I can’t bring myself to do a final edition of the KBO rankings. SK was No. 1 wire to wire, and the bottom two teams — LG and Woori — were pretty set in stone early on as well. Lotte has been up and down during the season, but will enter the playoffs for the first time since 1999. Doosan has been quietly consistent and will be the favorite to beat the winner of the Lotte or Samsung matchup.

First off, I want to update folks on Kim Kwang-hyun’s effort to win the pitching triple crown. He didn’t get it. Kia started Yoon Suk-min last night against Doosan and he threw seven shutout innings to reduce his ERA to 2.33. Unless Manager Kim wants to do something perfectly insane and throw his ace pitcher tonight in the KBO season’s final game against Woori, then Yoon wins the ERA title, and Kim will have to settle for the win and strikeout titles. It might not be a bad thing for him to not have won the triple crown, it’ll give him something to shoot for next year.  

I was surprised Kia threw Yoon in this situation. He hadn’t pitched since Sept. 13, and I wouldn’t think the prestige of winning an ERA title would be that great. But on the other hand it does draw more attention to Yoon’s fantastic year  during which he went 14-5 for a sixth place team. Last season Yoon was 7-18 with a 3.78 ERA for last place Kia. He deserved better and he got it.

Nothing to be ashamed of for Kim either. He’s the best pitcher in the KBO, is likely to win his second KBO championship in as many years in the league, and he even got to star in his first mass market commercial for SK:

I actually think Kim Kwang-hyun should also be the MVP of the KBO.  Pitchers shouldn’t win MVPs too often, and Daniel Rios just won it last year  after his amazing season for Doosan, but  someone from SK ought to win it. The team is far and away the best in the league. Problem is, the SK is devoid of stars.

Do I think he’ll win it? Tough call. Let’s take a look at those in the running…

Karim Garcia, who  finishes  with a .283/.353/.541 line, finished second in HRs with 30, and first in RBI with 111, is an early favorite. Lotte has been terrible for the better part of a decade and Jerry Royster has done a fantastic job with the club. He deserves a lot of the attention he’s been getting and Garcia has become the poster boy for Lotte’s success.  

However,  Kim Tae-gyun’s .324/.417/.622 slash line is even more impressive, and he did best Garcia by  one HR, which believe me, counts for something in  the minds of the  people voting on this.  Introduce OPS into the conversation and it’s all over:

Kim Tae-gyun (Hanwha) 1.039  
Kim Hyun-soo (Doosan) .963
Park Jae-hong (SK) .958
Kim Dong-joo (Doosan) .916
Karim Garcia (Lotte) .864

No doubt about it, Garcia has been an amazing story for Lotte and adds a lot of character to the league, but he’s not the most valuable player. Neither is Tae-kyun, who plays for a non-playoff bound team.

Kim Hyun-soo is an interesting choice. After losing last year’s league MVP to Japan Doosan seemed primed for a fall. The Bears pitching, in general, fell off this season and the offense has carried the team. Hyun-soo won the batting title at .357, was fourth in runs, fifth in RBI, had an astounding OBP of .454, and even stole 13 bases.

But I think he and Kim Dong-joo more or less cancel each other out. What Hyun-soo lacks…power…Dong-joo has. He hit 18 HRs and knocked in 111. Granted, Dong-joo’s RBI total is helped immensely by the fact that Hyun-soo was getting on base in nearly half of his plate appearances, but at the end of the day both players helped each other to great seasons.

The only other candidate I can give consideration to is SK’s Park Jae-hong, who is quietly the offensive leader in a lineup that is solid top to bottom. Jae-hong’s .317/.420/.538 will appeal to anyone, but nothing else jumps out…he’s 15th in runs scored, tied with four others for 5th in HRs with 19, is 11th in RBI. No. He’s not an MVP.

The Lotte/Samsung 3 vs. 4 series will begin on Wednesday. I may go to a game or two…not sure  yet. I’ll be out of town over the weekend,  so it’s unlikely I’ll be  able to update the games right  away.  

Here’s the schedule:

Game 1 — Oct. 8,  6 p.m. at Lotte
Game 2  – Oct. 9, 6 p.m. at Lotte    
Game 3  – Oct. 11, 4 p.m. at Samsung
Game 4 — Oct. 12, 1:30 p.m. at Samsung
Game 5 — Oct. 14, 6 p.m. at Lotte

The winner will play Doosan in a series starting the following week. I think Lotte is the better team. I’ve said before, I think Lotte is the only team that could potentially upset SK. Well, I’ve reconsidered that going into the playoffs. I don’t think Lotte can beat SK, and I think there’s some small, tiny,  possibility that Doosan can.

But basically this championship is SK’s to lose.