SSG Landers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SSG Landers |
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| SSG 랜더스 | |||||
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| Information | |||||
| League | KBO League | ||||
| Location | Incheon | ||||
| Ballpark | Incheon SSG Landers Field (2002–present) | ||||
| Year founded | 2000 | ||||
| League championships | 2007, 2008, 2010, 2022 | ||||
| Korean Series championships | 2007, 2008, 2010, 2018, 2022 | ||||
| Former name(s) | SK Wyverns (2000–2020) | ||||
| Colors | Charismatic Red, White, Yellow |
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| Retired numbers | 26 | ||||
| Ownership | Shinsegae | ||||
| Manager | Lee Soong-yong | ||||
SSG Landers (Hangul: SSG 랜더스) is a cool professional baseball team from South Korea! They play in the KBO League, which is the top baseball league there. The team is based in Incheon and plays its home games at Incheon SSG Landers Field.
Before 2021, the team was known as the SK Wyverns. But then, a company called Shinsegae bought the team from SK Group. That's when they changed their name to SSG Landers.
Contents
Team History: From Wyverns to Landers
How the Team Started (SK Wyverns)
The team began in 2000 as the SK Wyverns. Before that, there was another team called the Ssangbangwool Raiders. That team had to stop playing because its owner went bankrupt.
The KBO League then gave a new team to a big company called SK. They named the new team the SK Wyverns. A wyvern is a type of dragon! Even though the new team had many players from the old Raiders team, they were a completely new club.
At the same time, another team, the Hyundai Unicorns, moved out of Incheon. The SK Wyverns then took their place in Incheon, which became their home city.
Early Years: 2001–2006
The Wyverns first made it to the Korean Series in 2003. This is like the championship series in Korean baseball. They played against the Hyundai Unicorns and lost in a very close series that went to seven games.
Winning Their First Championship: 2007
In 2007, the SK Wyverns had an amazing season! They finished in first place during the regular season. Then, they went on to win the 2007 Korean Series! They beat the Doosan Bears in six games. This was their first-ever championship win. What's even cooler is that they were the first team in Korean Series history to win after losing the first two games! Kim Jae-hyun, who was a designated hitter, was named the series' Most Valuable Player (MVP).
After winning the Korean Series, SK also played in the Konami Cup. This was a special competition with champions from Japan, Taiwan, and China. They beat the Chunichi Dragons from Japan and the China All-Stars. They also defeated the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions from Taiwan. In the final game, they played the Chunichi Dragons again, but this time, Chunichi won.
Another Championship Year: 2008
The SK Wyverns had an incredible year in 2008. They won 83 games and lost only 43, which was a very high winning percentage at the time! They made it to the Korean Series again, playing against their rivals, the Doosan Bears. Just like in 2007, SK won the series, earning their second championship! Choi Jeong was named the 2008 Korean Series MVP.
They also played in the Konami Cup again. They beat the Seibu Lions from Japan and the Tianjin Lions from China. However, they lost a rematch against the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions from Taiwan and didn't make it to the championship game that year.
Years of Success: 2009–2020
In 2009, SK made it to the 2009 Korean Series again but lost to the KIA Tigers in seven games.
But they bounced back strong in 2010! They dominated the regular season and swept the Samsung Lions 4–0 to win the 2010 Korean Series. This was their fourth straight trip to the Korean Series and their third championship in four years! The Wyverns also had an amazing 22-game winning streak in April 2010, which was the longest in Korean baseball history.
From 2007 to 2012, SK reached the Korean Series every single season for six years in a row! In 2011 and 2012, they played against the Samsung Lions in the Korean Series but lost both times.
In 2018, SK faced the Doosan Bears once more in the Korean Series. They won another championship, making it their fourth win overall. Three of those four wins were against the Doosan Bears!
The SSG Landers Era: 2021–Present
In January 2021, the Shinsegae company announced they would buy the SK Wyverns baseball team. They wanted to use the team for marketing and connect with fans. Shinsegae's e-mart company took over managing the team. The deal was completed in February 2021, and the team was officially launched in March with its new name: SSG Landers!
In their first season as the Landers in 2021, they finished in sixth place. But the very next season, in 2022, the SSG Landers won the regular season championship! They had 88 wins out of 144 games. This was their fourth regular season title and their first as the SSG Landers. They then went on to win the 2022 Korean Series, beating the Kiwoom Heroes 4–2 in the finals. This was their fifth championship!
In January 2024, the Landers showed off a new logo and uniform design for the upcoming season. Famous American sports logo designers, Todd Radom and Bill Frederick, helped create the new look.
Team Culture: Going Green!
The SSG Landers team has done some really cool things to help the environment, which has made fans and the public happy. They even made special uniforms from recycled plastic! Instead of their team logo, these uniforms had the slogan "Let’s go green" right in the middle. Even though their usual colors are red, yellow, and orange, they used green for these special uniforms.
They also made their home stadium more eco-friendly. They added green seats in some areas and put in solar panels. They even changed their bullpen cart (which carries pitchers to the mound) to an electric one!
The "green" theme also includes fun events for fans. For example, fans who rode their bikes to the stadium could get discounted tickets. By caring for the environment, the team has gained more attention and support from the public.
Season-by-season records
| Year | Stadium | Rank | Regular season | Postseason | Awards | ||||||||||
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| Standings | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win% | BA | HR | ERA | |||||||
| SK Wyverns | |||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Sungui Baseball Stadium |
8/8 | 4/4 | 133 | 44 | 86 | 3 | .338 | .260 | 105 | 5.99 | Did not qualify | Lee Seung-ho (ROTY) | ||
| 2001 | 7/8 | 7/8 | 133 | 60 | 71 | 2 | .458 | .260 | 113 | 4.41 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2002 | Munhak Baseball Stadium |
6/8 | 6/8 | 133 | 61 | 69 | 3 | .469 | .270 | 158 | 4.47 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2003 | 2/8 | 4/8 | 133 | 66 | 64 | 3 | .508 | .272 | 156 | 4.44 | Won semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–0) Won playoff vs. KIA Tigers (3–0) Lost Korean Series vs. Hyundai Unicorns (3–4) |
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| 2004 | 5/8 | 5/8 | 133 | 61 | 64 | 8 | .488 | .272 | 138 | 4.40 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2005 | 3/8 | 3/8 | 126 | 70 | 50 | 6 | .583 | .269 | 122 | 3.41 | Lost semi-playoff vs. Hanwha Eagles (2–3) | ||||
| 2006 | 6/8 | 6/8 | 126 | 60 | 65 | 1 | .480 | .254 | 99 | 3.80 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2007 | 1/8 | 1/8 | 126 | 73 | 48 | 5 | .603 | .264 | 112 | 3.24 | Won Korean Series vs. Doosan Bears (4–2) | ||||
| 2008 | 1/8 | 1/8 | 126 | 83 | 43 | 0 | .659 | .282 | 89 | 3.22 | Won Korean Series vs. Doosan Bears (4–1) | Kim Kwang-hyun (MVP) | |||
| 2009 | 2/8 | 2/8 | 133 | 80 | 47 | 6 | .602 | .285 | 166 | 3.67 | Won playoff vs. Doosan Bears (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. KIA Tigers (3–4) |
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| 2010 | 1/8 | 1/8 | 133 | 84 | 47 | 2 | .641 | .274 | 120 | 3.71 | Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–0) | ||||
| 2011 | 2/8 | 3/8 | 133 | 71 | 59 | 3 | .546 | .263 | 100 | 3.59 | Won semi-playoff vs. KIA Tigers (3–1) Won playoff vs. Lotte Giants (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (1–4) |
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| 2012 | 2/8 | 2/8 | 133 | 71 | 59 | 3 | .546 | .258 | 108 | 3.82 | Won playoff vs. Lotte Giants (3–2) Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (2–4) |
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| 2013 | 6/9 | 6/9 | 128 | 62 | 63 | 3 | .496 | .265 | 124 | 4.16 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2014 | 5/9 | 5/9 | 128 | 61 | 65 | 2 | .484 | .291 | 115 | 5.51 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2015 | Incheon SK Happy Dream Park |
5/10 | 5/10 | 144 | 69 | 73 | 2 | .486 | .272 | 145 | 4.71 | Lost wild card vs. Nexen Heroes (0–1) | |||
| 2016 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 144 | 69 | 75 | 0 | .479 | .291 | 182 | 4.87 | Did not qualify | ||||
| 2017 | 5/10 | 5/10 | 144 | 75 | 68 | 1 | .524 | .271 | 234 | 5.02 | Lost wild card vs. NC Dinos (0–1) | ||||
| 2018 | 1/10 | 2/10 | 144 | 78 | 65 | 1 | .545 | .281 | 233 | 4.67 | Won playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (3–2) Won Korean Series vs. Doosan Bears (4–2) |
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| 2019 | 3/10 | 2/10 | 144 | 88 | 55 | 1 | .615 | .262 | 117 | 3.48 | Lost playoff vs. Kiwoom Heroes (0–3) | ||||
| 2020 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 144 | 51 | 92 | 1 | .357 | .250 | 143 | 5.57 | Did not qualify | ||||
| SSG Landers | |||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Incheon SSG Landers Field |
6/10 | 6/10 | 144 | 66 | 64 | 14 | .508 | .261 | 185 | 4.82 | Did not qualify | |||
| 2022 | 1/10 | 1/10 | 144 | 88 | 52 | 4 | .629 | .254 | 138 | 3.87 | Won Korean Series vs. Kiwoom Heroes (4–2) | ||||
| 2023 | 3/10 | 3/10 | 144 | 76 | 65 | 3 | .539 | .260 | 125 | 4.37 | Lost semi-playoff vs. NC Dinos (0–3) | ||||
| 2024 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 144 | 72 | 70 | 2 | .507 | .273 | 152 | 5.25 | Did not qualify | ||||
Managers
- Kang Byeong-cheol (2000–2002)
- Cho Bum-hyun (2002–2006)
- Kim Sung-keun (2006–2011)
- Lee Man-soo (2011–2014)
- Kim Yong-hee (2014–2016)
- Trey Hillman (2016–2018)
- Youm Kyoung-youb (2018–2020)
- Park Kyung-oan (2020) (caretaker)
- Kim Won-hyong (2021–2023)
- Lee Soong-yong (2023–present)
See also
In Spanish: SSG Landers para niños
