Lions face upstart juggernaut for title

The battle for South Korean pro baseball supremacy this year will pit the three-time defending champs against an upstart offensive juggernaut.

The Samsung Lions, which have won every Korea Baseball Organization crown since 2011, will take on the Nexen Heroes, which often makes good pitching staffs look dreadful, in the best-of-seven Korean Series starting Tuesday.

The Lions, managed by former All-Star shortstop Ryu Joong-il, are trying to become only the second team to win four Korean Series in a row. Ryu won titles in each of his first three years as the Lions manager.

The Heroes, which joined the KBO in 2008, are chasing their first ever championship under second-year manager Yeom Kyung-yup.

The Lions finished with the best regular season record of 78-47-3 and earned the bye to the Korean Series.

The Heroes finished half a game back at 78-48-2 and eliminated the LG Twins in four games in the previous round.

The Lions will host the first two games at Daegu Stadium in Daegu, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The third and fourth games will be played at the Heroes’ home of Mokdong Stadium in Seoul.

Though the Lions are supposed to have the home-field advantage, they won’t get to celebrate their championship in Daegu. Under KBO rules, if both teams in the final don’t play at a ballpark with at least 25,000 seats, Games 5, 6 and 7 take place at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, a neutral venue with 25,500 seats.

Daegu Stadium seats 10,000, while Mokdong Stadium has a capacity of 12,500.

The Lions led the regular season meetings at 8-7-1.

They won their fourth straight pennant and have rested since the end of the regular season on Oct. 17.

In the regular season, the Lions led the KBO with a .301 average and 161 steals.

They produced three 30-homer sluggers, led by the 38-year-old Lee Seung-yeop, who had 32 and became the oldest KBO player with at least 30 long balls in a season.

Yamaico Navarro, in his first KBO season, provided plenty of pop from the leadoff spot with 31 homers, 98 RBIs and 27 doubles.

The Lions have built their dynasty with strong pitching, and they had the second-best team ERA with 4.52 this year. They experienced adventurous moments in late innings, however, with closer Oh Seung-hwan leaving for Japan after last season. Former Chicago Cubs reliever Lim Chang-yong had 31 saves but also had a KBO-high nine blown saves, while posting an unsightly 5.84 ERA.

The Heroes knocked off the Twins in the last round as Nexen’s vaunted offense came to life after a sluggish start to the postseason.

The Heroes topped the KBO with 199 home runs and 841 runs scored in the regular season, and produced four hitters with at least 20 homers and 90 RBIs.

They offered a glimpse into what they can do in their 12-2 victory over the Twins in the decisive Game 4.

In that game, third baseman Kim Min-sung set a new KBO postseason record with seven RBIs. Shortstop Kang Jung-ho also left yard in that game and was voted the MVP of the series, after going 8 for 15 with two home runs and four RBIs. He hit 40 home runs in the regular season, the most by a shortstop in a KBO season.

First baseman Park Byung-ho has yet to go deep, after leading the KBO with 52 homers and 124 RBIs. Leadoff man Seo Geon-chang, who banged out a record 201 hits in the regular season, went just 3 for 16 in four games against the Twins.

If Park and Seo find their groove in the Korean Series, even the Lions could have difficulty containing the lineup. (Yonhap)