SK Wyverns

SK Wyverns Baseball Club (에스케이 와이번스 야구단) is a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 2000. Based in Incheon, they play their home games at Munhak Baseball Stadium.

Their current manager is Trey Hillman.

History

The first team to represent Incheon was founded in the inaugural KBO season in 1982, and were known as the Sammi Superstars. The team was unsuccessful, winning just 15 games out of 80 in their first season. They changed ownership in 1985 and were known as the Cheongbo Pintos. This new incarnation lasted only two seasons and became the Taepyeongyang Dolphins in 1988. In 1995, the powerful conglomerate, Hyundai, bought the outfit and re-named them the Hyundai Unicorns. With more potent financial backing, they finally brought the first Korean Series to Incheon in 1998.

In the 2000 season, the Ssang Bang Wool Raiders, a team that had previously represented the Jeollabuk-do region, was dissolved because of the bankruptcy of the Ssang Bang Wool Group, the teams owner, and its franchise was fortified by KBO. Then the KBO awarded a new franchise to the SK conglomerate. The name of the new franchise was determines to be the SK Wyverns. So the Raiders and the Wyverns has no historical links although the former Raiders players mostly consisted of the new team. Therefore, no historical records of the Raiders were succeeded to the Wyverns.

The Unicorns moved out of Incheon to go to Suwon, and the SK Wyverns filled the void left in Incheon. Their first Korean Series appearance came in 2003, where somewhat ironically, they were defeated by the Hyundai Unicorns in seven games.

In 2007, SK defeated the Doosan Bears in six games to win the 2007 Korean Series - the first time the franchise had won the Korean Series - after finishing the league in first place. They became the first team in Korean Series history to win after losing the first two games. Designated Hitter Kim Jae-hyun was the series MVP.

SK went on to compete in the Konami Cup, a short competition between the champions of the Korean Baseball League, the Japanese Baseball League, the Taiwanese Baseball League, and the China All-Stars.

On November 8, 2007, SK Wyverns managed to defeat the Chunichi Dragons (6-3), giving them their first ever loss in Konami Cup history. On November 9, 2007, they soundly defeated the China All-Stars (13-0), causing the game to be called in the 7th inning, due to the 'Mercy Rule'. On November 10, 2007, they repeated their performance, defeating the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of Taiwan (13-1) in 7 innings.

The final game, on November 11, 2007, was a rematch of the first game, between Chunichi Dragons and SK Wyverns. In an extremely close game, Chunichi managed to win the game, 6-5.

SK went to the Korean Series again in 2008, once again facing their main rivals, Doosan Bears. In a repeat of 2007, SK defeated Doosan to become 2 time Korean Series Champions. 21 year old 3rd baseman Choi Jeong was named the series MVP.

SK once again went on to compete in the Konami Cup. On November 13, 2008, SK Wyverns managed to defeat the Seibu Lions (4-3), marking the second straight year in which the Korean champions handed the Japanese champions a loss in this competition. On November 14, 2008, they once again defeated the Chinese representatives, Tianjin Lions, in a "mercy-rule" shortened game. On November 15, 2008, they were soundly defeated in a rematch with Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions of Taiwan (10-4) and failed to qualify for the championship game for a second straight year.

In 2009, however, SK were runners-up in the 2009 KBO season and 2009 Korean Series, where they were defeated by the KIA Tigers in 7 games.

The Wyverns also had a 23 game winning streak that ended in April 2010. This is the longest winning streak in Korean Baseball, and the second longest in the world, after the New York Giants.

Season by season records

Year	City	Team	Rank	Games	W	L	D	Win %
2000	Incheon	SK Wyverns	8	133	44	86	3	0.338
2001	Incheon	SK Wyverns	7	133	60	71	2	0.458
2002	Incheon	SK Wyverns	6	133	61	69	3	0.469
2003	Incheon	SK Wyverns	2	133	66	64	3	0.508
2004	Incheon	SK Wyverns	5	133	61	64	8	0.488
2005	Incheon	SK Wyverns	3	126	70	50	6	0.583
2006	Incheon	SK Wyverns	6	126	60	65	1	0.480
2007	Incheon	SK Wyverns	1	126	73	48	5	0.603
2008	Incheon	SK Wyverns	1	126	83	43	0	0.659
2009	Incheon	SK Wyverns	2	133	80	47	6	0.602
2010	Incheon	SK Wyverns	1	133	84	47	2	0.632
2011	Incheon	SK Wyverns	3	133	71	59	3	0.546
2012	Incheon	SK Wyverns	2	133	71	59	3	0.546
2013	Incheon	SK Wyverns	6	128	62	63	3	0.496
2014	Incheon	SK Wyverns	5	128	61	65	2	0.484
2015	Incheon	SK Wyverns	5	144	69	73	2	0.486
2016	Incheon	SK Wyverns	6	144	69	75	0	0.479
2017	Incheon	SK Wyverns	5	144	75	68	1	0.524
2018	Incheon	SK Wyverns	1	144	78	68	1	0.545
2019	Incheon	SK Wyverns	3	144	88	55	1	0.615

Futures League Season by Season Records (Since 2013 ~ )

Year	Rank	Games	W	L	D	Win%
2013	2	92	47	39	6	0.547
2014	4	89	37	39	13	0.487
2015	3	102	41	53	8	0.436
2016	4	96	44	44	8	0.500
2017	2	91	46	38	7	0.548
2018	4	96	47	46	6	0.489
2019	5	90	38	45	7	0.458

2020 SK Wyverns Roster

Pitchers Starters 29 Kim Kwang-Hyun -- Nick Kingham - Ricardo Pinto 66 Yun Hui-Sang -- Lim Jun-Hyuk 46 Baek In-Sik Bullpen -- Kim Taek-Hyeong -- Jang Min-Ik -- Jeong Su-Min -- Kim Sae-Hyeon 45 Chae Byeong-Yong Shin Jae-Woong Kim Sung-Ho Shin Dong-Hoon -- Kim Dae-Yu -- Kim Jeong-Min Closer 47 Park Hee-Soo Catchers -- Lee Hong-Goo -- Lee Sung-Woo 12 Lee Jae-Won -- Park Jeong-Wook Infielders -- Chae Tae-In -- Jamie Romak -- Nam Tae-Hyuk 06 Kim Seong-Hyun -- Choi Jeong-Yong 14 Choi Jeong 33 Jo Seong-Woo Outfielders -- Ko Jong-Wook -- Yun Jeong-Woo -- No Soo-Gwang 00 Kim Kang-Min 62 Han Dong-Min Inactive Infielders -- Kim Moon-Hong  04 Choi-Hang Inactive Outfielders 67 Kim Jae-Hyun

Inactive Pitchers -- Kim Tae-Hoon # -- Moon Gwang Eun # -- Lee Jeong Dam # -- Park Jong-Hoon # 54 Moon Seung-Won  49 Oh Min-Cheol 68 Lim Chi-Yeong -- Jo Young-Woo # -- Park Min-Ho # -- Jo Han-Wook # Inactive Catchers 60 Kim Jeong-Hoon -- Lee Hyun-Seok # Rookie Pitchers -- Kim Jung-Woo Manager -- Yeom Gyeong-Yup Coaches -- Park Kyeong Oan (General 1st head) (General 1st pitching) -- Choi Sang-Deok (General 1st pitching) -- Kim Mu-Kwan (General 1st hitting) -- 98 Baek Jae-Ho (General 1st hitting) 97 Son Ji-Hwan (General 1st defense) -- Jeong Soo-Seong (General 3rd base running) -- Park Jae-Sang (General 1st base) -- Jang Jae-Joong (General 1st battery) -- Lee Jong-Woon (General 2nd manager) -- Kim Seok-Yeon (General 2nd head & hitting) -- Kim Kyeong-Tae (General 2nd pitching) -- Jae Chun-Mo (General 2nd pitching) -- Park Jung-Kwon (General 2nd hitting) -- Kim Il-Gyeong (General 2nd defense) -- Cho Dong-Hwa (General 2nd base running) -- Kim Pil-Joong (General 2nd battery) -- Choi Chang-Ho (General 3rd) -- Seo Han-Gyu (General 3rd) -- Lee Dae-Soo (General 3rd) -- Jeon Byeog-Doo (General 3rd)

Roster updated 2019-11-20

External links

• SK Wyverns