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98-736: The Police were not affiliated with any single KBO League team, instead fielding a roster made of players from many of the KBO franchises. Over the Police team's history, however, it had a preponderance of players from the Doosan Bears franchise. Notable KBO League players who at one time served on the Police team included Choi Hyoung-woo , Yang Eui-ji , Min Byung-hun , Jung Soo-bin , Rhee Dae-eun , Son Seung-lak , and Won Jong-hyun . Many professional players who were serving compulsory military service played for

196-518: A 2006–07 investigation produced the Mitchell Report , which found that many players had used steroids and other performance-enhancing substances , including at least one player from each team. Each team plays 162 games per season, with Opening Day traditionally held during the first week of April. Six teams in each league then advance to a four-round postseason tournament in October, culminating in

294-651: A batter could foul off any number of pitches with no strikes counted against him; this gave an enormous advantage to the batter. After the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, baseball was rocked by allegations of a game-fixing scheme known as the Black Sox Scandal . Eight players— "Shoeless" Joe Jackson , Eddie Cicotte , Claude "Lefty" Williams , George "Buck" Weaver , Arnold "Chick" Gandil , Fred McMullin , Charles "Swede" Risberg , and Oscar "Happy" Felsch —intentionally lost

392-406: A chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before." With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions. The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial , Bob Feller , Ted Williams , and Joe DiMaggio , but baseball clubs continued to field their teams. Branch Rickey, president and general manager of

490-468: A fall season), with a first-half pennant winner and a latter-half pennant winner. The two pennant winners then played each other for the Korean Series championship. The 1982 campaign featured an 80-game (in total) season, which expanded to 100 games from 1983 to 1984. Rosters for each team were small (sometimes as few as 14 players), and many players in the league both pitched and batted. Bang Soo-won of

588-500: A grand jury in Pittsburgh related to cocaine trafficking. The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike from August 12, 1994, to April 25, 1995, caused the cancellation of over 900 games and the forfeit of the entire 1994 postseason. Routinely in the late 1990s and early 2000s, baseball players hit 40 or 50 home runs in a season, a feat that was considered rare even in the 1980s. It later became apparent that at least some of this power surge

686-633: A little better in subsequent campaigns—but in their eighth season (1969) the Mets became the first of the 1960s expansion teams to play in the postseason, culminating in a World Series title over the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles. In 1966, the major leagues moved to the "Deep South" when the Braves moved to Atlanta. In 1968, the Kansas City Athletics moved west to become the Oakland Athletics . In 1969,

784-646: A man for many reasons. Color is not one of them." That year, Robinson won the inaugural Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award (separate NL and AL Rookie of the Year honors were not awarded until 1949). Less than three months later, Larry Doby became the first African-American to break the color barrier in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. The next year, a number of other black players entered

882-413: A new National Agreement which tied independent contracts to the reserve-clause contracts. The agreement also set up a formal classification system for minor leagues, the forerunner of today's system that was refined by Branch Rickey . Several other early defunct baseball leagues are considered major leagues, and their statistics and records are included with those of the two modern major leagues. In 1969,

980-465: A number of associations: Sources: Major League Baseball This is an accepted version of this page Major League Baseball ( MLB ) is a professional baseball league and the highest level of organized baseball in the United States and Canada . One of the "Big Four" major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada , MLB comprises 30 teams, divided equally between

1078-431: A one-armed outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include any black players through the end of the war. Black players, many of whom served in the war, were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball . Wartime blackout restrictions , designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to

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1176-492: A rebellion by players against the hated "reserve clause", which restricted the free movement of players between clubs. Teams came and went; 1882 was the first season where the league's membership was the same as the preceding season's, and only four franchises survived to see 1900. Competitor leagues formed regularly and also disbanded regularly. The most successful was the American Association (1882–1891), sometimes called

1274-627: A significant decrease in runs per game and home runs per game. The 2020 season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic , but finally started play in May 2020, with no fans in attendance. In response to the lack of live sports programming due to the pandemic, ESPN and the KBO League entered into an agreement to broadcast six games weekly for the 2020 season. The Opening Day game between the NC Dinos and Samsung Lions

1372-528: A single-game MLB attendance record in their first home appearance with 78,672 fans. In 1961, the first Washington Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins . Two new teams were added to the American League at the same time: the Los Angeles Angels (who soon moved from downtown L.A. to nearby Anaheim ) and a new Washington Senators franchise. The NL added

1470-534: A successful Baltimore chop, the batter hits the ball forcefully into the ground, causing it to bounce so high that the batter reaches first base before the ball can be fielded and thrown to the first baseman. The adoption of the foul strike rule—in the NL in 1901, in the AL two years later—quickly sent baseball from a high-scoring game to one where scoring runs became a struggle. Before this rule, foul balls were not counted as strikes:

1568-613: Is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was founded in 1869. The first few decades of professional baseball saw rivalries between leagues, and players often jumped from one team or league to another. These practices were essentially ended by the National Agreement of 1903, in which AL and NL agreed to respect each other's player contracts, including

1666-425: Is set at three (no more than two of them being pitchers), increased from two players from 2014. Foreign players can only sign single-season contracts, and they are restricted by a salary cap. Since 2019, the total compensation for a foreign player has been capped at $ 1 million. The foreign hitters on each team are expected to provide power in the middle of the order, while the foreign pitchers are expected to anchor

1764-846: The Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves , the St. Louis Browns became the Baltimore Orioles , and the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics . The 1958 Major League Baseball season began to turn Major League Baseball into a nationwide league. Walter O'Malley , owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers and "perhaps the most influential owner of baseball's early expansion era," moved his team to Los Angeles, marking

1862-588: The Great Depression , baseball's popularity had begun a downward turn in the early 1930s. By 1932, only two MLB teams turned a profit. Attendance had fallen, due at least in part to a 10% federal amusement tax added to baseball ticket prices. Baseball owners cut their rosters from 25 men to 23, and even the best players took pay cuts. Team executives were innovative in their attempts to survive, creating night games, broadcasting games live by radio, and rolling out promotions such as free admission for women. Throughout

1960-816: The Haitai Tigers pitched the first no-hitter in Korean professional baseball history, in 1984 against the Sammi Superstars . Mid-season 1985, the Sammi Superstars were sold and became known as the Chungbo Pintos , and the full season expanded to 110 games. Because the Samsung Lions won both half-season pennants (with a still single-season record .706 winning percentage), the Lions won the title outright so no Korean Series

2058-614: The Hanwha Eagles Futures League team. Altogether, more than 200 players fulfilled their military duties on the Police team during its existence. This article about a baseball team in South Korea is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . KBO League The KBO League ( Korean :  KBO 리그 ) is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea , contested by ten teams. The KBO League

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2156-479: The Hanwha Eagles at Cheongju Baseball Stadium . In the 2016 season , a new national record was set with more than 8 million spectators. There was a big increase of 1 million compared to the previous season. The record was broken again in the 2017 season with over 8.4 million fans at the regular season games. The Bears, Twins, Giants and Tigers all attracted over 1 million fans, and the average game attendance

2254-653: The Houston Astros and the New York Mets in 1962. The Astros (known as the "Colt .45s" during their first three seasons) became the first southern major league franchise since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899 and the first franchise to be located along the Gulf Coast . The Mets established a reputation for futility by going 40–120 during their first season of play in the nation's media capital—and by playing only

2352-540: The KBO Korean Series . Currently, the top five teams qualify for the post-season based on win–loss records. The lowest-qualifying teams face off in a step-ladder playoff system, where each winner then faces the next-highest team, culminating in the Korean Series against the top-ranked team. Any playoff games ending in an official tie are replayed, thereby raising the possibility of a close series containing more than

2450-591: The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP). The NABBP existed as an amateur league for 12 years. By 1867, more than 400 clubs were members. Most of the strongest clubs remained those based in the Northeastern United States. For professional baseball 's founding year, MLB uses the year 1869—when the first professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings , was established. A schism developed between professional and amateur ballplayers after

2548-474: The National Basketball Association (NBA). Baseball games are broadcast on television, radio, and the internet throughout North America and in several other countries. MLB has the highest total season attendance of any sports league in the world; in 2023, it drew more than 70.75 million spectators. MLB also oversees Minor League Baseball , which comprises lower-tier teams affiliated with

2646-597: The National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. Formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively, the NL and AL cemented their cooperation with the National Agreement in 1903, making MLB the oldest major professional sports league in the world. They remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the commissioner of baseball . MLB

2744-730: The San Francisco Giants ' organization in 1968 after having found success in the NPB. Similarly, pitcher Park Chul-soon signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 1980. Neither Ernesto Carlos nor Park Chul-soon, however, made it to the Major Leagues.) Other Korean born players who have had lengthy MLB careers include outfielder Shin-Soo Choo and pitcher Byung-hyun Kim . In 2013, Hanwha Eagles ace Hyun-jin Ryu became

2842-598: The Texas Rangers . In 1977, baseball expanded again , adding a second Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays , as well as the Seattle Mariners . Subsequently, no new teams were added until the 1990s and no teams moved until 2005. By the late 1960s, the balance between pitching and hitting had swung in favor of the pitchers. In 1968—later nicknamed "the year of the pitcher" —Boston Red Sox player Carl Yastrzemski won

2940-661: The World Series , a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions first played in 1903. The New York Yankees have the most championships with 27. The reigning champions are the Los Angeles Dodgers , who defeated the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series . MLB is the third-wealthiest professional sports league by revenue in the world after the National Football League (NFL) and

3038-780: The first and second Negro National Leagues (1920–1931 and 1933–1948), the Eastern Colored League (1923–1928), the American Negro League (1929), the East–West League (1932), the Negro Southern League (1932), and the Negro American League (1937–1948). In 2021, baseball reference website Baseball-Reference.com began to include statistics from those seven leagues into their major-league statistics. In May 2024, Major League Baseball announced that it

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3136-442: The "beer and whiskey league" for its tolerance of the sale of alcoholic beverages to spectators. For several years, the NL and American Association champions met in a postseason championship series—the first attempt at a World Series . The two leagues merged in 1892 as a single 12-team NL, but the NL dropped four teams after the 1899 season. This led to the formation of the American League in 1901 under AL president Ban Johnson , and

3234-531: The 1870s. In 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (later known as the National League or NL) was established after the NA proved ineffective. The league placed its emphasis on clubs rather than on players. Clubs could now enforce player contracts, preventing players from jumping to higher-paying clubs. Clubs were required to play the full schedule of games instead of forfeiting scheduled games when

3332-557: The 1960s and 1970s, as baseball expanded, NFL football had been surging in popularity, making it economical for many of these cities to build multi-purpose stadiums instead of single-purpose baseball fields. Because of climate and economic issues, many of these facilities had playing surfaces made from artificial turf , as well as the oval designs characteristic of stadiums designed to house both baseball and football. This often resulted in baseball fields with relatively more foul territory than older stadiums. These characteristics changed

3430-458: The 1990s. During the 1980s, baseball experienced a number of significant changes the game had not seen in years. Home runs were on the decline throughout the decade, with players hitting 40 home runs just 13 times and no one hitting more than 50 home runs in a season for the first time since the Dead-ball era (1900–1919). The 1981 Major League Baseball strike from June 12 until July 31 forced

3528-748: The 2010s, with the addition of the NC Dinos , located in Changwon , which joined the league in 2013. It is the first team located in Changwon, the city having previously been the second home of the nearby Lotte Giants. The KBO played 128-game seasons in 2013–2014. In 2015, the KT Wiz became the league's tenth franchise. They play their home games in Suwon, which had not had a team since the Hyundai Unicorns' disbandment. Since 2015

3626-486: The American League batting title with an average of just .301, the lowest in the history of Major League Baseball. Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain won 31 games, making him the only pitcher to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson achieved an equally remarkable feat by allowing an ERA of just 1.12. Following these pitching performances, in December 1968

3724-810: The American and National Leagues both added two expansion franchises . The American League added the Seattle Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers after one disastrous season in Seattle) and the Kansas City Royals . The NL added the first Canadian franchise, the Montreal Expos , as well as the San Diego Padres . In 1972, the second Washington Senators moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to become

3822-468: The Brooklyn Dodgers, began making efforts to introduce a black baseball player to the previously all-white professional baseball leagues in the mid-1940s. He selected Jackie Robinson from a list of promising Negro league players. After obtaining a commitment from Robinson to "turn the other cheek" to any racial antagonism directed at him, Rickey agreed to sign him to a contract for $ 600 a month. In what

3920-809: The Dodgers when they came to town, abandoning the Negro league teams that they had followed exclusively. Robinson's promotion met a generally positive, although mixed, reception among newspaper writers and white major league players. Manager Leo Durocher informed his team, "I don't care if he is yellow or black or has stripes like a fucking zebra. I'm his manager and I say he plays." After a strike threat by some players, NL President Ford C. Frick and Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler let it be known that any striking players would be suspended. Robinson received significant encouragement from several major-league players, including Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese who said, "You can hate

4018-588: The Eagles — in their 14th season — won their franchise's first (and only) Korean Series championship, after 14 years in the KBO. Bigger changes were made in 2000 when the Hyundai Unicorns moved from Incheon to Suwon , and a new franchise, the SK Wyverns , took their place in Incheon. The Ssangbangwool Raiders became defunct. The league's two-division structure slightly shifted as well, with SK taking Ssangbangwool's place in

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4116-450: The Futures League in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In 2017 the South Korean government announced it was abolishing the auxiliary police by the year 2023; the National Police Agency immediately stopped recruiting athletes and promised to disband its sports teams (including the Police team) by the following year. The Police team was disbanded after the 2019 Futures League season; the team played its final game on July 10, 2019, against

4214-513: The Great Depression, no MLB teams moved or folded. The onset of World War II created a shortage of professional baseball players, as more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F , indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray ,

4312-418: The KBO has played a 144-game season each year, and has added a fifth team to the playoffs, with the introduction of the Wild Card game. In 2015 the league also increased the active roster size of each team, from 26 to 27 (of those, 25 may play in any one game). After a number of seasons of inflated offensive production, the KBO introduced a new " dejuiced " baseball before the 2019 season. The results showed in

4410-453: The KBO is known for its vocal and exuberant fan base , as well as the widespread practice of bat flips ( ppa-dun ( Korean : 빠던 ), a portmanteau of the "first syllables of the words for 'bat' and 'throw'") by hitters after stroking what they think will be a home run. In the KBO, the bat flipping tradition dates to the 1990s. Since the 2015 season, each team plays 144 games in the regular season, an increase from 128 games, along with

4508-429: The KBO returned to a single-division format. The Haitai Tigers became the Kia Tigers . From 2000 to 2012, the length of the regular season fluctuated between 126 and 133 games. Despite its string of championships in the early 2000s, the Hyundai Unicorns franchise was disbanded in 2008. It was re-founded as the Woori Heroes and moved to Mok-dong in Seoul. In 2010, the team's naming rights were sold to Nexen Tire and

4606-471: The Korean Series championship in 1992; the team has not won it since. There was little other change during this period except for a few major sponsors: in 1993 the Binggrae Eagles became the Hanwha Eagles , in 1996 the Pacific Dolphins became the Hyundai Unicorns , and in 1999 the OB Bears became the Doosan Bears . The 1998 Korean Series was won by the Hyundai Unicorns for the franchise's first championship in 16 years of existence. (The team would go on to win

4704-415: The MLB Playing Rules Committee voted to reduce the strike zone from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits and lower the pitcher's mound from 15 to 10 inches, beginning in the 1969 season. In 1973, the American League, which had been suffering from much lower attendance than the National League, sought to increase scoring even further by initiating the designated hitter (DH) rule. Throughout

4802-405: The Magic Division, and Lotte and Samsung switching divisions. Thus, the 2000 Dream League was composed of Doosan, Haitai, Hyundai, and Samsung; while the 2000 Magic League was composed of Hanwha, LG, Lotte, and SK. Parity ruled the 2000s, with the Unicorns and Lions each winning three titles, and the upstart Wyverns winning two. The hard-luck Doosan Bears appeared in the Korean Series five times in

4900-425: The NPB include Sun Dong-yol , Lim Chang-yong , and Seung-hwan Oh (who led the NPB in saves in both 2014 and 2015). Several Korean players have also successfully transitioned from the KBO to American Major League Baseball , starting in 1994 with pitcher Chan Ho Park . (Prior to Park, the South Korea-born Mexican pitcher Ernesto Carlos [born as Lee Won-Kuk ] was signed to an American minor league contract with

4998-424: The NPB. (He returned to Korea for his final three seasons as a player.) Lee Seung-yuop , who holds the KBO records for career home runs, runs scored, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage and OPS, also played eight seasons in the NPB, accumulating an additional 159 home runs and 439 RBI. Other KBO hitters who had some success in the NPB include Kim Tae-kyun and Dae-ho Lee . Korean pitchers who have had an impact in

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5096-401: The Police team, usually for a term of two seasons. Players were considered part of the auxiliary police , and completed their national duty as police officers after they finished recruit training . The Korea Baseball Organization provided the Police team about 1.5 billion won ($ 1.3 million) in operating expenses each year. The Police team was the champion of the Northern League division of

5194-607: The Special Baseball Records Committee of Major League Baseball officially recognized six major leagues: the National League, American League, American Association, Union Association (1884), Players' League (1890), and Federal League (1914–1915). The status of the National Association as a major league has been a point of dispute among baseball researchers; while its statistics are not recognized by Major League Baseball, its statistics are included with those of other major leagues by some baseball reference websites, such as Retrosheet . Some researchers, including Nate Silver , dispute

5292-486: The World Series in exchange for a ring worth $ 100,000 ($ 1,712,780.35 in 2022 dollars). Despite being acquitted, all were permanently banned from Major League Baseball. Baseball's popularity increased in the 1920s and 1930s. The 1920 season was notable for the death of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians . Chapman, who was struck in the head by a pitch and died a few hours later, became the only MLB player to die of an on-field injury. Both leagues quickly began to require

5390-474: The cancellation of 713 total games and resulted in a split-season format. In 1985, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb 's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, and in 1989 Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds . Rose was the first person to receive a lifetime ban from baseball since 1943. 1985 also saw the Pittsburgh drug trials which involved players who were called to testify before

5488-403: The center field fence, and the Huntington Avenue Grounds of the Boston Red Sox , which was 635 feet (194 m) to the center field fence, thus home runs were rare, and "small ball" tactics such as singles , bunts , stolen bases , and the hit-and-run play dominated the strategies of the time. Hitting methods like the Baltimore chop were used to increase the number of infield singles. On

5586-437: The championship 4-games-to-1, with a tie. The Haitai Tigers dominated the 1980s, winning the Korean Series five times — in 1983, 1986, and 1987 through 1989. They were led by pitcher Sun Dong-yol and infielders Kim Seong-han and Han Dae-hwa . Other KBO stars whose careers took off in the 1980s were sluggers Chang Jong-hoon and Lee Man-soo . From 1982 to 1988, the regular season was divided into two (a spring season and

5684-460: The championship four times in the decade — 1991, 1993, 1996, and 1997. The Tigers were led by hitting-machine Lee Jong-beom and slugger Lee Ho-joon . Other KBO players who starred in the 1990s were Eagles' pitcher Song Jin-woo , who eventually became the all-time KBO leader in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched; slugging catcher Park Kyung-oan , the first catcher in KBO history to hit 300 home runs; and stolen base king Jeon Jun-ho . But probably

5782-419: The championship in 2000, 2003, and 2004.) In 1999 the season was expanded to 132 games, and the KBO separated into two divisions — the Dream League and the Magic League. The 1999 Dream League consisted of the Doosan Bears, the Lotte Giants, the Haitai Tigers, and the Hyundai Unicorns; the 1999 Magic League consisted of the Hanwha Eagles, the LG Twins, the Samsung Lions, and the Ssangbangwool Raiders. That year

5880-443: The club was no longer in the running for the league championship, which happened frequently under the NA. A concerted effort was made to curb gambling on games, which was leaving the validity of results in doubt. The first game in the NL—on Saturday, April 22, 1876 (at Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia )—is often pointed to as the beginning of MLB. The early years of the NL were tumultuous, with threats from rival leagues and

5978-573: The condition of the baseball itself. The baseball used American rather than the modern Australian wool yarn and was not wound as tightly, affecting the distance that it would travel. More significantly, balls were kept in play until they were mangled, soft and sometimes lopsided. During this era, a baseball cost three dollars, equal to $ 52.72 today (in inflation-adjusted USD ), and owners were reluctant to purchase new balls. Fans were expected to throw back fouls and (rare) home runs. Baseballs also became stained with tobacco juice, grass, and mud, and sometimes

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6076-432: The contentious reserve clause . The period before 1920 was the dead-ball era , when home runs were rarely hit. Professional baseball was rocked by the Black Sox Scandal , a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series . Baseball survived the scandal, albeit with major changes in its governance as the relatively weak National Commission was replaced with a powerful commissioner of baseball with near-unlimited authority over

6174-414: The decade but only won it once, in 2001. Stars who emerged in the 2000s include all-time KBO hit king Park Yong-taik , the Giants' first-baseman Dae-ho Lee , and the Eagles' first-baseman Kim Tae-kyun . Other notable players from the era include slugging third-basemen Lee Bum-ho and Choi Jeong , the Bears' designated hitter Hong Sung-heon , and the Twins' long-time outfielder Lee Byung-kyu . In 2001,

6272-419: The exclusive home of the KBO League, marking the end of the league's free online broadcast era in South Korea. In June that same year, free streaming service SOOP acquired the rights to broadcast all KBO games outside of South Korea through the 2026 season. In addition to these ballparks, the Lotte Giants play some games at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium , the Samsung Lions at Pohang Baseball Stadium and

6370-433: The field at the same time.) By 2012, teams were using all their foreign-player allotments on pitchers, and there were no more foreign hitters in the KBO. After this happened again in 2013, the following season the KBO League raised the foreign-player limit to three for each team, but mandated that at least one foreign player had to be a hitter (again, with only two such players on the field at a time). American Tyrone Woods

6468-404: The first major league franchise on the West Coast. O'Malley also helped persuade the rival New York Giants to move west to become the San Francisco Giants. Giants owner Horace Stoneham had been contemplating a move to Minnesota amid slumping attendance at the aging Polo Grounds ballpark when O'Malley invited him to meet San Francisco Mayor George Christopher in New York. After Stoneham

6566-451: The first player from the KBO to join an MLB team through the posting system . Altogether, 28 South Korean players have made it to the MLB as of 2024. In South Korea, most of the games are aired free-to-air on MBC , SBS and KBS2 , and at pay television on KBS N Sports , MBC Sports+ , SBS Sports and SPOTV1/2 . Between 2021 and 2023, SPOTV broadcast selected games in the ASEAN region. In 2024, streaming platform TVING became

6664-454: The founding of the Cincinnati club. The NABBP split into an amateur organization and a professional organization. The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , often known as the National Association (NA), was formed in 1871. Its amateur counterpart disappeared after only a few years. The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in

6762-657: The helm of one of South Korea's professional baseball clubs when he was signed as manager of the Lotte Giants in 2007. (Royster served as the Giants' manager through the 2010 season.) Over the league's history, more than 200 Americans have played in the KBO; other countries which have produced many current and former KBO players include the Dominican Republic (with more than 80 players), and Venezuela (with more than 20 players). Several KBO players have had successful careers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Baek In-chun played professionally in Japan from 1963 to 1981, compiling 209 home runs, 776 RBI, and 1,831 hits in

6860-429: The hole " between the corner and middle infielders. Starting pitchers were no longer expected to throw complete games ; it was enough for a starter to pitch 6–7 innings and turn the game over to the team's closer , a position which grew in importance over these decades. As stolen bases increased, home run totals dropped. After Willie Mays hit 52 home runs in 1965, only one player ( George Foster ) reached that mark until

6958-500: The introduction of the KT Wiz to the league. Each team plays every other team 16 times. In general, Korean teams play six games a week, with every Monday off. In mid-July of every season, the best players participate in the KBO All-Star Game. The franchises participating are divided into two sets of teams: "Dream All-Stars" (Doosan, KT, Lotte, Samsung, and SSG) and "Nanum All-Stars" (Kia, Hanwha, LG, NC and Kiwoom). The KBO League's season culminates in its championship series, known as

7056-515: The juice of licorice, which some players would chew for the purpose of discoloring the ball. Also, pitchers could manipulate the ball through the use of the spitball (In 1921, use of this pitch was restricted to a few pitchers with a grandfather clause ). Additionally, many ballparks had large dimensions, such as the West Side Grounds of the Chicago Cubs, which was 560 feet (170 m) to

7154-630: The league, replacing the vacancy in Daejeon made by OB's move, and expanding the league to seven teams. From 1986 to 1988, the regular season shrank to a total of 108 games. 1988 saw the Cheongbo Pintos change ownership again, becoming the Pacific Dolphins . In 1989 the KBO eliminated the two half-season pennants, moving to a single season of 120 games. In the 1990s the Tigers were again dominant, winning

7252-547: The longest career of any foreign player in KBO history, a record later eclipsed by hitter Jay Davis and pitcher Dustin Nippert . Davis played seven seasons for Hanwha (1999–2002, 2004–2006), compiling a .313 batting average, 167 home runs, and 591 RBI during that span. Foreign pitchers with extended careers in the KBO include Dustin Nippert , who compiled a win–loss record of 102–51 and 1,082 strikeouts in eight seasons (a foreign player record); and Danny Rios , who in six seasons

7350-592: The major league clubs, and the MLB Draft League , a hybrid amateur-professional showcase league. MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation jointly manage the international World Baseball Classic tournament. In the 1860s, aided by soldiers playing the game in camp during the Civil War , "New York"-style baseball expanded into a national game and spawned baseball's first governing body,

7448-591: The major leagues. Satchel Paige was signed by the Indians and the Dodgers added star catcher Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe , who was later the first winner of the Cy Young Award for his outstanding pitching. MLB banned the signing of women to contracts in 1952, but that ban was lifted in 1992. There have been no female MLB players since then. From 1903 to 1952, the major leagues consisted of two eight-team leagues whose 16 teams were located in ten cities, all in

7546-557: The major-league status of the Union Association by pointing out that franchises came and went and that the St. Louis club was deliberately "stacked"; the St. Louis club was owned by the league's president and it was the only club that was close to major-league caliber. In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced its recognition of seven leagues within Negro league baseball as major leagues:

7644-590: The most notable hitters to emerge from the 1990s were the Lions' Lee Seung-yuop and Yang Joon-hyuk , who between them now hold most of the KBO's career offensive records. In 1990, MBC Chungyong became the LG Twins and an eighth franchise was added, the Ssangbangwool Raiders , who represented the North Jeolla Province region. From 1991 to 1998, the season increased to 126 games. The Lotte Giants won

7742-471: The nature of professional baseball, putting a higher premium on speed and defense over home-run hitting power since the fields were often too big for teams to expect to hit many home runs and foul balls hit in the air could more easily be caught for outs. Teams began to be built around pitching—particularly their bullpens—and speed on the basepaths. Artificial surfaces meant balls traveled quicker and bounced higher, so it became easier to hit ground balls " in

7840-527: The northeastern and mid-western United States: New York City had three teams and Boston , Chicago, Philadelphia , and St. Louis each had two teams. St. Louis was the southernmost and westernmost city with a major league team. The longest possible road trip, from Boston to St. Louis, took about 24 hours by railroad. After a half-century of stability, starting in the 1950s, teams began to move out of cities with multiple teams into cities that had not had them before. From 1953 to 1955, three teams moved to new cities:

7938-515: The point that the 1942 season was nearly canceled. On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis wrote to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , pleading for the continuation of baseball during the war. Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have

8036-565: The regular season, and a 15-inning limit for playoff games. The first game was played on March 27, 1982, between the Samsung Lions and the MBC Chungyong at Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium , Seoul . Then-president Chun Doo-hwan threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The 1982 charter teams of its first season were: The first Korean Series featured the Bears versus the Lions, with OB winning

8134-526: The reserve clause, led to the organization of the Major League Baseball Players Association to collectively bargain with the owners, which in turn led to the introduction of free agency in baseball. Modern stadiums with artificial turf surfaces began to change the game in the 1970s and 1980s. Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s. In the mid-2000s, media reports disclosed the use of anabolic steroids among MLB players;

8232-522: The resulting bidding war for players led to widespread contract-breaking and legal disputes. The war between the AL and NL caused shock waves throughout the baseball world. At a meeting at the Leland Hotel in Chicago in 1901, the other baseball leagues negotiated a plan to maintain their independence. A new National Association was formed to oversee these minor leagues. After 1902, the NL, AL, and NA signed

8330-490: The scheduled five or seven games. The KBO League rules are essentially those of the Major League Baseball (MLB). The designated hitter rule is universal in KBO. Traditionally, South Korean professional baseball games have a maximum number of extra innings before a game is declared an official tie. The KBO abolished this limit for the 2008 season, but it was reinstated in 2009, with a 12-inning limit imposed during

8428-563: The sport. MLB rose in popularity in the decade following the Black Sox Scandal, and unlike major leagues in other sports it endured the Great Depression and World War II without any of its teams folding. Shortly after the war, Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier . Some teams moved to different cities in the 1950s and 1960s. The AL and NL added eight clubs in the 1960s: two in 1961, two in 1962, and four in 1969. Player discontent with established labor practices, especially

8526-524: The starting rotation. As with foreign players in the NPB, many of the most celebrated foreign players came to Korea after not finding success in the Major Leagues . The KBO first began allowing foreign players in 1998, when each team was allowed to sign up to two imports. Traditionally, teams chose one hitter and one pitcher, although there were exceptions. (In 2001 and 2002, KBO teams were allowed three foreign-born players, but only two of them could be on

8624-549: The team was renamed the Nexen Heroes until the end of the 2018 season, when its naming rights were sold to Kiwoom Securities . The Samsung Lions were a powerful team in the 2010s, winning the championship four times during six straight appearances in the Korean Series (from 2010 to 2015). The Doosan Bears were also a powerhouse, appearing in the Korean Series six times in the decade (including five straight appearances from 2015 to 2019), winning it three times. Expansion resumed in

8722-454: The use of new, white baseballs whenever a ball became scuffed or dirty, helping bring the "dead-ball" era to an end. The following year, the New York Yankees made their first World Series appearance. By the end of the 1930s, the team had appeared in 11 World Series, winning eight of them. Yankees slugger Babe Ruth had set the single-season home run record in 1927, hitting 60 home runs; breaking his own record of 29 home runs. Afflicted by

8820-399: Was "absorbing the available Negro Leagues numbers into the official historical record." The period between 1900 and 1919 is commonly referred to as the "dead-ball era". Games of this era tended to be low-scoring and were often dominated by pitchers, such as Walter Johnson , Cy Young , Christy Mathewson , Mordecai Brown , and Grover Cleveland Alexander . The term also accurately describes

8918-408: Was 90–59 with 807 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.01, which is the lowest career ERA of any foreign pitcher in the KBO. Josh Lindblom pitched in the KBO for five seasons, compiling a 63–34 record and 750 strikeouts. Rios was given the 2008 KBO League Most Valuable Player Award , Nippert was KBO MVP in 2016, and Lindblom won the award in 2019. American Jerry Royster was the first-ever non-Korean to take

9016-559: Was above 11,600 fans. This increase in popularity has been accompanied by the building of larger and more modern ballparks to further enhance the fan experience and their expenditures during games, such as Gwangju-Kia Champions Field (2014), Gocheok Sky Dome (2016), Daegu Samsung Lions Park (2016), and Changwon NC Park (2019). The KBO League has a big number of female fans; the 2024 season data has shown that approximately 54% of ticket holders were female, and most of them were in their 20s. KBO League players and coaches have formed

9114-466: Was broadcast as the first game under the agreement that night. Karl Ravech , Jason Benetti , Boog Sciambi , Eduardo Perez , and Jessica Mendoza , along with various guests, broadcast the game remotely via Internet from their homes. The deal was for the 2020 season only and was not renewed for 2021. As with Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the KBO league places a cap on the number of foreign players allowed on club rosters. The foreign player limit

9212-458: 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. In comparison with American Major League Baseball , ESPN reports that the KBO level of play "appears to be somewhere between Double-A and Triple-A , on average, though the best players are more likely to be MLB-quality than your typical Double-A league." Historically,

9310-603: Was later referred to as "The Noble Experiment", Robinson was the first black baseball player in the International League since the 1880s, joining the Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals , for the 1946 season. The following year, the Dodgers called up Robinson to the major leagues. On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his major league debut at Ebbets Field before a crowd of 26,623 spectators, including more than 14,000 black patrons. Black baseball fans began flocking to see

9408-449: Was persuaded to move to California, Time magazine put O'Malley on its cover. MLB Commissioner Ford C. Frick had opposed the meeting, but the dual moves proved successful for both franchises—and for MLB. Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals —1,600 mi (2,575 km) away —would have been the closest NL team. Instead, the joint move made West Coast road trips economical for visiting teams. The Dodgers set

9506-560: Was played that year. Because of the lack of a postseason in 1985, the next year saw some major changes, with the adoption of a playoff system, in which the top two teams from each half-season played for the right to get to the Korean Series. 1986 also saw the OB Bears moving from Daejeon to share Jamsil Baseball Stadium with MBC Chungyong in Seoul. A new franchise, the Binggrae Eagles , joined

9604-666: Was the first notable import. Debuting with the Doosan Bears in 1998, Woods was the first foreign player to hit a home run (as well as the first to be ejected from a game by an umpire). In his first year Woods set a then-KBO record with 42 homers and won the MVP award (becoming the first foreign player to win the award). In five years in Korea, Woods hit 174 homers, drove in 510 runs, and batted .294. (He later found additional success in Nippon Professional Baseball .) Woods left Korea with

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