Kia Tigers
The Kia Tigers ( Korean : 기아 타이거즈) are a professional baseball team from Gwangju , South Korea . The team was founded in 1982 and is the most successful team in the KBO League with 11 titles in the Korean Series . The home ground is the Gwangju-Kia Champions Field with a capacity of 22,244 seats. The Tigers were previously known as the Haitai Tigers (해태 타이거즈).
history
1982: foundation
The franchise was founded in 1982 as the third professional baseball team in South Korea, after OB Bears and MBC Chungyong. Kim Dong-yeob was the team's first manager but was fired after a month and replaced by Jo Chang-soo, who led the team to a 38-42 win-loss record in the first season . Since the team only consisted of 14 players, several players were used as both pitchers and batter . Kim Sung-han had 10 wins this year as a pitcher and batted in most runs as a batter.
1983–1985: First three seasons with Kim Eung-ryong
From 1983 to 2000, Kim Eung-ryong was the manager of the Tigers. He led the team to their first Korean Series win in 1983 . With Lee Soon-chul, Sun Dong-yeol and Kim Sung-han, three future stars of the Tigers were signed in the following two years, which brought a long era of success.
1986–1997: Haitai Tiger dynasty
From 1986 to 1997, the Tigers won the Korean baseball championship eight times.
1998–2008: Unsuccessful years
From 1998 to 2008, the Tigers did not win a single title. Although they were able to reach the playoffs in 2002, 2003 and 2004 , they lost to the LG Twins, the SK Wyverns and the Doosan Bears . In 2005 and 2007 they came in last.
2009 – today: Renaissance
In 2009 the Tigers were able to win the Korean Series again after a long time. This was thanks to the import players Aquilino López from the Dominican Republic and Rick Guttormson from the United States . In 2017, the Tigers won the Korean Series for the eleventh time, making them the record champions of the KBO League.
Numbers that are no longer assigned (Retired Numbers)
As is customary in baseball, the Tigers do not give back numbers to players who have made special contributions to new players after their careers. With the Kia Tigers these are:
Individual evidence
- ↑ KBO - results archive, standings. Retrieved July 13, 2018 .