Kiwoom Heroes to take on SSG Landers in Korean Series starting Tuesday

Choi Jeong of the SSG Landers, left, and Lee Jung-hoo of the Kiwoom Heroes

The 2022 Korean Series kicks off on Tuesday, pitting the wire-to-wire pennant winning SSG Landers against a gutsy Kiwoom Heroes side that have already fought their way through two rounds of playoffs.

On paper it’s difficult to imagine the Landers losing the championship series. The Incheon club has dominated the KBO this year, becoming the first team ever to hold first place for the entire season.

That pennant win also came with a ticket directly to the Korean Series, giving the club three weeks to rest and prepare while the Heroes were battling it out in the playoffs.

The Landers finished the regular season with 88 wins, 52 losses and four draws, nine games ahead of the Heroes' 80 wins, 62 losses and two draws. That left the Heroes in third place, meaning the Seoul club got a bye to the first round of the playoffs.

The Heroes faced the KT Wiz in the first round of the playoffs, having pushed the Suwon team down to fourth on the final day of the season, forcing them to play through the Wildcard against the Kia Tigers.

That series ran to five games, with the Heroes and the Wiz trading wins until Game 5. The Heroes won the opening game 8-4, only for the Wiz to tie things up with a 2-0 win in Game 2. The Heroes again pulled ahead with a 9-2 win in Game 3, with the Wiz coming back 9-6 the next day.

It finally came down to a nail-biter of a pitchers’ duel in Game 5, with the Heroes taking the win 4-3.

That bought the Heroes a ticket to the second round of the playoffs, where they took on the second-place LG Twins in a postseason Seoul derby.

Again it was a long series, with the Twins winning the opening game 6-3 and the Heroes rallying to take the following three games and the series. All three were close, with the Heroes winning 7-6, 6-4 and 4-1.

While the Heroes have been battling it out over the last two weeks, the Landers have been training for the Korean Series. The Incheon club is well rested, but the Heroes have played nine more games than their rivals and enter the championship riding the momentum of a three-game winning streak.

It’s difficult to know whether rest or momentum will prove more important in the Korean Series.

The Landers walked away from the regular season with a huge edge over the Heroes, beating them in 11 of their 16 games and losing five times.

There are a lot of standout players that could make the difference for either club during the Korean Series, but perhaps the two biggest ones to watch are SSG’s Choi Jung and Kiwoom’s Lee Jung-hoo.

Choi and Lee are two very different players, but both come alive during the fall. They are both likely to take the three-hole hitter spot and can be absolutely crucial in the clutch.

Choi has been here before. In 2008, the Landers, then called the SK Wyverns, beat the Doosan Bears to take the Korean Series title. The Wyverns were the underdogs then, having come through the playoffs to meet the pennant-winning Bears in the championship.

Choi only had one knock in the first two games, but came alive in Game 3, smashing a two-run homer over the left field wall. He hit an RBI double in Game 4 and another in Game 5, becoming the youngest Korean Series MVP ever at 21.

The Wyverns won the Korean Series again in 2010, with Choi recording a batting average of 0.545 with two home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored in four games.

In 2018, when the Wyverns again beat the Bears to take the title, Choi struggled with just one hit in the first five games, then pulled through with a dramatic solo home run in Game 6. That homer tied the score and pushed the game into extra innings, with the Wyverns eventually breaking through in the 13th inning to win the game and the series.

While Choi was pulling through in the clutch in 2018, Lee had only just finished his sophomore season in the KBO.

Debuting in 2017, Lee has quickly established himself as a phenomenal base hitter with a career 0.342 batting average. This season Lee has also started to develop into a big hitter, hitting 23 home runs and batting in 113 RBIs, both career bests. His batting average for the season was 0.349.

Against the Twins in the second round of the playoffs, Lee had a .500 batting average with eight hits, four of them doubles, a home run, two RBIs and a stolen base.

The Heroes will travel to Incheon SSG Landers Field in Incheon for the opening two games of the Korean Series on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Landers then making the trip to Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul on Friday and Saturday.

Any remaining games of the best-of-seven series will be held in Incheon, starting on Monday.

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