LG Twins
LG Twins (Korean: LG 트윈스) is a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul, South Korea. They are a member of the KBO League. The Twins play their home games at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, which they share with their rival, the Doosan Bears;[1] the stadium is known as "Two families under one roof."
| LG Twins | |||||
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| LG 트윈스 | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| League | KBO League (1982–present) | ||||
| Location | Seoul, South Korea | ||||
| Ballpark | Jamsil Baseball Stadium (1982–present) | ||||
| Year established | 1982 | ||||
| League championships | 1983,[lower-alpha 1] 1990, 1994 | ||||
| Korean Series championships | 1990, 1994 | ||||
| Former name(s) | MBC Chungryong (1982–1989) | ||||
| Colors | Black, maroon and grey | ||||
| Retired numbers | 9, 41 | ||||
| Ownership | LG Corporation | ||||
| Manager | Ryu Joong-il | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
| Uniforms | |||||
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The LG Twins are one of the most popular baseball teams in Korea. They gained many fans in the 1980s–2000s, most of whom live in Seoul.
History
The club was first established in 1982 as MBC Chungyong (translation MBC "Blue Dragons"), owned by the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. For the very first half-season in 1982 the team played at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium; in the fall season of 1982 the team moved to their current home, Jamsil Baseball Stadium. (In 1985, the OB Bears [now the Doosan Bears] began using the same stadium as their home park.)
The Chungyong were initially led by player-manager Baek In-chun, a Korean who had spent 19 seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Incredibly, at age 38, Baek led the league in hitting in 1982, with a record-setting .412 batting average[2] (albeit in only 298 plate appearances). As manager, Baek brought the Japanese "small ball" technique to his team, focusing on sacrifice bunts, stolen bases, and sacrifice flies.[2] Although the team finished above .500 in 1982, Baek was let go by the team after the season.
In 1989, the franchise was acquired by LG Corporation, which renamed the team the LG Twins. The Twins won the Korean Series in 1990—the first year with their new name—under the returned Baek In-chun (now a full-time manager). They again won the KBO championship in 1994. The Korean Series MVP was Kim Yong-soo in both Series. Kim's number, 41, was for many years the only retired number of the team, before Lee Byung-kyu's number 9 was retired on July 9, 2017, in a ceremony that took place both before and after the game against the Hanwha Eagles.
Season-by-season records
| Season | Stadium | League | Finish | Regular season | Postseason | Awards | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win% | BA | HR | ERA | ||||||
| MBC Chungyong | ||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium | KBO | 3/6 | 3/6 | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0 | .550 | .282 | 65 | 3.51 | Did not qualify | |
| Jamsil Baseball Stadium | 3/6 | 40 | 24 | 16 | 0 | .600 | ||||||||
| 1983 | KBO | 2/6 | 3/6 | 50 | 25 | 24 | 1 | .510 | .256 | 45 | 2.72 | Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers (0–1–4) | ||
| 1/6 | 50 | 30 | 19 | 1 | .612 | |||||||||
| 1984 | KBO | 4/6 | 3/6 | 50 | 27 | 22 | 1 | .551 | .253 | 47 | 3.19 | Did not qualify | ||
| 3/6 | 50 | 24 | 26 | 0 | .480 | |||||||||
| 1985 | KBO | 5/6 | 5/6 | 55 | 24 | 31 | 0 | .436 | .246 | 37 | 3.24 | Did not qualify | ||
| 6/6 | 55 | 20 | 34 | 1 | .370 | |||||||||
| 1986 | KBO | 3/7 | 4/7 | 54 | 28 | 22 | 4 | .560 | .265 | 37 | 2.78 | Did not qualify | Kim Keon-woo (ROTY) | |
| 3/7 | 54 | 31 | 19 | 4 | .620 | |||||||||
| 1987 | KBO | 5/7 | 5/7 | 54 | 24 | 27 | 3 | .472 | .258 | 36 | 3.36 | Did not qualify | ||
| 4/7 | 54 | 26 | 24 | 4 | .519 | |||||||||
| 1988 | KBO | 6/7 | 7/7 | 54 | 17 | 35 | 2 | .333 | .260 | 42 | 3.95 | Did not qualify | Lee Yong-chul (ROTY) | |
| 6/7 | 54 | 23 | 29 | 2 | .444 | |||||||||
| 1989 | KBO | 6/7 | 6/7 | 120 | 49 | 67 | 4 | .425 | .252 | 42 | 4.28 | Did not qualify | ||
| LG Twins | ||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Jamsil Baseball Stadium | KBO | 1/7 | 1/7 | 120 | 71 | 49 | 0 | .592 | .271 | 61 | 3.38 | Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–0) | Kim Dong-soo (ROTY) |
| 1991 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 126 | 53 | 72 | 1 | .425 | .244 | 53 | 4.38 | Did not qualify | ||
| 1992 | KBO | 7/8 | 7/8 | 126 | 53 | 70 | 3 | .433 | .257 | 108 | 4.29 | Did not qualify | ||
| 1993 | KBO | 4/8 | 4/8 | 126 | 66 | 57 | 3 | .536 | .256 | 74 | 3.07 | Won Semi-playoff vs. OB Bears (2–1) Lost Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–3) | ||
| 1994 | KBO | 1/8 | 1/8 | 126 | 81 | 45 | 0 | .643 | .282 | 88 | 3.14 | Won Korean Series vs. Taepyoungyang Dolphins (4–0) | Yu Ji-hyeon (ROTY) | |
| 1995 | KBO | 3/8 | 2/8 | 126 | 74 | 48 | 4 | .603 | .257 | 79 | 3.21 | Lost Playoff vs. Lotte Giants (2–4) | ||
| 1996 | KBO | 7/8 | 7/8 | 126 | 50 | 71 | 5 | .417 | .246 | 98 | 4.11 | Did not qualify | ||
| 1997 | KBO | 2/8 | 2/8 | 126 | 73 | 51 | 2 | .587 | .267 | 83 | 3.78 | Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers (1–4) | Lee Byung-kyu (ROTY) | |
| 1998 | KBO | 2/8 | 3/8 | 126 | 63 | 62 | 1 | .504 | .267 | 100 | 4.18 | Won Semi-playoff vs. OB Bears (2–0) Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions (3–1) Lost Korean Series vs. Hyundai Unicorns (2–4) | ||
| 1999 | Magic League | 3/8 | 3/4 | 132 | 61 | 70 | 1 | .466 | .281 | 145 | 5.49 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2000 | Magic League | 4/8 | 1/4 | 133 | 67 | 63 | 3 | .515 | .273 | 122 | 4.45 | Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears (2–4) | ||
| 2001 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 58 | 67 | 8 | .464 | .276 | 85 | 5.13 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2002 | KBO | 2/8 | 4/8 | 133 | 66 | 61 | 6 | .520 | .261 | 100 | 3.94 | Won Semi-playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns (2–0) Won Playoff vs. Kia Tigers (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (2–4) | ||
| 2003 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 60 | 71 | 2 | .458 | .249 | 106 | 4.01 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2004 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 59 | 70 | 4 | .457 | .259 | 102 | 4.38 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2005 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 126 | 54 | 71 | 1 | .432 | .260 | 105 | 4.90 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2006 | KBO | 8/8 | 8/8 | 126 | 47 | 75 | 4 | .385 | .246 | 81 | 4.22 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2007 | KBO | 5/8 | 5/8 | 126 | 58 | 62 | 6 | .483 | .268 | 78 | 4.34 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2008 | KBO | 8/8 | 8/8 | 126 | 46 | 80 | 0 | .365 | .256 | 66 | 4.88 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2009 | KBO | 8/8 | 8/8 | 133 | 54 | 75 | 4 | .406 | .278 | 129 | 5.42 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2010 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 57 | 71 | 5 | .445 | .276 | 121 | 5.23 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2011 | KBO | 6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 59 | 72 | 2 | .450 | .266 | 94 | 4.15 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2012 | KBO | 7/8 | 7/8 | 133 | 57 | 72 | 4 | .442 | .261 | 59 | 4.02 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2013 | KBO | 3/9 | 2/9 | 128 | 74 | 54 | 0 | .578 | .282 | 59 | 3.72 | Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears (1–3) | ||
| 2014 | KBO | 4/9 | 4/9 | 128 | 62 | 64 | 2 | .492 | .279 | 90 | 4.58 | Won Semi-playoff vs. NC Dinos (3–1) Lost Playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (1–3) | ||
| 2015 | KBO | 9/10 | 9/10 | 144 | 64 | 78 | 2 | .451 | .271 | 114 | 4.62 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2016 | KBO | 4/10 | 4/10 | 144 | 71 | 71 | 2 | .500 | .290 | 118 | 5.10 | Won Wild Card vs. Kia Tigers (1–1)* Won Semi-playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (3–1) Lost Playoff vs. NC Dinos (1–3) | ||
| 2017 | KBO | 6/10 | 6/10 | 144 | 69 | 72 | 3 | .489 | .281 | 110 | 4.32 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2018 | KBO | 8/10 | 8/10 | 144 | 68 | 75 | 1 | .476 | .293 | 148 | 5.29 | Did not qualify | ||
| 2019 | KBO | 4/10 | 4/10 | 144 | 79 | 64 | 1 | .476 | .267 | 94 | 3.89 | Won Wild Card vs. NC Dinos (1–0) Lost Semi-playoff vs. Kiwoom Heroes (1–3) | ||
| 2020 | KBO | 4/10 | 144 | 79 | 61 | 4 | .564 | Won Wild Card vs. Kiwoom Heroes (1–0) Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears (0–2) | ||||||
| Overall record | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win% |  | ||||||||
| Regular Season | 4913 | 2347 | 2455 | 111 | .489 | |||||||||
| Postseason | 97 | 46 | 50 | 1 | .479 | |||||||||
| Total | 5010 | 2393 | 2505 | 112 | .489 | |||||||||
Personnel
Current lineup
LG Twins roster | ||||||
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| Players | Coaches/Other | |||||
| Pitchers Starting rotation
Bullpen
Closer
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
updated on 6 January 2018 | |||
Managers
- Baek In-chun (1982)
- Kim Dong-yeop (1983)
- Eo Woo-hong (1984–85)
- Kim Dong-yeob (2) (1986–87)
- Yu Baek-man (1988)
- Bae Seong-seo (1989)
- Baek In-chun (2) (1989–91)
- Lee Kwang-hwan (1992–94)
- Cheon Bo-seong (1995–99)
- Lee Gwang-eun (2000–01)
- Kim Sung-keun (2002)
- Lee Kwang-hwan (2) (2003)
- Lee Sun-cheol (2004–06)
- Kim Jae-bak (2007–09)
- Park Jong-hun (2010–11)
- Kim Ki-tae (2012–2014)
- Yang Sang-moon (2014–2017)
- Ryu Joong-il (2018–present)
In popular culture
The team features prominently in the tvN drama Reply 1994, where the team's 1994 coach is a main character. The team is referenced under a different name, "Seoul Twins" (Korean: 서울 쌍둥이), due to trademark issues with the LG Corporation.[3]
References
- Notes
- Latter half pennant winner.
- General
- "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
- Specific
- "Sports in Korea Korean Pro Baseball". english.visitkorea.or.kr. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
- Hyun-kyung, Kang. "Baseball: Korean baseball shifting to Major League style," The Korea Times (March 9, 2017).
- "응답하라 1994, LG트윈스를 왜 서울쌍둥이라 했을까?". Naver. November 19, 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to LG Twins. |
- Official website (in Korean)
- LG Twins on Facebook (in Korean)
- LG Twins's channel on YouTube (in Korean)
- LG Twins on Instagram (in Korean)
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