Lotte Giants
Encyclopedia
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team based in Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and one of the original franchises of the Korea Baseball Organization
Korea Baseball Organization
The Korea Baseball Organization is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. KBO should not be confused with the Korea Professional Baseball League. KBO was founded in 1981 and has been governing two leagues, Korea Professional Baseball and Futures League since...
league. The Lotte Giants are owned by the Japanese-South Korean Lotte conglomerate
Lotte (conglomerate)
Lotte Co., Ltd. is a South Korean-Japanese Jaebeol and one of the largest food and shopping groups in South Korea and Japan. Lotte was established in June 1948, in Tokyo, by Japanese-educated, Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-Ho – also known as...
.
From 1982 through 1986 they played in the Busan Gudeok Stadium
Busan Gudeok Stadium
Busan Gudeok Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Busan, South Korea. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 24,363 people and opened in 1928. During the 1988 Summer Olympics, it hosted some football preliminary matches. And it was a main stadium for the 2nd East...
and since then have played in the Sajik Baseball Stadium
Sajik Baseball Stadium
Sajik Baseball Stadium is a baseball stadium in Sajik-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It was built in 1985 and is the home of the Lotte Giants. It has a seating capacity of 28,500. It is known as a mecca for Korean Baseball.-See also:*Lotte Giants...
. They won the KBO Championship, Korean Series in 1984 and 1992. The team drew about 1.38 million spectators during the 2009 season, a record which remained as the most attendance in a single season in any Korean sports league. Lotte also owns the Chiba Lotte Marines
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 the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...
in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
History
The Lotte Giants were founded as an amateur baseball team of the Korea Baseball AssociationKorea Baseball Association
The Korea Baseball Association is the governing body of baseball in South Korea. KBA was founded in 1946 as Joseon Baseball Association , and renamed as the current thing in 1954. KBA has been charged with the task of promoting and spreading organised baseball. It is one of two major baseball...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, South Korea, on 6 May 1975 when there was no professional sports team in Korea. On 12 February 1982 the Giants became professional and moved to Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
.
Popularity and attendance
Korea Baseball Organization
The Korea Baseball Organization is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. KBO should not be confused with the Korea Professional Baseball League. KBO was founded in 1981 and has been governing two leagues, Korea Professional Baseball and Futures League since...
league. They attracted over one million fans to the Sajik Baseball Stadium
Sajik Baseball Stadium
Sajik Baseball Stadium is a baseball stadium in Sajik-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It was built in 1985 and is the home of the Lotte Giants. It has a seating capacity of 28,500. It is known as a mecca for Korean Baseball.-See also:*Lotte Giants...
in 1991 for the first time in the league. In the 2009 season they set the all-time record of home attendance of 1,380,018 fans. 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 is 20,273 fans per game, and therefore the stadium is about 71 percent full. From 2008 to 2011 they drew over one million fans four years consecutively, which is the first time in Korean professional baseball history.
According to a Gallup Korea's survey conducted in 2011, the Giants were chosen as the most popular team three times in a row.
Season by Season Records
| Year | Rank | Games | W | L | D | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 5 | 80 | 31 | 49 | 0 | .388 |
| 1983 | 6 | 100 | 42 | 56 | 1 | .434 |
| 1984 | 1 | 100 | 50 | 48 | 2 | .510 |
| 1985 | 2 | 110 | 59 | 51 | 0 | .536 |
| 1986 | 5 | 108 | 50 | 52 | 6 | .490 |
| 1987 | 3 | 108 | 54 | 49 | 5 | .524 |
| 1988 | 3 | 108 | 57 | 49 | 2 | .537 |
| 1989 | 7 | 120 | 48 | 67 | 5 | .421 |
| 1990 | 6 | 120 | 44 | 71 | 5 | .388 |
| 1991 | 4 | 126 | 61 | 62 | 3 | .496 |
| 1992 | 1 | 126 | 71 | 55 | 0 | .563 |
| 1993 | 6 | 126 | 62 | 63 | 1 | .496 |
| 1994 | 6 | 126 | 56 | 67 | 3 | .456 |
| 1995 | 2 | 126 | 68 | 53 | 5 | .560 |
| 1996 | 5 | 126 | 57 | 63 | 6 | .476 |
| 1997 | 8 | 126 | 48 | 77 | 1 | .385 |
| 1998 | 8 | 126 | 50 | 72 | 4 | .410 |
| 1999 | 2 | 132 | 75 | 52 | 5 | .591 |
| 2000 | 5 | 133 | 65 | 64 | 4 | .504 |
| 2001 | 8 | 133 | 59 | 70 | 4 | .457 |
| 2002 | 8 | 133 | 35 | 97 | 1 | .265 |
| 2003 | 8 | 133 | 39 | 91 | 3 | .300 |
| 2004 | 8 | 133 | 50 | 72 | 11 | .410 |
| 2005 | 5 | 126 | 58 | 67 | 1 | .464 |
| 2006 | 7 | 126 | 50 | 73 | 3 | .407 |
| 2007 | 7 | 126 | 55 | 68 | 3 | .447 |
| 2008 | 3 | 126 | 69 | 57 | 0 | .548 |
| 2009 | 4 | 133 | 66 | 67 | 0 | .496 |
| 2010 | 4 | 133 | 69 | 61 | 3 | .519 |
| 2011 | 2 | 133 | 72 | 56 | 5 | .563 |
Noted former players
Retired numbers
- #11 - The club's first retired number is Choi Dong-WonChoi Dong-WonChoi Dong-Won was a South Korean pitcher in the Korean professional baseball league who played for the Lotte Giants and Samsung Lions. Choi batted and threw right-handed...
's squad number 11. He was one of the top pitchers in the professional Korean baseball league and died of cancer in 2011.
See also
- Sports in South Korea
- Korea Baseball OrganizationKorea Baseball OrganizationThe Korea Baseball Organization is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. KBO should not be confused with the Korea Professional Baseball League. KBO was founded in 1981 and has been governing two leagues, Korea Professional Baseball and Futures League since...
- Sajik Baseball StadiumSajik Baseball StadiumSajik Baseball Stadium is a baseball stadium in Sajik-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan, South Korea. It was built in 1985 and is the home of the Lotte Giants. It has a seating capacity of 28,500. It is known as a mecca for Korean Baseball.-See also:*Lotte Giants...
- Jerry RoysterJerry RoysterJeron Kennis Royster was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees, as well as a former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and of the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization.-Career:He was signed by the Dodgers...
- Chiba Lotte MarinesChiba Lotte MarinesThe are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...