The final fall baseball season at Jamsil Stadium, filled with the tears and joys of fans, is set to begin.
The LG Twins and Doosan Bears will meet on October 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Jamsil Stadium for the Wild Card playoff.
This marks the first postseason matchup between the two teams at Jamsil since the 2021 semi-playoffs and their seventh overall. LG finished the regular season in fourth place, while Doosan secured fifth.
In the Wild Card series, which can consist of up to two games, LG only needs to win or tie the first game to advance to the semi-playoffs. Doosan must win both games to move forward.
Historically, Doosan has been strong in postseason play. While LG triumphed in the semi-playoffs in 1993 and 1998, Doosan has won in the playoffs in 2000, 2013, and the semi-playoffs in 2020 and 2021.
During the regular season, LG dominated the matchup with an 11-1-4 record against Doosan. However, the recent momentum has shifted. LG fought hard to secure third place until the final game but ultimately finished fourth, which may have affected their stamina and momentum. In contrast, Doosan, having secured fifth place early, is looking to upset with their strong starting pitchers, Kwak Bin and Choi Min-seok.
LG has announced Carlos Carrasco as their starting pitcher, while Doosan will send out ace Kwak Bin.
Carrasco, who joined LG as a replacement foreign player in August, recorded a 6-3 record with a 4.05 ERA over 11 regular-season games.
Kwak Bin, who won the pitching title this year with the most strikeouts and the lowest ERA, finished the regular season with an 11-7 record, 197 strikeouts, and a 2.24 ERA over 27 games.
The team that loses this series will say goodbye to Jamsil Stadium first. The regular season at Jamsil concluded on October 12 with a game between Doosan and the Lotte Giants. After the fall baseball games, no more professional baseball will be played at this venue.
Opened on July 15, 1982, Jamsil Stadium will be demolished at the end of this season as part of the Seoul city's privately funded 'Jamsil Sports and MICE Complex Development Project.' A new dome stadium with a capacity of over 30,000 is planned to be completed by 2032.
During the construction period from 2027 to 2031, LG and Doosan will use the remodeled Olympic Main Stadium as their temporary home.
Jamsil Stadium has maintained its title as the largest stadium in South Korea since its opening, with left and right field fences at 100 meters, a center field fence at 125 meters, and a height of 2.6 meters. Due to its spacious outfield, many hits that would have been home runs in other stadiums were often caught by outfielders. This has led to the stadium being known as a 'pitcher-friendly' park, producing numerous winning pitchers while being tough on home run hitters.
The first home run at Jamsil Stadium was hit by former national team manager Ryu Jung-il in July 1982 during a high school invitational tournament. The first professional baseball game at the stadium took place on August 1 of that year, featuring a matchup between Lotte and MBC Cheongryong (now LG).
Significant moments in Korean baseball history have also occurred at Jamsil Stadium, including Kim Jae-bak's 'frog bunt' and Han Dae-hwa's three-run homer in the final of the 1982 World Baseball Championship against Japan, which remain etched in the memories of baseball fans.
During a time when local stadiums were in poor condition, Jamsil was designated as a neutral site for the Korean Series (a designation that ended in 2016), hosting numerous memorable matches. The KIA Tigers have won the championship here nine times, while the Samsung Lions and Doosan have also celebrated victories.
Notably, the late Choi Dong-won achieved a legendary four-win feat in the 1984 Korean Series, leading Lotte to victory. Park Chul-soon, known as the 'Phoenix,' famously said that his last game on the Jamsil mound was more passionate than his first kiss with the woman he loved.
Since 1983, MBC has been based at Jamsil, and in 1986, the OB Bears (now Doosan) made it their home, marking the beginning of a 'two families under one roof' era.
The 1990s saw LG's dominance with 'exciting baseball,' while Doosan built a dynasty in the 2000s with 'water fountain baseball,' becoming a regular in the postseason. Recently, LG has regained its edge, winning the Korean Series in 2023 and 2025. The rivalry between the two teams is considered one of the league's biggest draws.
The last regular-season matchup at Jamsil on October 7 attracted a full crowd of 23,750, with LG defeating Doosan 7-5.
After the fall baseball schedule concludes, an event game titled 'Jamsil The Last Inning by Renault' will take place on November 14, featuring over 60 legends, including Park Chul-soon, Lee Man-soo, Song Jin-woo, and Lee Seung-yup. This event will mark the end of 44 years of history at Jamsil Stadium.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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