Will Lotte's first multi-victory king in 16 years be born? Good. Aces' storm run → Jung Jo-joon, the seventh king of the most wins in team history

May 02, 2025

Cold arm Lotte Choi Dong-won. Sports Chosun DB

The KBO League game between Lotte and Doosan held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 5th. Lotte's Park Se-woong puts his fist in the fifth inning after overcoming the crisis of losing a point. Busan = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.04.05/

Lotte and Hanwha held at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan on the 24th. Lotte starter Park Se-woong is coming down the mound after pitching in the sixth inning. Busan = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.04.24/

'Professional first-year team'In the history of the Lotte Giants, there are more wins than wins in the Korean Series.

Along with the Samsung Lions, Lotte is the only team that has not changed its team name or operating entity since the first year of its professional launch in 1982. For this reason, the competition between the two teams is often held annually as 'classical seeds'.

As an old baseball team in the same Yeongnam region, there is a lot of homogeneity among fandom. Unlike in the past, they are rivals who heat up the atmosphere by filling each other's away seats in their home stadiums.

However, the status of the two teams in the history of professional baseball is different. In addition to winning the Korean Series (8 Samsung, 2 Lotte), the two teams show a big difference in the number of regular season wins and postseason advances.

However, the difference in team power was large, but the presence of the ace representing Lotte was second to Samsung. The number of wins (including Samsung's 7th, Lotte's 6th, and joint) proves this. Even so, Lotte had the upper hand until Samsung added No. 3 (Bae Young-soo, Buchanan, Won Tae-in) since the 2010s.

Lonely ace Yoon Hak-gil. Sports Chosun DB

The history of Lotte's King Daseung also begins with Choi Dong-won. 1984 was literally Choi Dong-won's year when the legend of the "four wins in the Korean Series" shone. At that time, Choi Dong-won recorded 27 wins, dropping the second-ranked Kim Si-jin (19 wins) and third-ranked Kim Il-yong (18 wins) one-two punch far away to win the most wins. Kim Il-yong is also a pitcher who won all three of Samsung's wins in the Understanding Korean Series. The understanding Korean series was a diatribe of Choi Dong-won and Kim Il-yong.

Lotte's second king of multiple wins is Yoon Hak-gil (1988 and 18 wins). It is followed by Joo Hyung-kwang (18 wins) in 1996, Son Min-han (15 wins) in 2001, Son Min-han (18 wins) in 2005, and Cho Jung-hoon (14 wins) in 2009.

Unlike Samsung, however, Lotte's tradition of winning multiple games was cut off by Cho Jung-hoon. Lotte made it to the fall baseball for the fifth consecutive year in the golden period of 2008-2012 when former manager Royster and Yang Seung-ho, but failed to advance to the postseason except for the first time (2017) led by current head coach Cho Won-woo for the next 12 years. Although there are exceptions such as Son Min-han in 2005, it is also difficult for a multiple-win king to come out of the fall baseball elimination team.

Lotte Joo Hyung-kwang, who wraps up the 1999 playoffs. Sports Chosun DB

Then will this year be an opportunity. Lotte won 16 wins and 8 losses in April, becoming the No. 1 monthly team with the Hanwha Eagles. Flying high with Hanwha, it has already risen to second place, one and a half games behind the No. 1 LG Twins.

He is filling the mound with an explosive hit. The starting lineup, which leads to Barnes, Park Se-woong, Davidson, Na Kyun-an, and Park Jin (Kim Jin-wook), and the must-win team line, which leads to Jung Chul-won and Kim Won-joong, also do not give solid trust. Instead, the bat of the team's No. 1 batting average (29%) and the second-ranked team in the OPS (0.768) stands out.

Although he received some help from the batters, Park Se-woong is leading the game with six wins in seven games this season. This year, he will shed all his past regrets of being a pitcher who is not followed by Seung-woon.

Son Min-han smiling brightly right after achieving 18 wins in 2005. Sports Chosun DB

Although he said he was somewhat disappointed with three runs in five innings against the Kiwoom Heroes, he was responsible for an average of more than six innings with 42 ⅔ in seven games this season. He also has a 2.95 ERA. It is a presence that can proudly occupy a place among foreign pitchers and native aces.

Park Se-woong says "At this point, it doesn't matter if the number one win is the most," but it can still mean a lot to the team. Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung also expressed regret over Park Se-woong's ball combination, but added, `"The ball is a very good pitcher. The energy of winning six games in a row is good right now. It is an element that cannot be ignored."

Park Se-woong's nickname 'Glasses Ace' is a nickname that follows the lineage of Choi Dong-won and Yeom Jong-seok, who won the championship for Lotte. Will he be the first Lotte champion since Jo Jung-hoon.

Cho Jung-hoon during his time as King of Folkball Hemp in 2009. Sports Chosun DB

◇Lotte's all-time multi-win king genealogy

Year = Player name = Seung-soo = Joint

1984 = Choi Dong-won = 27 wins

1988 = Yoon Hak-gil = 18 wins

1996 = Joo Fluorescent = 18 wins = Koo Dae-sung

2001 = Son Min-han = 15 wins = Shin Yun-ho

2005 = Son Min-han = 18 wins

2009=Cho Jung-hoon=14 wins=Lopez Yoon Sung-hwan

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.