Hanwha Eagles

Hanwha Eagles
한화 이글스
Team logo Cap insignia
League	KBO League (1986–present)
Location	Daejeon, South Korea
Ballpark	Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park (1986–present) Cheongju Baseball Stadium (1986–present)
Year established	1985
Nickname(s)	Dynamite Bats, Chickens (Chicks), The Happy Team
League championships	(2): 1989, 1992
Korean Series championships	(1): 1999
Former name(s)	Binggrae Eagles (1986–1993)
Colors	Orange, black and grey
Retired numbers	21 23 35
Ownership	Hanwha
Manager	Kim Sung-keun
General Manager	Roh Jae-deok
President	Kim Chung-beom
Uniforms

The Hanwha Eagles (Korean: 한화 이글스), incorporated as the Hanwha Eagles Professional Baseball Club (Korean: 한화 이글스 프로야구단), are a South Korean professional baseball club based in the central city of Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Hanwha Life Insurance Eagles Park. Founded in 1985 as the "Binggrae Eagles" (Binggrae was the then-trademark of Hanwha's confectionery branch.), they debuted in 1986 as the seventh franchise of the league. The club changed their name into the "Hanwha Eagles" after Binggrae's separation from Hanwha conglomerate in 1993. Hanwha, the owner of the club is one of the largest business conglomerate, or chaebol, in South Korea.

The Eagles won the Korean Series once in 1999 and the league pennant twice. As of 2016, they played in the postseason for twelve times, being the runner-up for five times. The club was renowned for their slugger bats from late 1990s to early 2000s, nicknamed as the Dynamite Bats after one of Hanwha's main business fields, explosives production. The team slugger percentage topped 0.484 in 1999, the highest team SLG in the Korean Professional Baseball League history. The Eagles have three retired numbers in the roster, more than any other team in the league. Those are for the slugger Jang Jong-hoon (35), the pitchers Jung Min-cheul (23) and Song Jin-woo (21).

Robot fans

The team gained international attention when they equipped their stadium with robot fans that can be controlled by real fans who cannot attend. The BBC stated that "The bots can cheer, chant and perform a Mexican wave" – and facial images can be uploaded to the robot's faces.^[1]

Retired numbers

Song Jin-woo P Retired September 23, 2009

Jung Min-cheul P Retired September 11, 2009

Jang Jong-hoon SS, 1B, DH Retired September 16, 2005

Team mascots

Eagles mascot, Winny Eagle

Vinny Eagle poses with US military personnel baseball players.

The Hanwha Eagles has anthropomorphic white eagles for their mascots, named Winny and Vinny Eagle.

Season-by-season records

Season	League	Finish	Regular season								Post season	Awards	Note
			Rank	Games	Wins	Losses	Draws	Win%	GB	TBA
Binggrae Eagles
1986	KBO	7/7	7/7	54	12	42	0	.222	27	.236
			6/7	54	19	34	1	.358	14^1⁄2	.236
1987	KBO	6/7	6/7	54	24	28	2	.463	8	.274		Lee Jung-hoon (ROTY)
			6/7	54	23	29	2	.444	7	.274
1988	KBO	2/7	2/7	54	34	20	0	.630	^1⁄2	.266	Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions, 3–0 Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers, 2–4		KS runner-up
			3/7	54	28	25	1	.528	6	.266
1989	KBO	2/7	1/7	120	71	46	3	.604	—	.276	Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers, 1–4		League Pennant KS runner-up
1990	KBO	4/7	3/7	120	68	50	2	.575	2	.270	Lost Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions, 0–2
1991	KBO	2/8		126	72	49	5	.591	7	.274	Won Playoff vs. Samsung Lions, 3–1 Lost Korean Series vs. Haitai Tigers, 0–4	Jang Jong-hoon (MVP)	KS runner-up
1992	KBO	2/8	1/8	126	81	43	2	.651	—	.267	Lost Korean Series vs. Lotte Giants, 1–4	Jang Jong-hoon (MVP)	League Pennant KS runner-up
1993	KBO	5/8		126	61	61	4	.500	19^1⁄2	.238		Lee Kang-don (All-star MVP)
Hanwha Eagles
1994	KBO	3/8		126	65	59	2	.524	15	.247	Won Semi-playoff vs. Haitai Tigers, 2–0 Lost Playoff vs. Taepyongyang Dolphins, 0–3
1995	KBO	6/8		126	55	71	0	.437	21^1⁄2	.249		Jung Kyung-hoon (All-star MVP)
1996	KBO	4/8		126	70	55	1	.560	3^1⁄2	.245	Lost Semi-playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns, 0–2	Koo Dae-sung (MVP)
1997	KBC	6/8		126	51	73	2	.413	23^1⁄2	.253
1998	KBO	7/8		126	55	66	5	.455	23^1⁄2	.250
1999	Magic League	1/8	2/4	132	72	58	2	.554	1	.283	Won Playoff vs. Doosan Bears, 4–0 Won Korean Series vs. Lotte Giants, 4–1	Koo Dae-sung (KS MVP)	KS title
2000	Magic League	7/8	3/4	133	50	78	5	.391	16	.276		Song Ji-man (All-star MVP)
2001	KBO	4/8		133	61	68	4	.473	18	.275	Lost Semi-playoff vs. Doosan Bears, 0–2	Kim Tae-kyun (ROTY)
2002	KBO	7/8		133	59	69	5	.461	22^1⁄2	.256
2003	KBO	5/8		133	63	65	5	.492	15^1⁄2	.254
2004	KBO	7/8		133	53	74	6	.417	21^1⁄2	.268
2005	KBO	3/8	4/8	126	64	61	1	.512	11^1⁄2	.270	Won Semi-playoff vs. SK Wyverns, 3–2 Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears, 0–3
2006	KBO	2/8	3/8	126	67	57	2	.540	6^1⁄2	.253	Won Semi-playoff vs. Kia Tigers, 2–1 Won Playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns, 3–1 Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions, 1–4	Ryu Hyun-jin (ROTY) Ryu Hyun-jin (MVP)	KS runner-up
2007	KBO	3/8		126	67	57	2	.540	7^1⁄2	.254	Won Semi-playoff vs. Samsung Lions, 2–1 Lost Playoff vs. Doosan Bears, 0–3
2008	KBO	5/8		126	64	62	0	.508	19	.254
2009	KBO	8/8		133	46	84	3	.346	35	.269
2010	KBO	8/8		133	49	82	2	.368	35	.242
2011	KBO	6/8		133	59	72	2	.450	21	.268
2012	KBO	8/8		133	53	77	3	.408	26^1⁄2	.243
2013	KBO	9/9		128	42	85	1	.331	33^1⁄2	.244
2014	KBO	9/9		128	49	77	2	.389	29^1⁄2	.283
2015	KBO	6/10		144	68	76	0	.472	20	.271
2016	KBO	7/10		144	66	75	3	.468	26	.289
Overall record					Wins	Losses	Draws	Win%
					1841	2028	80	.476	All-time regular season record
					31	42	1	.425	All-time postseason record
					1872	2070	81	.475	All-time regular and postseason record

Personnel

Current lineup

Hanwha Eagles roster
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaches/Other
Pitchers Starting rotation 37 Bae Young-soo 45 Ahn Young-myung Bullpen 11 Lim Joon-sub 12 Lee Dong-kul 17 Park Jung-jin 26 Jung Dae-hoon 31 Song Chang-sik 49 Kim Ki-hyun 64 Kim Min-woo -- Song Sin-yeong -- Shim Soo-chang -- Lee Jae-woo Closer 47 Kwon Hyuk -- Jeong Woo-ram		Catchers 44 Cho In-sung -- Cha Il-mok Infielders  6 Kim Hoi-sung  8 Jeong Keun-woo 13 Kwon Yong-kwan 14 Kang Kyeong-hak 52 Kim Tae-kyun Outfielders 15 Lee Yong-kyu 25 Choi Jin-haeng 50 Lee Sung-yul 51 Kim Kyeong-eon 58 Lee Jong-hwan		Pitchers 10 Kim Tae-wan 19 Heo Yu-kang 22 Lee Tae-yang 40 Kim Hyuk-min # 54 Song Eun-beom 55 Yun Kyu-jin 61 Lim Kyung-wan -- Jang Min-seok Catchers 18 Hur Do-hwan 20 Jung Bum-mo Infielders  7 Song Kwang-min 60 Lim Ik-joon Outfielders  5 Jung Hyun-seok 59 Song Joo-ho		Manager 38 Kim Sung-keun Coaches -- Kim Kwang-soo (head) 76 Chung Min-tae (pitching) 83 Kye Hyeong-cheol (pitching) -- Choi Tae-won (base running) -- Kim Eung-gook (hitting) Futures League -- Ko Dong-jin † Disabled list * Suspended list # Military list Roster updated May 3, 2015 → All KBO League rosters

Managers

• Bae Seong-seo (1986–87)
• Kim Yeong-duk (1988–1992)
• Kang Byeong-cheol (1993–98)
• Lee Hui-su (1998–2000)
• Lee Kwang-hwan (2001–02)
• Yu Seung-an (2003–04)
• Kim In-sik (2005–09)
• Han Dae-hwa (2010–12)
• Kim Eung-ryong (2013–14)
• Kim Sung-keun (2015–present)

References

General

• "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League official website. Retrieved 13 November 2016.

Specific

1. Lee, Dave (25 July 2001). "Cheering robots replace real fans at Korean baseball". BBC. Retrieved 6 August 2014.

External links

• Official website (Korean)