2016 KBO League season

2016 Tire Bank KBO League
LeagueKBO League
SportBaseball
DurationApril 1 – October 9
Number of games144 per team
Number of teams10
Total attendance8,339,577
Regular Season
Season championsDoosan Bears
Season MVPDustin Nippert (Doosan)
Postseason
Wild Card championsLG Twins
  Wild Card runners-upKIA Tigers
Semi-playoffs championsLG Twins
  Semi-playoffs runners-upNexen Heroes
Playoffs championsNC Dinos
  Playoffs runners-upLG Twins
Korean Series
ChampionsDoosan Bears
  Runners-upNC Dinos
Finals MVPYang Eui-ji (Doosan)
KBO League seasons

The 2016 KBO League season was the 35th season in the history of the Korea Professional Baseball League.

Season structure

Stadium changes for 2016 season

Regular season

Each KBO team played 144 games during the regular season with all teams playing each other 16 times. The 144-game-schedule began in the 2015 season due to the addition of the KT Wiz. During the 2014 season, each team had played 128 games.

All-Star Game

On July 16, the best players participated in the 2016 KBO All-Star Game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The participating franchises were divided into two regions, the Dream All-Stars (Samsung Lions, Doosan Bears, Lotte Giants, SK Wyverns, KT Wiz) and Nanum All-Stars (Kia Tigers, Hanwha Eagles, LG Twins, Nexen Heroes, NC Dinos). The Nanum All-Star team emerged victorious with an 8–4 victory over the Dream All-Star Team in front of a sold-out crowd of 16, 300 fans. Doosan Bears outfielder Min Byung-hun, who hit two home runs during the game, was named the MVP of the game. The KBO All-Star Game however does not determine home-field advantage in the Korean Series.[4]

Postseason

The 2016 KBO League season culminates in its championship series, known as the Korean Series. Before the 2015 season, the Semi-playoff format was tweaked. Previously, the top four teams after the end of the regular season qualified for the postseason, but in 2015, the top five teams qualified for the postseason. The team with the best record gained a direct entry into the Korean Series, while the other four teams competed for the remaining place in a step-ladder playoff system. Starting in 2015, the fourth-place and the fifth-place teams played in a "Wildcard" game/series.

Procedure to Determine Final Standings

  • Champion (first place): Korean Series Winner
  • Runner-up (second place): Korean Series Loser
  • Third–Tenth place: Regular Season records determine third to tenth place spots in Final Standings

Standings

Rank Team W L D Pct. GB Postseason
1 Doosan Bears 93 50 1 0.650 — Korean Series
2 NC Dinos 83 58 3 0.589 9 Playoff
3 Nexen Heroes 77 66 1 0.538 16 Semi-playoff
4 LG Twins 71 71 2 0.500 21½ Wild Card
5 KIA Tigers 70 73 1 0.490 23
6 SK Wyverns 69 75 0 0.479 24½ Did not qualify
7 Hanwha Eagles 66 75 3 0.468 26
8 Lotte Giants 66 78 0 0.458 27½
9 Samsung Lions 65 78 1 0.455 28
10 KT Wiz 53 89 2 0.373 39½

Source [5]

Postseason

Wild CardSemi-playoffPlayoffKorean Series
1Doosan Bears4
2NC Dinos32NC Dinos0
3Nexen Heroes14LG Twins1
4LG Twins24LG Twins3
5KIA Tigers1

Wild Card

The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the fourth-placed team.

LG won the series, 2–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 10 KIA Tigers 4 – LG Twins 2 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 2:43 25,000[6] 
2 October 11 KIA Tigers 0 – LG Twins 1 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:21 25,000[7]

Semi-playoff

LG won the series, 3–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 13 LG Twins 7 – Nexen Heroes 0 Gocheok Sky Dome 3:16 16,300[8] 
2 October 14 LG Twins 1 – Nexen Heroes 5 Gocheok Sky Dome 3:06 16,300[9] 
3 October 16 Nexen Heroes 1 – LG Twins 4 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:01 25,000[10] 
4 October 17 Nexen Heroes 4 – LG Twins 5 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:33 24,352[11]

Playoff

NC won the series, 3–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 21 LG Twins 2 – NC Dinos 3 Masan Baseball Stadium 3:35 11,000[12] 
2 October 22 LG Twins 0 – NC Dinos 2 Masan Baseball Stadium 2:29 11,000[13] 
3 October 24 NC Dinos 1 – LG Twins 2 (11) Jamsil Baseball Stadium 4:46 25,000[14] 
4 October 25 NC Dinos 8 – LG Twins 3 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 4:00 25,000[15]

Korean Series

Main article: 2016 Korean Series

Doosan won the series, 4–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 October 29 NC Dinos 0 – Doosan Bears 1 (11) Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:51 25,000[16] 
2 October 30 NC Dinos 1 – Doosan Bears 5 Jamsil Baseball Stadium 3:10 25,000[17] 
3 November 1 Doosan Bears 6 – NC Dinos 0 Masan Baseball Stadium 3:17 11,000[18] 
4 November 2 Doosan Bears 8 – NC Dinos 1 Masan Baseball Stadium 3:24 11,000[19]

Foreign players

Each team could have signed up to three foreign players. Due to the high proportion of pitchers signed in previous years, beginning in 2014 the league mandated that at least one of the foreign players must be a position player. Also with the KT Wiz being an expansion team that started play in 2015, they were given an exemption and were allowed to sign four foreign players instead of just the normally allowed three.

Team Player Position In KBO since Salary Notes
Samsung Lions Allen Webster Pitcher 2016 $850,000
Collin Balester Pitcher 2016 $500,000 Released
Arnold León Pitcher 2016 $500,000[20] Signed to replace Collin Balester
Aarom Baldiris Infielder 2016 $950,000
NC Dinos Zach Stewart Pitcher 2015 $750,000
Eric Hacker Pitcher 2014 $900,000
Eric Thames Infielder 2013 $1,500,000 KBO All-Star
Doosan Bears Dustin Nippert Pitcher 2011 $1,200,000 KBO All-Star, KBO MVP
Michael Bowden Pitcher 2016 $650,000 pitched no-hitter on 6/30/16 against NC Dinos
Nick Evans First Baseman / Outfielder 2016 $550,000
Nexen Heroes Ryan Feierabend Pitcher 2015 $580,000 Released mid-season; picked up by KT Wiz
Robert Coello Pitcher 2016 $550,000 Released
Danny Dorn First Baseman / Outfielder 2016 $750,000
Scott McGregor Pitcher 2016 $150,000 Signed to replace Robert Coello
SK Wyverns Merrill Kelly Pitcher 2015 $750,000 KBO All-Star
Chris Seddon Pitcher 2013 $500,000 Released
Héctor Gómez Infielder 2016 $650,000
Braulio Lara Pitcher 2016 $230,000 Signed to replace Chris Seddon
Hanwha Eagles Esmil Rogers Pitcher 2015 $1,900,000 Released
Alex Maestri[21] Pitcher 2016 ¥50,000,000 (about $440,000) Released
Wilin Rosario Catcher / Infielder 2016 $1,300,000 KBO All-Star
Fabio Castillo Pitcher 2016 $250,000 Signed to replace Alex Maestri
Eric Surkamp Pitcher 2016 $450,000 Signed to replace Esmil Rogers
Kia Tigers Héctor Noesí Pitcher 2016 $1,700,000 KBO All-Star
Zeke Spruill Pitcher 2016 $700,000
Brett Pill Infielder 2014 $900,000
Lotte Giants Josh Lindblom Pitcher 2015 $1,200,000
Brooks Raley Pitcher 2015 $680,000
Jim Adduci Outfielder 2015 $780,000 Released
Justin Maxwell Outfielder 2016 $280,000 Signed to replace Jim Adduci
LG Twins Henry Sosa Pitcher 2012 $900,000
Luis Jimenez Infielder 2015 $900,000 KBO All-Star
Scott Copeland Pitcher 2016 $750,000[22] Released
David Huff Pitcher 2016 $550,000 Signed to replace Scott Copeland
KT Wiz[23] Yohan Pino Pitcher 2016 $500,000
Sugar Ray Marimón Pitcher 2016 $600,000 Released
Travis Banwart Pitcher 2014 $600,000
Andy Marte Infielder 2015 $850,000
Josh Lowey Pitcher 2016 $220,000 Signed to replace Sugar Ray Marimón

Foreign hitters

Team Player Batting Average Home runs RBI Notes
Doosan Bears Nick Evans .308 24 81
Hanwha Eagles Wilin Rosario .321 33 120 KBO All-Star
Kia Tigers Brett Pill .313 20 86
KT Wiz Andy Marte .265 22 74
LG Twins Luis Jiménez .308 26 102 KBO All-Star
Lotte Giants Jim Adduci .291 7 41 Released by the team
Justin Maxwell .288 4 16
NC Dinos Eric Thames .321 40 121 KBO Home run leader, KBO SLG leader, KBO All-Star, Golden Glove Award
Nexen Heroes Danny Dorn .295 16 70
Samsung Lions Aarom Baldiris .266 8 33
SK Wyverns Héctor Gómez .283 21 62

Attendances

Team Total attendance Home average
Doosan Bears 1,165,020 16,180
LG Twins 1,157,646 16,078
SK Wyverns 865,194 12,016
Lotte Giants 852,639 11,842
Samsung Lions 851,417 11,825
Nexen Heroes 782,121 10,862
KIA Tigers 773,499 10,743
KT Wiz 682,444 9,478
Hanwha Eagles 660,472 9,173
NC Dinos 549,125 7,627

References

  1. ^ Nam, Hyun-woo (2015-10-05). "Nexen Hereos to play at domed baseball field". The Korea Times.
  2. ^ "▒▒▒ eGovFrame Potal 온라인 지원 포탈 ▒▒▒".
  3. ^ Park, H. (2016-02-04). "'세계 최대-최고 전광판' SK 안방의 '빅보드'". SPOTV News (in Korean).
  4. ^ Baek, Byung-yeul (2016-07-17). "4 home runs help Dream past Nanum in KBO All-Star Game". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
  5. ^ KBO League (2016). Team Standings. Accessed on 10 Jun 2020.
  6. ^ "Boxscore: Wild Card Game 1" (in Korean). KBO.
  7. ^ "Boxscore: Wild Card Game 2" (in Korean). KBO.
  8. ^ "Boxscore: Semi-playoff Game 1" (in Korean). KBO.
  9. ^ "Boxscore: Semi-playoff Game 2" (in Korean). KBO.
  10. ^ "Boxscore: Semi-playoff Game 3" (in Korean). KBO.
  11. ^ "Boxscore: Semi-playoff Game 4" (in Korean). KBO.
  12. ^ "Boxscore: Playoff Game 1" (in Korean). KBO.
  13. ^ "Boxscore: Playoff Game 2" (in Korean). KBO.
  14. ^ "Boxscore: Playoff Game 3" (in Korean). KBO.
  15. ^ "Boxscore: Playoff Game 4" (in Korean). KBO.
  16. ^ "Boxscore: Korean Series Game 1". KBO. October 29, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  17. ^ "Boxscore: Korean Series Game 2". KBO. October 30, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  18. ^ "Boxscore: Korean Series Game 3". KBO. November 1, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  19. ^ "Boxscore: Korean Series Game 4". KBO. November 2, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  20. ^ "S. Korean baseball club signs Mexican pitcher". Yonhap. 2016-05-18.
  21. ^ "한화, 새 외국인 투수 마에스트리 영입 '총액 5000만엔'". OSEN (in Korean). 2016-03-15.
  22. ^ Shin, Chang-yong (2016-04-09). "<프로야구> LG, 외국인 투수 코프랜드 영입…총액 75만달러". Yonhap (in Korean).
  23. ^ "Show Magic! Team KT".