The Hanwha Eagles incorporated as the Hanwha Eagles Professional Baseball Club , are a South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n professional baseball club based in Daejeon

Daejeon

Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis and the provincial capital of Chungnam. Located in the center of the country, Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. Within the...

. As a member club of Korean Baseball Organization

Korean Baseball Organization

Korea Professional Baseball is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The Korean romanization is Hanguk Peuro Yagu , a league title which mirrors Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Korea Professional Baseball was originally founded with six teams in 1982 and currently has eight...

, the Eagles compete in the Korea Professional Baseball League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Baseball Stadium

Daejeon Baseball Stadium

Daejeon Baseball Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Daejeon, South Korea. Built in 1965, the stadium is located in Busa-dong, Jung-gu, in southern Daejeon. It is currently used mostly for baseball games and is the home stadium of Hanhwa Eagles. The stadium holds 10,500 people...

. Founded in 1985 as the "Binggrae Eagles" (Binggrae was the then-trademark of Hanwha

Hanwha

Hanwha Group is one of the largest business conglomerate in South Korea. Founded in 1952 as Korea Explosives Inc. , the group has grown into a large multi-profile business conglomerate, with diversified holdings stretching from explosives, their original business, to retail to financial...

's confectionary branch.), they debuted in 1986 as the seventh franchise of the league. The club changed their name into the "Hanwha Eagles" after Binggrae's separation from Hanwha conglomerate in 1993. Hanwha, the owner of the club is one of the largest business conglomerate

Conglomerate (company)

A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...

, or chaebol

Chaebol

Chaebol refers to a South Korean form of business conglomerate. They are global multinationals owning numerous international enterprises. The term is often used in a context similar to that of the English word "conglomerate"...

, in South Korea.

Although the Eagles are not the dominant club in the league, winning only once in the Korean Series

Korean Series

The Korean Series is the championship series of the Korea Baseball Organization. It has been held since the KBO's first season in and is the final series of in the post-season play-offs. From , the winner of the Korean Series goes on to play in the Asia Series....

 in 1999 and twice the league pennants; they proved themselves as worthy competitors. As of 2011, they played in the postseason for 11 times, being the runner-up

Runner-up

Runner-up is a term used to denote a participant which finishes in second place in any of a variety of competitive endeavors, most notably sporting events and beauty pageants; in the latter instance, the term is applied to more than one of the highest-ranked non-winning contestants, the...

 for five times. The club was renowned for their slugger bats from late 1990s to early 2000s, nicknamed as the Dynamite Bats after one of Hanwha's main business fields, explosives production. The team slugger percentage topped 0.484 in 1999, the highest team SLG in the Korean Professional Baseball League history. The severe slump in the 2009 and 2010 seasons made the club to gain a pejorative nickname of Hanwha Chickens (or Chicks), but recent recovery attempts and team-rebuilding under the new manager, Han Dae-hwa, is slowly showing its progress.

The Eagles have three retired numbers in the roster, more than any other team in the league. Those are for the slugger Jang Jong-hoon (35), the pitchers Jung Min-cheul (23) and Song Jin-woo

Song Jin-Woo

Song Jin-Woo is a retired Korea Baseball Organization left-handed pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles. He also competed for South Korea in the 2000 Summer Olympics on the team that won the bronze medal.Song played in the KBO for 21 years since...

(21). The Eagles are famous for their respect for franchise stars and veteran players.

Season by Season Records

Year	Team	Rank	Games	W	L	D	Win%	BA
1986	Binggre Eagles	7	108	31	76	1	.290	.236
1987	Binggre Eagles	6	108	47	57	4	.454	.274
1988	Binggre Eagles	2	108	62	45	1	.579	.266
1989	Binggre Eagles	2	120	71	46	3	.604	.276
1990	Binggre Eagles	4	120	68	50	2	.575	.270
1991	Binggre Eagles	2	126	72	49	5	.591	.274
1992	Binggre Eagles	2	126	81	43	2	.651	.267
1993	Binggre Eagles	5	126	61	61	4	.500	.238
1994	Hanhwa Eagles	3	126	65	59	2	.524	.247
1995	Hanhwa Eagles	6	126	55	71	0	.437	.249
1996	Hanhwa Eagles	4	126	70	55	1	.560	.245
1997	Hanhwa Eagles	6	126	51	73	2	.413	.253
1998	Hanhwa Eagles	7	126	55	66	5	.455	.250
1999	Hanhwa Eagles	1	132	72	58	2	.554	.283
2000	Hanhwa Eagles	7	133	50	78	5	.391	.276
2001	Hanhwa Eagles	4	133	61	68	4	.473	.275
2002	Hanhwa Eagles	7	133	59	69	5	.461	.256
2003	Hanhwa Eagles	5	133	63	65	5	.492	.254
2004	Hanhwa Eagles	7	133	53	74	6	.417	.268
2005	Hanhwa Eagles	4	126	64	61	1	.512	.270
2006	Hanhwa Eagles	2	126	67	57	2	.540	.253
2007	Hanhwa Eagles	3	126	67	57	2	.540	.254
2008	Hanhwa Eagles	5	126	64	62	0	.508	.254
2009	Hanwha Eagles	8	133	46	84	3	.346	.269
2010	Hanwha Eagles	8	133	49	82	2	.368	.242

External links

• Hanhwa Eagles baseball team