The 2015 KBO League season was the 34th season in the history of the Korea Professional Baseball league.

2015 Tire Bank KBO League
LeagueKBO League
SportBaseball
Duration28 March – 6 October
Number of games144 per team
Number of teams10
Regular Season
Season championsSamsung Lions
Season MVPEric Thames (NC)
Postseason
Wild Card championsNexen Heroes
  Wild Card runners-upSK Wyverns
Semi-playoffs championsDoosan Bears
  Semi-playoffs runners-upNexen Heroes
Playoffs championsDoosan Bears
  Playoffs runners-upNC Dinos
Korean Series
ChampionsDoosan Bears
  Runners-upSamsung Lions
Finals MVPJung Soo-bin (Doosan)
KBO seasons

Season structure

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Regular season

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Due to the addition of the KT Wiz into the KBO, the 2015 KBO league schedule was increased to each team playing 144 games during the regular season (each team had played 128 games during the 2014 regular season), with each team playing each other 16 times.[1]

All-Star Game

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In July, the best players participated in the 2015 KBO All-Star Game. 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 Korean All-Star Game did not determine home-field advantage in the Korean Series. The All-Star Game was played on 18 July 2015 at the Suwon Baseball Stadium and won by the Dream All-Stars 6–3.

Postseason

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2015 KBO League season culminated in its championship series, known as the Korean Series. 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.[2]

  • Wildcard (best-of-two)
    • Regular-season 4th place vs. regular-season 5th place
  • Semi-playoff (best-of-five, added from 3 games starting from 2008)
    • Regular-season 3rd place vs. Wild Card winner
  • Playoff (best-of-five, reduced from 7 games starting from 2009)
    • Regular-season 2nd place vs. semi-playoff winner
  • Korean Series (best-of-seven)
    • Regular-season 1st place vs. playoff winner

To determine the final standings

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  • Champion (1st place): Korean Series winner
  • Runner-up (2nd place): Korean Series loser
  • 3rd–10th place: sort by regular-season record except teams playing in the Korean Series.

Standings

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Rank Team GP W L D Pct. KBO postseason
1 Samsung Lions 144 88 56 0 0.611 KBO Korean Series
2 NC Dinos 144 84 57 3 0.596 Playoff
3 Doosan Bears 144 79 65 0 0.549 Semi-playoff
4 Nexen Heroes 144 78 65 1 0.545 Wildcard 1
5 SK Wyverns 144 69 73 2 0.486 Wildcard 2
6 Hanwha Eagles 144 68 76 0 0.472 Did not qualify
7 Kia Tigers 144 67 77 0 0.465
8 Lotte Giants 144 66 77 1 0.462
9 LG Twins 144 64 78 2 0.451
10 KT Wiz 144 52 91 1 0.364

Source [3]

Foreign hitters

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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.

Team Player Position In KBO since Batting Average Home runs RBI Notes
Doosan Bears Zach Lutz 3B 2015 .111 1 3 Released by the team
Deibinson Romero 3B 2015 .253 12 50 Replaced Zach Lutz on the roster
Hanwha Eagles Nyjer Morgan OF 2015 .273 0 5
Jake Fox C/OF 2015 .278 7 25
Kia Tigers Brett Pill 1B 2014 .325 22 101
LG Twins Jack Hannahan 1B 2015 .327 4 22 Released by the team due to injury
Luis Jiménez 1B 2015 .312 11 46 Signed to replace Jack Hannahan on the roster
Lotte Giants Jim Adduci 1B 2014 .314 28 106
NC Dinos Eric Thames 1B 2014 .381 47 140 KBO Most Valuable Player, KBO All-Star, KBO batting champion, KBO OBP leader, KBO SLG leader, KBO Runs leader, Golden Glove Award
Nexen Heroes Brad Snyder OF 2015 .281 26 71
Samsung Lions Yamaico Navarro 2B 2014 .287 48 137 KBO All-Star, Golden Glove Award
SK Wyverns Andrew Brown OF 2015 .261 28 76

Postseason

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Wild CardSemi-playoffPlayoffKorean Series
1Samsung Lions1
2NC Dinos23Doosan Bears4
3Doosan Bears33Doosan Bears3
4Nexen Heroes24Nexen Heroes1
5SK Wyverns0

Wild Card

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

Nexen won the series, 2–0.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 7 October SK Wyverns 4 – 5 Nexen Heroes Mokdong Baseball Stadium, Seoul 18:30 7,469[4]

Semi-playoff

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Doosan won the series, 3–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 10 October Nexen Heroes 3 – 4 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 14:00 20,833[5] 
2 11 October Nexen Heroes 2 – 3 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 14:00 22,765[6] 
3 13 October Doosan Bears 2 – 5 Nexen Heroes Mokdong Baseball Stadium, Seoul 18:30 9,900[7] 
4 14 October Doosan Bears 11 – 9 Nexen Heroes Mokdong Baseball Stadium, Seoul 18:30 8,227[8]

Playoff

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Doosan won the series, 3–2.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 18 October Doosan Bears 7 – 0 NC Dinos Masan Baseball Stadium, Changwon 14:00 11,000[9] 
2 19 October Doosan Bears 1 – 2 NC Dinos Masan Baseball Stadium, Changwon 18:30 11,000[10] 
3 21 October NC Dinos 16 – 2 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 18:30 24,119[11] 
4 22 October NC Dinos 0 – 7 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 18:30 22,652[12] 
5 24 October Doosan Bears 6 – 4 NC Dinos Masan Baseball Stadium, Changwon 14:00 11,000[13]

Korean Series

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Doosan Bears won the series, 4–1.

Game Date Score Location Time Attendance 
1 26 October Doosan Bears 8 – 9 Samsung Lions Daegu Baseball Stadium, Daegu 3:46 10,000[14] 
2 27 October Doosan Bears 6 – 1 Samsung Lions Daegu Baseball Stadium, Daegu 3:06 10,000[15] 
3 29 October Samsung Lions 1 – 5 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 3:22 25,000[16] 
4 30 October Samsung Lions 3 – 4 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 3:21 25,000[17] 
5 31 October Samsung Lions 2 – 13 Doosan Bears Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul 3:32 25,000[18]
2015 Korean Series Champion

Doosan Bears
(Fourth title)

References

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  1. ^ Yonhap News Agency (2014). KBO to expand video replay in second half of season. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  2. ^ Yonhap News Agency (2014). KBO to expand video replay in second half of season. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  3. ^ KBO League (2015). Team Standings. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Boxscore: October 7, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Boxscore: October 10, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Boxscore: October 11, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Boxscore: October 13, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Boxscore: October 14, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Boxscore: October 18, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Boxscore: October 19, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Boxscore: October 21, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Boxscore: October 22, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Boxscore: October 24, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Boxscore: October 26, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Boxscore: October 27, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Boxscore: October 29, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Boxscore: October 30, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Boxscore: October 31, 2015" (in Korean). Korea Baseball Organization. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
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