals broke, even some called the team the Suwon Samsung Lions. Like, really? They won 4 straight titles!
JT: I can understand some of their consternation but these scandals didn’t happen during the heart of the dynasty. Ut oh you have that face.
SA: But WAIT THERE’S MORE! Around the same time in 2016 as the other scandals, a match-fixing scandal involving a Dinos pitcher hit the press and Ahn Ji-man was being investigated at the same time for…get this… more illegal gambling, this time profiting off of an illegal gambling site he was accused of providing the initial investments for.
JT: He just couldn’t stay out of the spotlight.
SA: But wait there’s more! Remember Yoon Seong-hwan from the earlier gambling scandal? Well, in 2020 he was accused of match-fixing in the Sports Seoul, which triggered an investigation. He was convicted of match-fixing in 2021, it went through the appeals process and he only got 4 days in prison.
JT: 4 DAYS?! That’s like a long weekend! Did they let him bring his pillow *joke sting*?
SA: Well, he was in detention while fighting the case so they counted the time in there as part of the sentence. Anyway he was soon arrested again in 2022 because he and a broker had tried to set up a rigged bet with an illegal Sports TOTO site and asked for 500 million won in return for walking hitters in the first inning, allowing runs before the fourth inning as well as other bets in his planned retirement game on September 27th.
JT: He went into Black Sox territory with this level of vice. I wonder how much lemon soju was involved when he came up with that idea? *joke sting*
SA: Nothing good happens with lemon soju. After that conviction, the KBO changed his name in many of their video game products. I don’t even think you can get his card in official KBO packs.
JT: He also owed 600 million in back taxes as well, if I recall correctly. Talk about the fall of a hero.
SA: BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! Also during this dark age for the team, an umpire payment scandal broke out in 2017. Eventually the Kyunghyang Shinmun revealed that the Lions paid Umpire Choi 4 million won after the 2013 championship to help him settle an assault charge.
JT: Doesn’t seem like that much, at least compared to the Heroes. But it did point to another scandal.
SA: Apparently a whistleblower amongst the umpires said Samsung stopped getting as many favorable calls because when ownership changed in 2015, they stopped giving free tickets to the umpires.
JT: See what happens when you’re cheap, Samsung *joke sting*. So what was this umpire doing to need so much money?
SA: Gambling, of course.
JT: Big surprise there. I didn’t hear much about this case. Was there a coverup?
SA: Kinda sorta. There was the match-fixing case investigation in the press as well so the issue of whether Choi or the other umpires were fixing games kinda went to the wayside. But Kia and Samsung and the other teams had to pay a 10 million won fee. There wasn’t any proof that Choi had rigged games, but suspicions about the 2013 playoffs floated around for a while.
JT: The Lions just couldn’t stay out of trouble, huh?
SA: All the samsung owned teams struggled. One year they even got the grand slam of last place finishes. Talk about embarrassing.
JT: Yoo Jung-geun taking over the team probably fixed some of that. He was the one that coined the phrase WIN OR WOW. Take the wow part anyway you want you to. *joke sting* I think the fans wanted more wow that was a great play and less wowwww our players are injecting blood in their pee-pees again.
SA: Yeah, the year of last-place finishes and the attempt to be 100% profitable kinda hamstrung the team’s chances. They made the playoffs in 2021 but didn’t get to the final round. Things looked bleakest in 2023 but Yoo Jung-geun began the turnaround process in 2024 by revamping the coaching staff and showing he cared.
JT: And the Lions made it to the Korean series, where they ran into their hated rivals the Kia Tigers. As everyone knows, they didn’t stand a chance.
SA: But the fans were coming back and the scandals of the last decade were in the rear-view mirror. And speaking of rivals, time to talk about their big 3!
All the rivalries
JT: We will begin the ultimate rivalry of the KBO and I am not just saying this as I am a KIA fan, but after previous geopolitical battles as which we previously mentioned before this rivalry is the yankees vs redsox of Korea
SA: The only difference being Samsung being a little more successful than the Red Sox with no curse of the bambino, but yes the politics play a huge role in this rivalry. Gwangju being more liberal and Daegu being Conservative, plus the May 18th movement, or even way back in time with Baekje vs Shilla pre-unification wars. The 1986 series was the royal rumble of Korean Series.
JT: A Tigers fan started things off and ruined bringing soju bottles into games as he tossed a bottle at Lions pitcher Jin Dong Han injuring him.
SA: And that followed with multiple postgame riots in Daegu with the Tigers bus fire after throwing projectiles at Haetai Tigers players after the games.
JT: Are you not Entertained? Sun Dong Yeol probably, Don’t you wish it was still like this today? How dare these people become more civilized?! Let the hate in your heart flow free. Well KIA has bested them everytime, so more of a rivalry for Samsung as the tigers have just been their daddy.
SA: Kia is a perfect 12 for 12 in Korean Series and beat the lions in 86, 87, 93 and most recently in 24.
JT: So, what’s their next big rivalry?
SA: They have the Classic Series with the Lotte Giants. Because both teams are near each other, it was easy for fans from both cities to go to road games and invade each others’ stadiums. But compared to Kia and the other rivalries, there’s a lot less beef.
JT: They have met in the playoffs, including the cursed 1984 Korean Series.
SA: True, but with how bad Lotte has been, there have only been 6 playoff meetings and they’re tied up at 3 wins each.
JT: Do they do anything special for the classic series?
SA: They often wear the classic uniforms and show old product ads on the displays. One year they wrote all the players names in Hanja including Darin Ruf’s and also showed the players’ rookie photos or even kid photos during at bats.
JT: So it’s a mellow and fun series. Not surprising but a bit rare for two old teams to be so chummy.
SA: What’s their third big rivalry?
JT: The last rivalry is with the Doosan bears which has been rich, highly competitive and mostly respectful rivalry.
SA: Mostly respectful?
JT: The fans mostly have mutual respect for each other but the competition occasionally boiled over on the field with a couple of bean ball wars in the 1985-87 seasons where they weaponize the bean ball leading to 40 bench clearing standoffs over the years.
SA: So some more Royal Rumbles taking place
JT: Oh ya BROTHERRRR, then in the 1990’s after a couple of lopsided games between the two teams. Samsung won two games 20-3 and 9-1. OB (currently doosan) retaliated by hitting 12 Samsung batters over those two days so bringing back the mid 80s fun
SA: Then June 5th 1990 was the Jamsil riot after OB pitcher Kim Jin Wook threw a dangerous high inside fastball at Samsung Star Kim Yong Cheol as Samsung was leading big in the 6th inning. Obviously this leads to Yong Cheol charging the mound and leads to bench clearing brawl.
JT: and recently the almost brawl in March 2025 when Doosan’s foreigner Cole Irvin almost hit Samsung's Park Byong Ho and they shared their opinions on the matter and people started to come on the field, but no fireworks like in the good ol days.
SA: Cooler heads prevailed.
JT: Unfortunately for us.
Copy Plug for SIM Company from last week’s episode
Famous Foreign Players
SA: We’re gonna talk about a few of their famous foreign players. They don’t have that many, though they’ve consistently had foreign players. I think some of that was due to being cheap during their 2 dark ages, but also because their Korean stars were really good.
JT: When they weren’t getting into trouble. But anyway, I’ll start with Lewin Diaz.
SA:What can you tell us about Diaz?
JT: Well he signed with the Lions as an injury replacement in August 2024 after bouncing around the Florida Marlins organization in the Majors with not fantastic numbers.
SA: So obviously, since we're talking about famous foreign players, he was famously bad right?
JT: I wish, in 2024 he played well enough as an injury replacement to get re-signed in 2025, by batting .282 with 31 hits, 7 of them dingers, and 19 rbi’s in a 29 game stint.
SA: He also is known for his stout defensive skills and gold glove first basemen. With all the errant throws KBO infielders provide, a good first baseman is much needed.
JT: That is correct Mr. S. In his first year my least favorite KIA Tiger player Gang Han wool, who I called Gang han Drool because he was so awful he made me drool for brighter days, was on the Samsung lions so he had his work cut out for him although the lions were smarter than KIA and only let the Han Drool play in 18 games that year, but Diaz had zero errors in 2024 regular season albeit it being 29 games.
SA: Which brings us to his stellar 2025 season where he had a 955 fielding percentage and only making 6 errors in a full season with lions winning a defensive award. But how was his batting that year?
JT: As a Tigers fan I will just say he was ok. He only just put up an unprecedented 50 home runs and 158 RBIs. 50 and 158! That is a single-season league record for a foreign-born hitter.
SA: Ya just terrible stuff nothing to Roar about “Joke Sting” How has he done this year?
JT : Let’s just say the lions were considered a betting favorite, but at the start of the season they were like Paper lions, that's the correct idiom right?
SA: You becha, Mr. J.
JT: Well lions fans were counting on Diaz to lead the team with all their big signings and he and the team have got off to a slow start, his family was even the target of Korean cyber bullying.
SA: As the sports world has learned Korean sports fans don’t take losing very well. Coach Hong I believe is now swimming back towards the US. “Joke Sting”.
JT: Well Diaz quote un quote had a message for lions fans Why do you attack my wife whenever I can't hit or the game isn't going well? My wife is not a baseball player. Please, just keep that in mind." This a good message for all fans to take a chill pill.
SA: Especially for foreign players as they’re counted on tobe the saviors of their team.
JT: Well he and Samsung have come storming back and no longer are paper lions as they had a huge series this week before the all star break taking (1 or 2 of three) and now only sit or are tied first pending thursday results) In partly as Diaz has obviously woken up his bat maybe because cyber bullying might work “joke sting” as he has hit a recent power surge after a slow start he was able to raise his average 289 his last ten games he has been a monster going 16 for 45 with 11 RBIs and 3 dingers. Leading Samsung to 8 wins and 2 losses over their last ten games, so he has been a catalyst for this Paper Lion team.
SA: So, he is pretty good.
JT:He’s alright he would look much better in Tigers red, but Who’s your pick?
SA: Pitcher David Andrew Buchanan, one of the bright spots from the second dark age. Yeah the team was ass and COVID was going on, but he’s kinda famous among fans for reaching out to them.
JT: The fun guy, huh? I said Fun guy not fungi. You listeners gotta wash your fingers and toes more often this season. *joke sting*
SA: Yeah it’s black mold season out here. Be ready to pull all your wallpaper off. Anyway, he played 4 seasons for the team and was nicknamed the entry-level Greineke because he resembled him and has a similar pitching style. His first two years were very good with 15 wins and a 3.27 average ERA.
JT: He actually got better in the later 2 seasons, even though he had fewer strikeouts and time away because of an injury and the rest of the team was ass.
SA: He also carried the team into the playoffs in 2021. But he lost against Doosan because the offense went belly up and the bullpen couldn’t stop Park Se-hyeok. He had a quality start, though.
JT: I can see why the fans liked his performance but what else did they like?
SA: He was quite the jokester on camera and goofed off a lot. He gave a kid a game-worn uniform after the last game of the season and signed autographs, even though this was technically not allowed in 2020. He gave out pre-signed photo cards to fans he met while eating out, and he even went to Gyeongsan High and elementary to teach a special class!
JT: A real pillar of the community. Not that I’m saying all players have to be, but if you’re listening, Mr. Castro, you can come to my classroom and sign autographs. It’ll help your fan service ratings *joke sting*.
SA: Sorry Mr. Castro but you can’t come to my classroom. I have a lot of Lions fans in mine. They might bite your ankles! *joke sting*
Current team
SA: Let’s talk about the current team. This past week, they’ve been moving up the standings as you mentioned Diaz being a Catalyst.
JT: After an exciting finish to last night's game. They just finished a battle with LG for the top stop, with 2 wins and 1 loss.
SA: What happened in last night's game?
JT: Back and forth game with LG jumping to a 3-1 lead only for Samsung to come back and be up 6-3 in the top of the ninth. It felt like a playoff atmosphere, Saves leader 김재윤 came in and walks the first batter Pinch hitter Moon Sung Joo, next batter Hong Chang Gi hits a double down the left field line. Park Hae Min HIts ball to first scoring Sung Jo and advancing Chang gi to third. And this is where it gets exciting, felt like a playoff game. Kim Jae Yoon takes the next three batters Austin, Song Chan Hui, 박동원 all full counts, walking in one run. LG just needs a hit to the outfield and Chun Sung Ho swings at the first pitch and ends the game with a 6-4 double play to end the game 6-5.
SA: Exciting indeed
JT: They also won on Tuesday night 9 to 2 with Ariel Jurado on the mound. Jurado also beat them in Jamsil 2 weeks ago. He’s got the cheat codes again! *joke sting*
SA: The press like Osen Online called it a preview of the Korean series. (sound uncertain) I don’t know if I wanna give Samsung an automatic bid at this point. (end)
JT: Again at the start of the year they were the betting favorites as they were able to keep Jurado, Diaz and they were able to get one of my favorites an aging star Choi Hyong Woo from Kia, but technically KIA stole him first.
SA: The guy is 42 and still hitting 329 with 12 bombs and 65 RBI’s over 80 games.
JT: This guy is the Alexander Ovechkin of the KBO. The historical leader in RBI’s and playing into his 40’s he has that ovechkin blood. He hasn’t really slowed down.
SA: They also have star outfielders Goo Ja Wook and Kim Ji Chan both joining Hyong woo in the top 10 of KBO batting averages and as you mentioned before Diaz is starting to heat up he might end up top 10 in batting average if he keeps his current hot streak going.
JT: They got 5 batters in the top 20 of batting averages and Ryu Ji Hyuck is sitting at 21. So ya their offense is really good carrying their pitching staff. Who are the foreigners on the staff?
SA: It’s a little hard to write about their foreign pitchers because of a press conference with Lee Jong-yeol in which he said they are looking at 3 foreign pitchers. Matt Manning is out with an elbow injury and Jack O'Loughlin’s been inconsistent. So by the time you listeners hear this, everyone except Jurado may be gone.
JT: The pitching staff outside of reliever Kim Jae Yoon who leads league in saves with 21 and Jurado who has great, league leading ERA of 2.17 with 17 games and 13 quality starts but only 5 wins to show for his efforts and Korean Ace 원태인 who started the year with some injury problems that flared up during the world baseball classic has been solid tying Jurado with 5 wins. Then Choi Ji Kwan, a solid reliever with 4 wins but now has a muscle strain, so not sure if he will be available after the all star break. Which is this weekend!
SA: So they are relying on their bats.
JT: For the most part, and Jurado. But they have their strongest asset; their stadium! And we’re gonna give you the juicy details on that, after the break.
Stadium notes
SA: And now it’s time to talk about the stadiums. Plural in this case because their first one was legendary.
JT: Legendarily awful in its later years! *joke sting*
SA: Indeed. The Lions started playing in Daegu Civic which was open in 1948, so it was already old when they moved in. I saw some old 1950s photos and they didn’t even have seats behind the dugout! Just a hill with a fence! Also, they built it in the model of northern American stadiums, so the sun in the summer hits the 1st base stands and dugout, almost blinding the team there.
JT: Hence why the Lions almost always used the 3rd base dugout. Sneaky little gits, but can you blame them?
SA: Because of Daegu’s bowl-like surroundings and the wind patterns, Daegu gets a bit less rain than other places around the country. They called the stadium a natural dome and whenever there were rainouts, Daegu citizens would ask who left the roof open.
JT: But there were some big problems; artificial turf added in 95 that gave off a haze on very hot days that made it harder to catch balls, the space between home plate and the wall was too long, and there was no bullpen space so the pitchers sat outside and the drunk fans would roast them. That’s the kind of fan engagement we all want!
SA: Also in the later years the stadium had power problems. In the 8th inning of a game against Doosan, the stadium lights went out in the middle of a play! The fans turned on their cell phone flashlights but even with the help of the moon, there wasn’t enough light and the game was postponed. I’ll leave the video clip in the show notes.
JT: There was also the incident in the 2010 playoffs when the grounds crew turned off the infield lights too soon after SK won the game so the team pictures came out dark. They said the fireworks were supposed to go off after the game but they got the timing wrong. Occam’s Razor says not to assume malice when incompetence is a better answer, but these are the Lions we’re talking about here. I’m willing to believe the operator thought the fireworks were supposed to go off right after the game, but that might be a stretch.
SA: Ohhh, we gotta tell the story!
JT: What story?
SA: The fireworks story! After a game in 2011 that Oh Seung Hwan got his 200th save, fireworks went off but hit the top of the scoreboard and set it on fire! Oh himself made a joke about running out there to help put the fire out.
JT: I hope they didn’t bill him because the firework show was to celebrate him. But we know how cheap Samsung ownership can be, at least post 2015.
SA: These incidents led the team to get the new stadium built. They went with a new stadium in Suseong-gu close to Gyeongsan in the suburbs. Called Lions Park or LaPark for short, it opened in 2016, and points to the northeast so the 1st base dugout only gets a bit less sun now. A much needed improvement.
JT: They also put more seats on 3rd base, including in the upper deck. Gotta drown out those obnoxious drummers! It also has the most seats at 24 thousand, which is useful when you wanna go to a game.
SA: They also do this thing with the exterior lighting along the promenade which turns blue if the team’s winning and red if they’re losing and both colors when it’s tied. Needless to say, they had to change the red bulbs a bit more often than the blue ones over the past 10 years.
JT: Lapark is an extreme hitters park according to its dimensions. It’s like Coors Field but without the altitude. The wind direction, the octagonal shape at the corners, the higher temperatures, and the clearer sightlines for the batters makes it easier to hit home runs here than elsewhere. Because of that, Samsung had trouble signing free agent pitchers, especially for their bullpen, because they knew their ERAs would get rocked. Nowadays under the current coach and GM, they pick ground-ball pitchers more often. The away teams will naturally have to adapt to this when pitching there, but when they can’t, outfield fans are advised to bring a glove.
SA: If you have young kids, I suggest with a STRONG caveat that you pick the outdoor family seats because there’s a sandlot for them to play in. Namu Wiki says the kids there cause chaos and cry too much but the main problem is the wind will blow sand in your face. So pick these at your discretion. The Kia Tigers fan in me would like to point out that the Champions field sandlot kids are MUCH better behaved.
JT: There’s a camping zone where you can set up a tent behind the 1st base seats. Let me see the price… (sound shocked) 270 THOUSAND on WEEKENDS! Bruh… you can buy a tablet and a TVIng subscription and watch the game anywhere outside! They act like everyone got that Chip-making bonus money *joke sting*.
SA: Indeed. But most seats are more reasonably priced and even the tables aren’t that expensive.
JT: (regular voice) What about the food? That’s always your #1 interest when going to games.
SA: They certainly have a lot more than Daegu Stadium’s 1 convenience store. I wish their website had a comprehensive list but their site looks like it was coded back in the 2000s. Never change Cheil Worldwide! So I found a fan blog that listed all their options. They’ve got matchang and samgyepsal.
JT: Smells good from here.
SA: They also got off-brand Tex-mex with grapefruit beer and 42k fajita platters.
JT: Overpriced Tex-mex is on-brand.
SA: The blogger said the birra tacos were really good. Anyway they also got patbingsu, mandu, a yogurt place, a sulbing place with some wild flavors, a bobae stand with some jjangjang dishes, and in the House of Lions pub they’ve got a blue cheese burger, tripe tacos, and a Kang Min-ho inspired sandwich that has a baseball shaped cheeseball in the middle, along with a dessert place called Mont Blanc with the spaghetti ice cream.
JT: (Say something about the food) The Lions fans say they have the best food in the KBO and their selection’s like being in a premium food court. But I don’t think they have pizza. The non-Lions fans say Sajik and Landers Field has the best. So anyway how do fans get to the stadium?
SA: The easiest way to get there would be to take Daegu subway line 2. Get off at Suseong Alpha City Station. There are some tricks you can do depending on your point of origin. If you’re coming from the south by train, it’s faster to get off at Gyeongsan station and take bus 399 or 991 to the stadium.
JT: It is possible to drive there, but there are only 852 parking spots for fans so you’ll want to park at least 3 hours before game time. Either that or park at the art museum and take the free shuttle bus. The city lets people park in front of the stadium but you’re taking a risk that spots will be there. If you do decide to drive, get off at Suseong IC and the stadium is 5 minutes away. Good luck to you should you decide to because you will need it!
Worst Persons
Bulwha Award: Kiwoon for being so bad they wanna change the draft system
Nap: Incheon united fans trolling with QR code, but team still lost (check on Reddit)
Radon: Baejae High School for mocking Gwangju high school with chants about Tank Day
Plutonium: The KFA.
SA: There’s that music again! We’ve got worst persons in the Korean Sports world!
JT: So many this time, but to be honest, we could have made Coach Hong the winner in all 3 categories. *joke sting*
SA: I REALLY wanted to, but then the rest of the sports world couldn’t stay out of damn trouble for 1 week. Didn’t they learn some nunchi in school?! Anyway, we start with the Bulwha or Fluoride award, which goes to…. Kiwoon Heroes for being soooo consistently bad the KBO is exploring changes to the draft system according to reports in the Joongang Daily.
JT: They’re the Cleveland Browns of Korean baseball at this point.
SA: In 2022 MLB and the players union agreed to a draft lottery system around the 16 non-playoff teams. In Korea, the KBL and V-League both use the draft lottery system. It’s not an unheard of system here.
JT: (make a joke about tanking)
SA: (respond to joke) Also, part of the problem that led to this discussion was ending the regional draft pick system in 2023. But as many have said before, Kiwoon acts like an MLB farm team which makes money training rookies to sell to MLB, like they’ve done with 3 former players.
JT: It also doesn’t help that they haven’t spent the posting fees on team improvements.
SA: According to the article, the KBO also decided to introduce a minimum team payroll beginning in 2027. That should curb some of the Heroes’ cheapass tendencies, but they will need to become competitive.
JT: Or offer great ticket deals to away fans. Hey, if the home team’s bad, why not attract away fans? A ticket’s a ticket in the end.
SA: They gotta come up with something soon.
JT: And now we have an amusing winner for the Nap award which goes to… Incheon United’s Ultra fans! Apparently Incheon fans stuck a flyer with a QR code around some of the poles around Sangam stadium prior to the July 4th game against Seoul. When people scanned the QR code it took them to an image of Incheon fans trampling on stolen FC Seoul banners.
SA: That’s both mean and funny. Did the team get word of Incheon’s trolling?
JT: If they did, it certainly worked because FC Seoul won 1 to nothing! This Bap Light’s for you, trolling Incheon United fans! Because without you, your team wouldn’t be extra embarrassed for losing a winnable game against the best team in the league.
SA: Yup. Perhaps y’all should’ve sent your own team some motivational messages instead.
SA: Time for the Radon award, and whooo boy it’s a hot one today.
JT: Another murder mystery involving taekwondo coaches?
SA: Hahaha not today! Today we have a BaeJae high school baseball team winning the award for taunting Gwangju Jeil with Tank day chants and "Let's go to Starbucks" which was a reference to the starbucks ads on May 18th that were seen as derogatory insults to the May 18th democracy movement and massacre. The starbucks CEO had to resign over those ads and the head office in the US almost seized the franchise from Shinsegae.
JT: Those high schoolers probably should’ve remembered that part before chanting those phrases.
SA: The Gwangju Jeil coach and the umpire told them to knock it off. Then the KBSA had voted to suspend Paichai High School's baseball team from all national tournaments for six months. Then they went to Gwangju to go to the movement memorial sites and the graveyard and apologize to the team. As of press time, the team is appealing their suspension.
JT: There’s a bigger problem. Because Kia Tigers and other scouts were there, they know the faces and names of the players, so you know they’re gonna get put on a blacklist. Teams have enough controversies to deal with and don’t want a fan uproar for accidentally picking a player that insulted their city.
SA: It’s a tough lesson for high school players to learn. I’ve heard rumors that some of the players knew what they were doing, and that they got the idea from the infamous site Ilbe. I know they’re young and not wise to the ways of the world, but you gotta have some self respect and stay outta bad places like that. Otherwise you wind up like Samsung players gambling in Macau and your career’s shredded.
JT: And now we go onto the Plutonium award which is a big continuation from last week’s main story. Let’s not beat around the bush. It’s the KFA, it’s always the KFA. But we’ve got breaking news *glass breaking sound* (Sound defensive) that wasn’t me!
SA: I hate when news breaks. Now I gotta sweep up all the glass. *joke sting*
JT: As the week went by, more news stories about corruption at the KFA have come out. We knew the locker room drama leaks were a bit of a distraction.
SA: And now we know why. News broke today that the KFA leadership committed voter fraud in the most recent election of chairman Chung Mong-gyu. KFA leadership contacted referees to get them to vote for Chung in exchange for favorable referee placements, according to a leaked phone call sent to KBS news.
JT: What was that old saying? “Lordy, there are tapes”.
SA: In Korea, yes. On the tapes, an unidentified person that might be a referee evaluator offers to get the listener a spot in the lower leagues in exchange for votes. The day after the election, the polls show Chung won with 85 percent of the vote.
JT: There’s been a lot of chatter for years that the election was sus, and they’re not beating that allegation.
SA: Right you are Mr. J! It is because of all this bad behavior that the Ministry of Sports has put together a committee with soccer legend Park Ji-Seung and Olympic chief Ryu Seung-min to overhaul the KFA and football in general, according to recent reports.
JT: FIFA might step in but their rules say the involvement cannot be political. The minister is claiming they can make changes without the national teams getting suspended from international play. That’s a gamble they’re willing to take.
SA: And with that, Chung’s actions have put the entire Korean football system in jeopardy. That’s why the KFA is the WORST PERSONNNN in the Korean Sports World!
GOTW
SA: (KLPGA Open at High1 resort in Gangwon, Suwon FC vs Jeonnam Friday, Gyeongju WFC vs Incheon Red Angels Saturday, Incheon vs Anyang)
JT: (all-star games tonight and Saturday. You should also mention the home-run derby Friday after Future’s League’s game./High school baseball tournament finale)
SA: Today on Game of the Week, I’m going with an unexpected choice. I’m picking a sport I usually don’t cover.
JT: We try not to just stick with our favorites here.
SA: This weekend High1 resort in Gangwon is hosting the KLPGA Ladies Open from yesterday to Sunday. The prize is…let me say it with Austin Powers flair… 1 BILLION WON!
JT: You can’t see it but he’s doing the pinkie thing too.
SA: If you wanna go you can get tickets on Ticket24. I’ll include the link in the show notes. You might wanna bring an umbrella and a lightning rod if you go on Saturday. But Sunday should be fine. What’s on your list, Mr. J?
JT: BASEBALL BASEBALL BASEBALL KBO all star extravaganza is going to kick off with the homerun derby Friday night at Jamsil, who is hitting?
SA: Based on fan voting the top 8 will be Kim Do young Kia, Yang Oui Ji Doosan, Park Joon Soon Doosan, Austin Dean LG, Gang Baek Ho Hanhwa, Moon Hyun Bin Hanhwa, Kim Joo won NC, Hu In Seo Hanhwa. Who you taking to win ten million wons?
JT: I got Kim Do Young as a fan of the tigers, but honestly Austin Dean most likely and my non biased opinion, How about you Mr. S?
SA: (your choice) Also don’t forget to watch the all star game on Saturday July 11th, 6 pm Dream All stars (made up of bear, lions, giants wiz and landers) and team Nanum made up of Twins Tigers Eagles Heroes and Dinos) I am taking team ___________
JT; I will be taking Nanum they just have the better hitters in my opinion. What is your next pick?
SA: My next pick is K-League with 3 nights of games to work with. Friday night’s good game will be Suwon Fc vs Jeonnam in 수원 종합 at 7:30. Both teams haven’t played each other since 2020 because Suwon went up to K1. Both teams have earned points lately so expect it to be an interesting match.
JT: Until Jeonnam runs out of gas and gets whomped again.
SA: That has a habit of happening, yes. Saturday’s game is from the women’s side with Gyeongju WFC hosting Incheon Red Angels at 7pm. Incheon’s been good but so has Gyeongju lately. It has been at least 10 days since Incheon has played so they might be a bit rusty.
JT: The Swans just got a returning player from a Montreal team but we’ll wait a few matches before recommending any of theirs again.
SA: And on Sunday we’ve got Incheon hosting Anyang at 7pm. I already recommended a Seoul game this month and they were mid according to the footie boffins so I’m giving us a better chance with these two.
JT: Both teams are mid table so they need wins to get into contention and stay out of the relegation table. But don’t count out Gangwon. Anyway all the K-League games will be on Coupang and cable so if you don’t wanna get wet, tune in from the comfort of your home.
SA: Hopefully your house won’t get struck by lightning like mine did. Still can’t believe the water heater and the phone blew up!
JT: I’ve got one more for the weekend. (High school baseball)BLUE Dragon Highschool Championship Saturday July 11th between (winners today barring weather) AS Thursdays semi were cancelled during the rain we got games going on as we speak the final four is gyeonbuk from daegu fittingly as we did Samsung lions they play Masan Yongma in game 2 today (in my opinion the most exciting game I watched was them beat wooshin go with an amazing game saving catch. Game 1 currently in a rain delay 1-1 in the top of the third between Sekwang Go vs Baemyeweong go which I haven’t seen either of those teams yet, but my game of the week is the Championship game which was originally planned for Saturday but now moved to Sunday july 12th 10am spotv. I am really looking forward to that as KBO is on all star break. How about you Mr. S you going to watch it?
Mr. S Response
Ending
(copy from last week)
JT: A shoutout to our listeners in Amman Jordan! Home of the….how do I say this? Inglizia basketball team, one of the newest teams in the Jordan Premier League!
SA: In English, they’re called the New English School team. So an international school sponsors a pro team, I guess.
JT: Do oil barons send their kids there? Or more importantly, do the kids that go through their program get to play for the pro team after graduation? That’s what I wanna know.
SA: I don’t think it’d work here in Korea, since the chaebols are too cheap to run their own boarding schools. In America, it’d be really odd in every sport except for soccer. Imagine the Green Bay Packers running a boarding school. Half the club sports would be drinking games *joke sting*.
JT: We’ll be back in 2 weeks with Water sports in Korea!
SA: Bring your swimsuit, Korean Sports fans!
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwai-ting sports podcast get nails done at Pavlova nail salon, the most stylish nail salon on the peninsula! Get your nails pressed and stylized like the overpaid matron of your dreams! Bite your nails too often? Our well-trained nail stylists from the alleys of Yalta will rap your knuckles for each bite! Want Wolverine claws? They can make it happen! (speed up this part) High risk of fungal infection!
NOTES
Daegu Civic Stadium baseball field - NamuWiki
Daegu Samsung Lions Park - NamuWiki
Haitai Tigers Bus Arson Case - NamuWiki
Samsung Lions' Diaz Battles Fan Criticism, Manager Pleads for Support
Baekjae High School Baseball Team Mocks Gwangju Democratization Movement
2015 Samsung Lions expedition gambling incident - NamuWiki
Yoon Sung -hwan/Controversy and incidents - NamuWiki
KBO League Referee Choi Gyu-soon Money Demand Case - NamuWiki
Samsung to seek 3–4 foreign pitchers, may replace current import during All-Star break - CHOSUNBIZ