The Lotte Giants in the nation's top baseball competition on Monday became the first team in league history to be represented in all starting positions at an All-Star Game.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that all 10 starting players for the Eastern League, nine position players plus the designated hitter, are members of the Giants. Catcher Kang Min-ho earned a record 892,727 votes from fans.
In the eight-team KBO, the All-Star Game is played between Eastern and Western Leagues, each with four clubs. The Eastern side includes Lotte, the Samsung Lions, the SK Wyverns and the Doosan Bears. The Western team is made up of the Kia Tigers, the LG Twins, the Hanwha Eagles and the Nexen Heroes.
Fan balloting was held from May 29 to July 8. The KBO said the total number of votes reached 1.72 million, also a record.
Other starters for the Eastern league are pitcher Song Seung-jun; first baseman Park Jong-yoon; second baseman Cho Sung-hwan; third baseman Hwang Jae-gyun; shortstop Moon Gyu-hyun; and outfielders Son Ah-sup, Jeon Jun-woo and Kim Joo-chan. The designated hitter is Hong Sung-heun.
In 2008, the Giants sent nine starters to the All-Star Game.
The Western league had more diversity. Its starting lineup is pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin (Hanwha); catcher Heo Do-hwan (Nexen); first baseman Kim Tae-kyun (Hanwha); second baseman Ahn Chi-hong (Kia); third baseman Lee Beom-ho (Kia); shortstop Kang Jung-ho (Nexen); and outfielders Lee Byungk-kyu (LG), Lee Yong-kyu (Kia) and Lee Jin-young (LG). The DH is another LG star, Park Yong-taek.
For the Eastern team, shortstop Moon and outfielder Son are first-time All-Stars. On the Western side, catcher Heo is on the All-Star team for the first time.
Lee Byung-kyu of the Twins made the All-Star team for the 10th time, while the Eastern league DH Hong is in for the ninth mid-summer classic.
Ryu Joong-il, manager of the defending champion Lions, will select a reserve of 12 players for the Eastern league on Wednesday. Sun Dong-yol, the Tigers' manager, will do the same for the Western squad.
This year's All-Star Game will be played in Daejeon, home of the Eagles south of Seoul, on July 21.
The KBO, which had its first season in 1982, has enjoyed an unprecedented run of popularity in recent seasons. It has set a single-season attendance record in each of the past three seasons and is on pace to top 7 million fans this year for another record. (Yonhap)