Doosan Bears

The Doosan Bears (Korean: 두산 베어스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Seoul. Founded in 1982, they are a member of the KBO League. The Bears have won six Korean Series titles (1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, and 2019) and play their home games at Seoul's Jamsil Baseball Stadium.^[1]

Doosan Bears
두산 베어스
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League	KBO League (1982–present)
Location	Seoul
Ballpark	Jamsil Baseball Stadium (1986–present)
Established	1982; 42 years ago (1982)
League championships	1995, 2016, 2018, 2019
Korean Series championships	1982, 1995, 2001, 2015, 2016, 2019
Former name(s)	OB Bears (1982–1998)
Former ballparks	Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium (1982–1984) Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium (1985)
Colors	Navy blue, red and white
Retired numbers	21, 54
Ownership	Doosan
Manager	Lee Seung-yuop
Website	www.doosanbears.com

History

The club was founded in Daejeon in 1982 as the OB Bears,^[2] with the Oriental Brewery as their owners. OB Bears were the first team to be founded in the KBO League. In 1985, the team moved to their current home in Seoul.^[2] The OB Bears were officially renamed the Doosan Bears in 1999, after Oriental Brewery was sold to InBev and the Doosan Group assumed ownership.^[3]

The Bears won the inaugural Korean Series in 1982 by defeating the Samsung Lions to become the first KBO League champion.^[4] Between 2015 and 2021, the Bears appeared in seven consecutive Korean Series championships, winning three of the series in 2015, 2016 and 2019.^[5]

Team colors

The main colors of the team are navy and white, with red as the secondary color. From 1999 to 2009, yellow was used instead as the secondary color, before the team returned in 2010 to the iconic dark navy and red combination of the original OB Bears.^[6]

Mascot

The Doosan Bears mascot is a bear named Cheolwoong (철웅).^[7] Its biggest feature is that it embodies the bear, the symbolic animal of Doosan Bears, as a dynamic robot character. It emphasized strength and a future-oriented image.^[8]

Season-by-season records

Doosan Bears mascot

Season	City	Stadium	League	Finish	Regular season									Postseason	Awards
					Rank	Games	Wins	Losses	Draws	Win%	BA	HR	ERA
OB Bears
1982	Daejeon	Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium	KBO	1	1/6	40	29	11	0	.725	.283	57	3.20	Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–1–1)	Park Chul-soon (MVP)
					2/6	40	27	13	0	.675
1983			KBO	5	6/6	50	22	28	0	.440	.259	50	3.54	Did not qualify	Park Jong-hoon (ROTY)
					5/6	50	22	27	1	.449
1984			KBO	3	2/6	50	30	20	0	.600	.256	53	2.53	Did not qualify	Yun Seog-hwan (ROTY)
					2/6	50	28	21	1	.571
1985	Seoul	Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium	KBO	4	2/6	55	29	25	1	.537	.260	67	3.16	Did not qualify
					5/6	55	22	32	1	.409
1986		Jamsil Baseball Stadium	KBO	3	5/7	54	23	29	2	.442	.249	38	2.61	Lost playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–3)
					1/7	54	33	19	2	.635
1987			KBO	3	2/7	54	30	22	2	.574	.261	30	3.26	Lost playoff vs. Haitai Tigers (2–3)
					5/7	54	24	30	0	.444
1988			KBO	5	3/7	54	31	23	0	.574	.258	44	3.73	Did not qualify
					5/7	54	23	29	2	.444
1989			KBO	5	5/7	120	54	63	3	.463	.247	42	3.70	Did not qualify
1990			KBO	7	7/7	120	35	80	5	.313	.231	62	4.72	Did not qualify
1991			KBO	8	8/8	126	51	73	2	.413	.250	59	4.32	Did not qualify
1992			KBO	5	5/8	126	56	66	4	.460	.259	110	4.22	Did not qualify
1993			KBO	4	3/8	126	66	55	5	.544	.258	59	2.89	Lost semi-playoff vs. LG Twins (1–2)
1994			KBO	7	7/8	126	53	72	1	.425	.246	75	3.46	Did not qualify
1995			KBO	1	1/8	126	74	47	5	.607	.266	106	3.42	Won Korean Series vs. Lotte Giants (4–3)	Kim Sang-ho (MVP)
1996			KBO	8	8/8	126	47	73	6	.397	.242	82	3.67	Did not qualify
1997			KBO	5	5/8	126	57	64	5	.472	.254	84	3.84	Did not qualify
1998			KBO	4	4/8	126	61	62	3	.496	.256	102	3.60	Lost semi-playoff vs. LG Twins (0–2)	Tyrone Woods (MVP)
Doosan Bears
1999	Seoul	Jamsil Baseball Stadium	Dream League	4	1/4	132	76	51	5	.598	.284	141	4.58	Lost playoff vs. Hanwha Eagles (0–4)	Hong Sung-heon (ROTY)
2000			Dream League	2	2/4	133	76	57	0	.571	.289	150	4.22	Won playoff vs. LG Twins (4–2) Lost Korean Series vs. Hyundai Unicorns (3–4)
2001			KBO	1	3/8	133	65	63	5	.508	.276	130	4.96	Won semi-playoff vs. Hanwha Eagles (2–0) Won playoff vs. Hyundai Unicorns (3–1) Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–2)
2002			KBO	5	5/8	133	66	65	2	.504	.261	130	3.93	Did not qualify
2003			KBO	7	7/8	133	57	74	2	.435	.276	90	4.25	Did not qualify
2004			KBO	3	3/8	133	70	62	1	.530	.268	89	3.88	Won semi-playoff vs. Kia Tigers (2–0) Lost playoff vs. Samsung Lions (1–3)
2005			KBO	2	2/8	126	72	51	3	.585	.270	63	3.42	Won playoff vs. Hanwha Eagles (3–0) Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (0–4)
2006			KBO	5	5/8	126	63	60	3	.512	.258	55	3.36	Did not qualify
2007			KBO	2	2/8	126	70	54	2	.565	.263	78	3.45	Won playoff vs. Hanwha Eagles (3–0) Lost Korean Series vs. SK Wyverns (2–4)	Danny Rios (MVP) Im Tae-hoon (ROTY)
2008			KBO	2	2/8	126	70	56	0	.556	.276	68	3.89	Won playoff vs. Samsung Lions (4–2) Lost Korean Series vs. SK Wyverns (1–4)
2009			KBO	3	3/8	133	71	60	2	.534	.280	120	4.60	Won semi-playoff vs. Lotte Giants (3–1) Lost playoff vs. SK Wyverns (2–3)	Lee Yong-chan (ROTY)
2010			KBO	3	3/8	133	73	57	3	.562	.281	149	4.62	Won semi-playoff vs. Lotte Giants (3–2) Lost playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–3)	Yang Eui-ji (ROTY)
2011			KBO	5	5/8	133	61	70	2	.466	.271	92	4.26	Did not qualify
2012			KBO	3	3/8	133	68	62	3	.523	.260	59	3.58	Lost semi-playoff vs. Lotte Giants (1–3)
2013			KBO	2	4/9	128	71	54	3	.568	.289	95	4.57	Won semi-playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (3–2) Won playoff vs. LG Twins (3–1) Lost Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (3–4)
2014			KBO	6	6/9	128	59	68	1	.465	.293	108	5.43	Did not qualify
2015			KBO	1	3/10	144	79	65	0	.549	.290	140	5.02	Won semi-playoff vs. Nexen Heroes (3–1) Won playoff vs. NC Dinos (3–2) Won Korean Series vs. Samsung Lions (4–1)
2016			KBO	1	1/10	144	93	50	1	.650	.298	183	4.45	Won Korean Series vs. NC Dinos (4–0)	Dustin Nippert (MVP)
2017			KBO	2	2/10	144	84	57	3	.596	.294	178	4.38	Won playoff vs. NC Dinos (3–1) Lost Korean Series vs. Kia Tigers (1–4)
2018			KBO	2	1/10	144	93	51	0	.646	.309	191	4.98	Lost Korean Series vs. SK Wyverns (2–4)	Kim Jae-hwan (MVP)
2019			KBO	1	1/10	144	88	55	1	.615	.278	84	3.51	Won Korean Series vs. Kiwoom Heroes (4–0)	Josh Lindblom (MVP)
2020			KBO	2	3/10	144	79	61	4	.564	.293	125	4.31	Won semi-playoff vs. LG Twins (2–0) Won playoff vs. KT Wiz (3–1) Lost Korean Series vs. NC Dinos (2–4)
2021			KBO	2	4/10	144	71	65	8	.522	.268	110	4.26	Won wild card vs. Kiwoom Heroes (1–1) Won semi-playoff vs. LG Twins (2–1) Won playoff vs. Samsung Lions (2–0) Lost Korean Series vs. KT Wiz (0–4)	Ariel Miranda (MVP)
2022			KBO	9	9/10	144	60	82	2	.423	.255	101	4.45	Did not qualify
2023			KBO	5	5/10	144	74	68	2	.521	.255	100	3.92	Lost wild card vs. NC Dinos (0–1)
2024			KBO	4	4/10	144	74	68	2	.521	.276	150	4.82	Lost wild card vs. KT Wiz (0–2)

Team

Current roster

Retired numbers

The Bears have retired numbers 21 and 54. The number 21 is retired in honour of pitcher Park Chul-soon,^[1] who won the KBO League Most Valuable Player Award, the Pitching Triple Crown, and the Korean Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1982. The number 54 is in memory of catcher Kim Young-shin, who committed suicide while still a young player.^[9]

Managers

Jamsil Baseball Stadium, home field of the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins

Number	Name	Tenure	Honours
1	Kim Yeong-duk	15 January 1982 – 8 August 1982	1982 Korean Series
2	Kim Sung-keun	24 December 1983 – 8 September 1988
3	Lee Kwang-hwan	9 September 1988 – 19 June 1990
4	Lee Jae-won	19 June 1990 – 11 July 1991
5	Yun Dong-kyun	9 September 1991 – 1994
6	Kim Yin-sik	21 September 1994 – 2003	1995 Korean Series 2001 Korean Series
7	Kim Kyung-moon	10 October 2003 – 13 June 2011
8	Kim Kwang-soo	13 June 2011 – 9 October 2011
9	Kim Jin-wook	9 October 2011 – 27 November 2013
10	Song Il-soo	27 November 2013 – 21 October 2014
11	Kim Tae-hyoung[10]	21 October 2014 – 11 October 2022	2015 Korean Series 2016 Korean Series 2019 Korean Series
12	Lee Seung-yuop[11]	14 October 2022 – present

References

General

• "Complete league history and statistics" (in Korean). Korean Baseball League. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

Specific

1. "Sports in Korea Korean Pro Baseball". english.visitkorea.or.kr. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
2. "S. Korea's first baseball dome opens, tenant still needed". Yonhap News Agency. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
3. "Inside the KBO: From Superstars to Wiz in 39 years". Korea JoongAng Daily. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
4. "Samsung, Doosan eyeing history in Korean Series". The Korea Herald. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
5. "'Miracle Doosan' reach record seventh straight Korean Series". Korea JoongAng Daily. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
6. "BI – 두산베어스". doosanbears.com (in Korean). Doosan Bears. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
7. "[이석우의 스포츠 톡톡]두산 마스코트 철웅이의 외로운 응원". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
8. "두산, 11일 2010 새 마스코트 발표". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 11 February 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
9. "Retired number". The Dong-a Ilbo. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
10. "Doosan Bears part ways with manager Kim Tae-hyoung". Korea JoongAng Daily. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
11. "KBO's all-time home run king Lee Seung-yuop named Doosan Bears manager". The Korea Herald. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.

External links

• Official website (in Korean)