How did the Samsung Lions overcome the KT Wiz after losing Game 1 of the Korean Series?

After losing 8-7 in Suwon, the Lions won Game 2 by 3-2 in 12 innings, then took the next three games in Daegu by scores of 5-1, 10-5 and 12-1. Their Game 4 win gave them a 3-1 lead, a deficit only one team had previously overcome in the Korean Series.

Which Samsung Lions veterans earned notable milestones with the Korean Series title?

Catcher Kang Min-ho won his first title in his 23-year career. Captain Koo Ja-wook earned his first ring and was voted series MVP, while Choi Hyoung-woo, 42, became the oldest Korean Series champion after winning titles with both the Lions and Kia Tigers.

What was significant about Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man winning the Korean Series?

Park won his first Korean Series title as manager on his second attempt, after losing to the Kia Tigers in 2024. He said that experience taught him a lot and led him to manage each postseason game more aggressively, as if it were an elimination game; he had previously won six rings as a player.

Lions beat steep odds to capture Korean Series title

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Summary

The Samsung Lions defeated the KT Wiz 12-1 in Game 5 in Daegu on Sunday to win the Korean Series after losing the opener. The No. 2 seed overcame the regular-season No. 1 seed, which had received a bye, and won four straight games after its Game 1 loss. The title gave catcher Kang Min-ho his first championship in his 23-year career, while captain Koo Ja-wook was named series MVP. At 42, Choi Hyoung-woo became the oldest Korean Series champion.

Key Facts

Before this season, top seeds had won the Korean Series about 86 percent of the time.
From 1989 through 2025, teams that played the penultimate postseason round had won the Korean Series only five times.
Game 1 winners had won 31 of the previous 42 Korean Series, or about 74 percent.
When the series was tied at one game apiece, Game 3 winners had claimed the title in 16 of 18 previous instances.
Only one team had previously recovered from a 3-1 Korean Series deficit: the 2013 Lions, who beat the Doosan Bears. The Lions manager Park Jin-man won six Korean Series rings as a player and was the 2006 series MVP.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 8, 2026 5:27 pm KST

Samsung Lions players celebrate after winning the Korean Series title over the KT Wiz at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in the southeastern city of Daegu, Sunday. Yonhap

Before their Korean Series began against the KT Wiz last week, the Samsung Lions were widely regarded as a heavy underdog.

The Wiz were the No. 1 seed and the best regular-season record netted them a bye to the Korean Series. Prior to this year, the top seeds had won the Korean Series about 86 percent of the time.

The Lions, as No. 2 seed, had to play the penultimate round of the postseason, and they needed the full five games to knock off the Kia Tigers. All the while, the Wiz were enjoying their three-week layoff.

Between 1989, when the Korea Baseball Organization ditched the split regular-season format, and 2025, teams that had to go through the penultimate postseason round had won the Korean Series only five times.

And when the Wiz took the first game of the Korean Series 8-7 last Tuesday at their home in Suwon, it appeared as though the battle would play out the way many had predicted. Game 1 winners had won the Korean Series on 31 out of 42 previous occasions, or about 74 percent of the time.

The Lions got a split on the road by taking the second game 3-2 in 12 innings. Back home in the southeastern city of Daegu for the next three games, the Lions claimed Game 3 by 5-1.

History was suddenly on the Lions' side. On 18 previous occasions when the two Korean Series contestants were tied at one game apiece, Game 3 winners had gone on to win the championship 16 times.

The Lions then reached the brink of the title by winning the fourth game 10-5. They scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to grabbing a 3-1 series lead.

Only one team out of 19 previous instances had a team come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win the Korean Series title -- the 2013 Lions against the Doosan Bears.

The Lions were the seventh team to win three straight games after losing the opener in the Korean Series. The half-dozen teams that had done so before them had all won the championship.

The Lions joined that company by routing the Wiz 12-1 in Sunday's Game 5.

The championship meant different things to different veterans.

Catcher Kang Min-ho earned his first title of his 23-year career. Captain Koo Ja-wook, voted the Korean Series MVP, also got his first ring after losing in the 2015 Korean Series and missing the 2024 series, which the Lions lost, due to an injury.

Veteran outfielder Choi Hyoung-woo, at 42, became the oldest Korean Series champion. He had previously won four titles with the Lions from 2011 to 2014, and then captured two more rings with the Kia Tigers in 2017 and 2024. Choi rejoined the Lions before this year and helped put the team back on top in his first season.

Lions manager Park Jin-man won his first Korean Series ring on his second try, after falling to the Kia Tigers in 2024. Prior to Game 4, Park said he had learned a lot from that experience. He decided to become more aggressive with his in-game decision, managing every postseason contest as if it were an elimination game.

Park won six rings as a player. He was voted the MVP of the 2006 Korean Series after helping the Lions win their second straight title.

Park is now just the second former Korean Series MVP to also win a title as manager, joining the Wiz's skipper Lee Kang-chul, the 1996 Korean Series MVP who led the Wiz to the championship in 2021.

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