The KBO League (Hangul: KBO ??), originally called the Korea Baseball Championship (Hangul: ?????????; Romanization: Hanguk Yagu Seonsukkwon Daehoe), is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982, and has expanded to ten franchises. Nine of the ten franchises are named after the companies or business conglomerates which own them, while one sold their naming rights (Nexen Heroes).
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History
The first game was played on March 27, 1982 between Samsung Lions and the MBC Chungyong (now the LG Twins) at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium, Seoul. Then-president Chun Doo-hwan threw the first pitch.
The inaugural franchises were:
- Haitai Tigers, based in Gwangju
- Lotte Giants, based in Busan
- MBC Chungyong, based in Seoul
- OB Bears, based in Daejeon
- Sammi Superstars, based in Incheon
- Samsung Lions, based in Daegu
In 1985, the Sammi Superstars became known as the Cheongbo Pintos. The next year, 1986, saw some major changes, with the OB Bears moving from Daejeon to share the Seoul's Jamsil Baseball Stadium with MBC Chungyong in Seoul. A new franchise, the Binggrae Eagles, joined to replace vacancy of Daejeon by OB's moving and expanding the league to seven franchises. 1988 saw the Cheongbo Pintos change ownership again, becoming the Pacific Dolphins. In 1990, MBC Chungyong became the LG Twins and an eighth franchise was added, the Ssangbangwool Raiders who represented the Jeollabuk-do region.
There was little change in the 1990s except for a few major sponsors: in 1993 the Binggrae Eagles became the Hanwha Eagles, in 1995 the Pacific Dolphins became the Hyundai Unicorns and the OB Bears in 1999 became the Doosan Bears. Bigger changes were affected in 2000 when the Hyundai Unicorns moved from Incheon to Suwon, and a new franchise, the SK Wyverns took their place in Incheon. The Ssangbangwool Raiders became defunct. In 2001, the Haitai Tigers became the Kia Tigers.
In 2008, the Hyundai Unicorns franchise was disbanded, re-founded as the Woori Heroes and moved to Mok-dong in Seoul. Despite winning four championships, the franchise enjoyed little fan support after moving to Suwon. The team's naming rights were sold to Nexen Tire and the team was renamed Nexen Heroes.
Expansion resumed in the 2010s, with the addition of the NC Dinos, located in Changwon, which joined the league in 2013. It is the first team located in Changwon, the city having previously been the second home of the nearby Lotte Giants.
In 2015, the kt Wiz became the league's 10th franchise. They play their home games in Suwon, which had not had a team since the Hyundai Unicorns' disbandment.
The league has recently enjoyed a surge in popularity, with increased attendance and player salaries. Several KBO players have also successfully transitioned from the KBO to the Major Leagues, such as Ryu Hyun-Jin, Kang Jung-Ho or Kim Hyun-soo. This increase in popularity has been accompanied by the building of larger and more modern ballparks, such as Gwangju-Kia Champions Field (2014),Gocheok Sky Dome (2016) and Daegu Samsung Lions Park (2016).
Founding member Kia Tigers (formerly Haitai Tigers) has won 10 of the 35 national championships.
Season structure
Starting with the 2015 season, each team plays 144 games in the regular season, increased from 128 due to the addition of the kt Wiz to the league. Each team plays every other 16 times.
KBO All-Star Game
In mid-July of every season, the best players participate in the KBO All-Star Game. The franchises participating are divided into two sets of teams: Dream All-Stars (Doosan, KT, Lotte, Samsung, and SK) and Nanum All-Stars (Kia, Hanwha, LG, NC and Nexen). The KBO All-star game does not determine home-field advantage in the KBO Korean Series.
Playoffs
The KBO League's season culminates in its championship series, known as the KBO Korean Series. Currently, the top five teams qualify for the post-season based on win/loss records. The team with the best record gains a direct entry into the KBO Korean Series, while the other three teams compete for the remaining place in a step-ladder playoff system:
- KBO Wild Card Game: 4th place team (starts with a one-game advantage.) vs. 5th place team; 2 games
- KBO Semi Playoffs: 3rd place team vs. winner of KBO Wild Card Game; best of 3 out of 5 games
- KBO Playoffs: 2nd place team vs. winner of KBO Playoffs Stage 1; best of 3 out of 5 games (reduced from 7 games starting from 2009)
- KBO Korean Series: 1st place team vs. winner of KBO Playoffs Stage 2; best of 4 out of 7 games.
Any playoff games ending in an official tie are replayed, thereby raising the possibility of a close series containing more than the scheduled 5 or 7 games.
Rules
Traditionally, Korea Professional Baseball games have a maximum number of extra innings before a game is declared an official tie. The KBO abolished this limit for the 2008 season, however it was reinstated in 2009, with a 12-innings limit imposed during regular season, 15-innings limitimposed playoff games. However, no extra innings are played in the first game of a double-header, with games limited to 9 innings.
The league places a cap on the number of foreign players allowed on club rosters. The foreign player limit is set at three, increased from two players from 2014.
All teams use the designated hitter rule.
Teams
Ballparks
In addition to these ballparks, the Lotte Giants play some games at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium, the Samsung Lions at Pohang Baseball Stadium and the Hanwha Eagles at Cheongju Baseball Stadium.
Champions
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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