SSG Landers win KBO regular season title in league's first wire-to-wire victory

SSG Landers starter Kim Kwang-hyun, left, talks to teammate Choi Jung during a game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon on Sept. 29. [YONHAP]

The SSG Landers won the KBO regular season title without even playing a game on Tuesday, locking in an unassailable lead as the second-place LG Twins lost to the Kia Tigers.

The Landers are the first wire-to-wire pennant winners in KBO history.

With 88 wins, 49 losses and four ties, the Landers are now untouchable at the top of the KBO with three games left to play.

The Twins have 84 wins, 53 losses and two ties, trailing by four games with five still to play, meaning that even if the Landers lose their three games and the Twins win their five, LG will only be able to reach a .627 winning percentage, falling short of SSG’s .629.

In short, it is now mathematically impossible for anybody to beat the Landers.

With the regular season title secured, the Landers will advance straight to the Korean Series.

The Incheon club will first have to play their three remaining regular season games — against the Doosan Bears on Wednesday, the NC Dinos on Thursday and the Samsung Lions on Saturday. None of those games will be at home, so Landers fans will have to hit the road if they want to join the celebration before the season ends.

The Landers are the only team in KBO history to hold on to first place for the entirety of the season. On very few occasions did the wire-to-wire win appear to be in question, with only the Kiwoom Heroes and Twins getting within a few games of first place at any point throughout the season.

The Landers’ dominance this season came under the leadership of manager Kim Won-hyong, who took the helm at the club in 2021.

That season was a year of change for the Landers, who were renamed from the SK Wyverns as they changed ownership, brought in Kim to manage the side and invested heavily to bring in players like veteran MLB slugger Choo Shin-soo.

The Landers finished sixth that year, failing to qualify for the playoffs. But if that season was for development, this year is clearly when it paid off.

Veterans Choo and Kim Kang-min, both of whom turned 40 this season, played a huge part in leading the position players, alongside rising stars like Choi Ji-hoon and Park Seong-han.

The Landers also benefitted from some strong starting pitching, particularly from recent MLB returnee Kim Kwang-hyun, who leads the KBO with a 1.99 ERA over 27 appearances, picking up 13 wins and just two losses so far this season.

The Landers have also benefitted from significant off-the-field support. Not only was the front office active in recruiting players like Choo and Kim Kwang-hyun, but owner Shinsegae has also consistently shown its willingness to invest in the club, with the locker rooms and facilities being entirely rebuilt last winter and the total player salary reportedly leading the league.

Tuesday’s victory marks the fourth regular season title in the Landers’ history, after wins in 2007, 2008 and 2018. If the club is able to go on to win the Korean Series, it will be the fifth Championship title for the club, after 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2018, and the first of the SSG era.

The bye straight to the Korean Series gives the Landers a few weeks to train ahead of the big day, and in the past that break has proven crucial. Since 2002, only the 2015 Samsung Lions and 2018 Doosan Bears have failed to win the Korean Series after taking the pennant.

While the Landers take first place and the Twins second, the race is still on further down the table as the fourth-place Heroes sit just half a game behind the third-place KT Wiz.

The Wiz have five games left to play and are currently riding a five-game winning streak while the Heroes only have two games to play, so while there is room for movement, KT are likely to lock up third.

The Tigers are also highly likely to hold on to the wildcard spot. While the Dinos trail by 2.5 games and still have five to play, the Changwon club has also racked up three ties this season, meaning even if they won every remaining game and the Tigers lost all of theirs, the best they could hope for is to match the Gwangju team’s winning percentage.

The KBO regular season ends Saturday with all 10 teams playing their final games on the same day.

The Heroes will take on the Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, with Doosan veteran Oh Jae-won also marking his retirement after the game. The Twins will visit the Lotte Giants in Busan, where veteran slugger Lee Dae-ho will also retire. The Landers will face the Lions, the Hanwha Eagles will take on the Dinos and the Wiz will head to Gwangju to play the Tigers.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]