The KBO League is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea, contested by ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most successful team, having won 12 of the 43 championships.
Lee Man-soo, also spelled as Man Soo Lee, is a former Korea Professional Baseball catcher and First baseman and manager. After a distinguished career as a professional player in South Korea from 1982 to 1997, Lee moved on to coaching in 1998, including positions on the coaching staff of the Chicago White Sox, and came back to South Korea in 2006 to serve as a bench coach for the SK Wyverns.
The Samsung Lions are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982. They are based in the southeastern city of Daegu and are members of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Daegu Samsung Lions Park. They have won the Korean Championship eight times, and also finished as runners-up on eleven occasions. The Samsung Lions are the first team to win four consecutive Korean Series titles (2011–2014), and are also the first team to win the regular season league title for five consecutive years (2011–2015).
Lee Jong-beom is a former South Korean professional baseball player who played for the Kia Tigers in the KBO League and the Chunichi Dragons in Japan from 1998 to 2001. He is nicknamed "Son of the Wind" for his speed. Lee is widely considered one of the best five-tool players in Korean baseball history, and the best all-around KBO player of the 1990s.
The Kia Tigers are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful team in Korean baseball, having won the Korean Series championship twelve times with a perfect 12–0 record. Their home stadium is Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju.
The Hanwha Eagles are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon that competes in the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark. They have won the Korean Series once, in 1999, and the league pennant twice. As of 2024, the Eagles have played in the postseason 13 times, being the runner-up in the Korean Series five times.
Lee Seung-yuop is a retired baseball player and the current manager of the Doosan Bears. He spent most of his career with the Samsung Lions of the KBO League. At the age of 26, he became the youngest professional baseball player in the world to hit 300 career home runs. He formerly held the Asian home run record of 56 homers in a season, established in 2003 while playing for Samsung in the KBO. Lee holds the KBO records for career runs scored, RBI, total bases, and slugging percentage. Combined, across the KBO and NPB, Lee has also recorded more hits than any other native-born South Korean player. Since the 2022 KBO season as the manager of the Doosan Bears, Lee has two playoff appearances. In 2022, Lee lead the Bears to their first wild card game under his reign against the NC Dinos where they were eliminated from playoff contention after losing their first game. Lee then continued to the playoffs in 2024 where he lost against the KT Wiz that ended their season.
Kim Dong-Joo is a retired South Korean third baseman, who played his entire career for the Doosan Bears in the KBO League. He batted and threw right-handed.
Kim Tae-kyun is a South Korean first baseman who played for the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed. He is one of the top career hitters in the KBO, with a lifetime batting average over .320, and more than 300 career home runs and 1300 runs batted in.
Park Yong-taik is a South Korean outfielder who has played his entire career for the LG Twins in the KBO League. With 2,504 career hits, he is the all-time career hit leader in the KBO. He bats left-handed and throws right-handed.
Jeong Keun-woo is a former second baseman and shortstop who last played for the SK Wyverns, Hanhwa Eagles, and LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed.
Lee Dae-ho is a South Korean professional baseball player who played as a first baseman. During his career, he played for the Lotte Giants of the KBO League, Orix Buffaloes and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Jang Won-sam is a South Korean left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the LG Twins in the KBO League.
Lee Bum-ho is a South Korean former third baseman who played primarily in the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Choi Jeong is a third baseman who has played his whole career for the SK Wyverns in the Korea Baseball Organization. He bats and throws right-handed. Choi's 488 career home runs rank first on the KBO all-time list. His 313 career hit-by-pitches (HBP) is the most in the KBO as well as the world record. He was hit by his 288th pitch in 2021 and surpassed Hughie Jennings' 287 hit-by-pitches.
Sun Dong-yol is a South Korean retired baseball pitcher and former manager. He was a pitcher in the KBO League and Nippon Professional Baseball, and the former manager of the Samsung Lions and the Kia Tigers in the KBO.
Shim Soo-chang is a South Korean relief pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. He bats and throws right-handed.
Jeong Seong-hoon is a South Korean former professional baseball player. He represented the South Korea national baseball team at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Chang Jong-hoon is a retired former infielder in the KBO League. He spent his entire 20-year career with Binggrae/Hanwha Eagles. He is currently a coach with the team.
Jay Davis is a former professional baseball player.
