Just two days after the Doosan Bears were defeated in the Korean Baseball Organization championship series, Daniel Rios and Im Tae-hoon,  got something of a consolation by winning the league’s MVP and Rookie of the Year awards.

Neither vote was particularly close, with Im picking up 79 of 91 votes and Rios getting 71 votes.

For Rios the award caps off a terrific season that saw him win 22 games, becoming the first KBO pitcher since 1999 to top 20 games. The fact that the Korean league only plays 130 games makes the accomplishment all the more astounding.

His ERA was under 2.00 most of the year ended up with a 2.07 mark and was second in the league in strikeouts. His 234 2/3 innings was also tops and he led the league in complete games (6) and shutouts (4).

Like Rios, who picked up a loss in Game 4 of the Korean Series with SK,  Im’s season ended on a bad note, taking the loss in each of the Bears final two defeats. However, it shouldn’t take away from what was a stellar rookie campaign.

The Seoul High School graduate was second in the league in holds, finishing with a 7-3 record and a 2.40 ERA. Like many Korean rookies Im went straight from high school to the pros and is only 19-years-old.

In winning the awards Rios and Im became the first teammates to sweep the awards since 1993 when Samsung’s  Kim Sung-rae and Yang Joon-hyuk did it. Last year’s rookie of the year Ryu Hyun-jin also won the MVP, but is only one person, not teammates. And the decision to give him the MVP seemed a tad ambitious anyway.

The last Doosan Bear to win MVP was none other than Tyrone Woods, who now plays for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan.