2025 Korean Series

The 2025 Korean Series was the 43rd Korean Series. It featured the Hanwha Eagles against the LG Twins.

The Teams

Hanwha Eagles

The Hanwha Eagles had won one prior Series, in 1999. Managed by Kyung-moon Kim, they were 83-57-4 to finish second in the 2025 KBO regular season, then beat the Samsung Lions 3 games to 2 in the semifinals. Former Pirates hurler Cody Ponce won the pitching Triple Crown and set a new strikeout record in going 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 252 K in 180 2/3 IP. They had finished 4th in offense (4.78 R/G) and led in ERA (3.55). After Ponce, other key starters were Ryan Weiss (16-5, 2.87, 207 K, 3rd in wins, 4th in ERA, 4th in K) and veteran Hyun-jin Ryu (9-7, 3.23). Beom-su Kim (2-1, 2 Sv, 2.25), Seung-hyuk Han (3-3, 3 Sv, 2.25), Woo-joo Jeong (3-0, 2.85, 82 K in 53 2/3 IP) and Seo-hyeon Kim (2-4, 33 Sv, 3.14) led the bullpen. CF Luis Liberato (.313/.366/.524), 3B Si-hwan Roh (.260/.354.,497, 4th with 32 HR, 4th with 97 R, 4th with 101 RBI), LF Hyun-bin Moon (.320/.370/.453, 30 2B, 5th in average) and 1B Eun-seong Chae (.288/.347/.467, 27 2B, 88 RBI).

LG Twins

The LG Twins, guided by Kyoung-youb Youm, had won the regular season pennant at 85-56-3 to get a bye to the Series. They had won three titles, most recently in 2023. They led in offense (5.47 R/G) and were third in ERA (3.79). They had more of a balanced team, not relying on key players to the same extent as Hanwha. 1B Austin Dean (.313/.393/.595) was 5th with 31 homers and drove in 95, while 3B Bo-gyeong Moon (.276/.371/.460, 24 HR) was second with 108 RBI and led with 79 walks. Veteran LF Hyun-soo Kim hit .298/.384/.422 with 90 RBI and C Dong-won Park chipped in 22 homers while slashing .253/.342/.455. CF Hae-min Park (.276/.379/.346) stole a league-leading 49 bases. Anders Tolhurst (6-2, 2.86), Yonny Chirinos (13-6, 3.31), Ju-young Son (11-6, 3.41), Chan-kyu Im (11-7, 3.03) and Seung-ki Song (11-6, 3.50) were all solid starters while the relief corps was led by Young-woo Kim (3-2, Sv, 2.40), Young-chan You (2-2, 21 Sv, 2.63) and Jin-sung Kim (6-4, Sv, 3.44).

The Games

• October 26: Twins 8, Eagles 2. Tolhurst struck out 7 and allowed 2 runs in 6 to win the game MVP honors, aided by stellar defense in center by Hae-min Park. Hae-min Park, not normally a slugger, also added a homer off Dong-ju Moon. 2B Min-jae Shin had 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 RBI to pace LG's offense.
• October 27: Twins 13, Eagles 5. The Eagles look to soar early against Im as Hyun-bin Moon hit a two-run homer and Si-hwan Roh a solo shot as part of a four-run frame. On the hill, they had Ryu, who had a 1.08 ERA in four starts this season against LG. They scored 5 in the second and 2 in the third, led by a two-run double by Dong-won Park the first rally and a two-run dinger the next. Bo-gyeong Moon had four hits and five RBI as well. The LG bullpen turned in 5 2/3 shutout innings.
• October 29: Eagles 7, Twins 3. Down 3-1 going into the bottom of the 8th, the Eagles rally for six runs. Woo-jun Shim hits the two-run double that puts Hanwha ahead for good. Beleaguered reliever Seo-hyeon Kim gets the win.
• October 30: Twins 7, Eagles 4. Weiss allows 1 run in 7 2/3 IP and Hanwha leads 4-1 entering the 9th. In a reverse of yesterday, they give up the late six-run inning to blow it. Dong-won Park hits a two-run homer off Seo-hyeon Kim, then they load the bases before Hyun-soo Kim gets his 3rd hit, singling off Sang-won Park with the winner. Kim reaches 102 postseason hits, breaking Sung-heon Hong's record of 101.
• October 31: Twins 4, Eagles 1. Tolhurst turns in a second dominant start, allowing four hits and one run in seven, to get the clinching win. Min-jae Shim and Series MVP Hyun-soo Kim each have 3 hits, Hyun-soo Kim finishing the Series at .529.

Sources

• KBO site
• Korea JoongAng Daily
• Chosun Daily