Samsung Lions End 12-Year Wait for Korean Series Title, Routing Top-Seeded KT 12-1 as Koo Ja-wook Wins MVP

DAEGU, South Korea — The Samsung Lions are champions of Korean baseball again. Samsung routed the KT Wiz 12-1 in Game 5 of the Korean Series on Sunday to win its first title in 12 years, completing an upset of the regular-season champions in front of its home fans.

After winning its playoff series against the Kia Tigers 3-2, Samsung lost Game 1 of the Korean Series to KT, then won Games 2 through 5 to clinch the best-of-seven series 4-1.

The title is the club's first since 2014 and its ninth overall, a count that includes the 1985 season, when Samsung won both halves of the split season.

An upset of the regular-season champions

Samsung entered the series as the underdog. KT finished first in the regular season, while the Lions had to fight through the postseason bracket to reach the final.

Such upsets are rare in the current KBO format. Since the league expanded to 10 teams in 2015 and adopted its current postseason system, the regular-season champion has lost the Korean Series only three times: Samsung in 2015, the Doosan Bears in 2018 and KT this year.

The series did not start well for Samsung. The Lions lost Game 1 to KT 8-7 before reeling off four straight wins.

A manager's promise kept

Samsung's manager had predicted exactly this ending. At the Korean Series media day on Nov. 2, Park Jin-man held up five fingers, signaling his intention to finish the series in Game 5 and lift the trophy in front of the home crowd.

The championship completes a remarkable personal arc. Park was the Korean Series MVP as a Samsung player in 2006 and has now won the title as the team's manager 20 years later.

Eight-run fifth inning decides it

Game 5 was close until the middle innings. Koo Ja-wook tied the game with an RBI double with two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the third.

The turning point came in the fifth. After KT failed to cash in with runners on first and second and one out in the top of the inning, Samsung's lineup answered immediately. The Lions scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to blow the game open.

Koo, Lewin Díaz and Choi Hyoung-woo led the offensive explosion. Kim Young-woong added an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to make it 12-1.

Won Tae-in and the closer seal it

Samsung's pitching was just as dominant. Starter Won Tae-in allowed one run on four hits and two walks over five innings, striking out five, to earn his fifth career postseason win and his first in the Korean Series. Won was named the Game 5 MVP.

The bullpen finished the job without any drama. Chris Fedek, who started Game 2, took over in the sixth inning and held KT scoreless for four innings. He did not allow a single baserunner, striking out five to earn the save.

He recorded the final out by striking out pinch hitter Jang Sung-woo.

Koo plays through injury to win MVP

The series MVP award went to Samsung's captain. Koo received 72 of 97 votes from reporters, or 74.2%, beating teammate Park Seung-kyu, who received 19, to win his first Korean Series MVP.

His performance was all the more impressive given his health. Koo could not play in the field because of a hamstring injury but still hit relentlessly as the designated hitter.

Over five games, he batted .500 with 10 hits in 20 at-bats, one home run, six RBIs and five runs scored. In the clincher, he went 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Kang Min-ho finally gets his ring

The title was especially meaningful for Samsung's veteran catcher. Kang Min-ho won his first Korean Series championship in his 21st season since debuting with the Lotte Giants in 2004.

Kang had achieved nearly everything as a player except a championship ring, and he caught every game of the series despite a side muscle injury.

End of a long drought

Samsung was once the KBO's dominant franchise. The Lions won four straight combined regular-season and Korean Series titles from 2011 to 2014, but then went more than a decade without a championship.

Recent postseasons brought repeated disappointment. Samsung lost the 2024 Korean Series to Kia 4-1, and last year played 11 games from the Wild Card round through the playoffs without reaching the final step.

This year, the Lions survived a full five-game playoff series against Kia before taking down KT.

The victory also carried symbolic weight for the ballpark. It was the first championship won at Samsung Lions Park, which opened in 2016.

KT falls short

For KT, the loss ends a season that had looked headed for a title. The Wiz had been chasing their first combined regular-season and Korean Series championship since 2021, but could not stop Samsung's surge.

Some observers see the championship as the start of something larger. With a strong core and a manager who delivered on his promise, Korean media described the win as a possible rebirth of the Samsung dynasty.