How Did LG Become a Strong Team?

By Yewon Kim

“Who were you in the fall of 1994? And who are you in 2023?  The shout you kept deep in your heart without giving up through the long years! An echo after 29 years!  The 2023 overall champions are the LG Twins!”  

— 2023 LG Twins championship call (Kim Najin) — (Before the cheers of LG Twins fans who released 29 years of sorrow had even faded, in just two years, LG again filled Jamsil with a yellow wave and climbed back to the top.

Before the cheers of LG Twins fans who released 29 years of sorrow had even faded, in just two years, LG again filled Jamsil Stadium with a yellow wave and climbed back to the top.

It was the beginning that announced the opening of the “LG dynasty.”

LG Twins was once the byword for a lower-ranked team, with nicknames like “DTD (Down Team is Down),” “6668587667” (the standings during the dark years,) and “ELLOTGI (LG, Lotte, Kia).”

However, in the 2020s, LG is now evaluated as one of the strongest teams in the KBO.

They went to the postseason for seven straight years, the first time in the 10-team era; they won in 2023, finished 3rd in 2024, and rose to the top again in 2025, bearing the energy of a dynasty.

How did they become such a strong team?

If you ask baseball fans, “Who is the romance of the LG Twins?” Many will answer, “Lim Chan-gyu.” Following his father to the ballpark as a child and seeing a victory made him come to love the LG Twins for life. Growing into a power pitcher boasting fastballs, he was the second-best pitcher nationwide in 2011, and when LG was the second-worst from the bottom, he joined the team as a first-round pick. Even as a rookie, he threw his own pitches unlike any other rookies; his fiery attitude won favor from LG fans, while fans of other teams sometimes criticized him. But looking back, that confidence made today’s “Lim Chan-Gyu.”

Lim Chan-gyu, who used to cry over LG’s losses, is now the pitching captain leading the team’s mound. In 2025, not only did he decorate his first start with his first career shutout, but he also ranked No. 1 among domestic pitchers with a 3.03 ERA (earned run average) and ate up 160 innings, becoming a core of the team. The “LG kid” who shed tears in childhood now stands at the center of the team, building one pillar of the “LG dynasty.”

Second base had always been LG’s weakness. Since Jeong Keun-woo, the team hadn’t found a player steady in both hitting and defense, leaving only disappointment. But then Shin Min-jae appeared. After spending several years playing only as a pinch-runner, he awoke at the plate and perfectly filled the second-base gap. In the 2023 season, he was the one who caught the final out that confirmed LG’s championship, which took 29 years.

Starting as a developmental player with the Doosan Bears, even after moving to LG, he was used only as a pinch-runner. But in 2023 he earned manager Yeom Kyung-yeop’s trust, proved his potential every day, and eventually rose to the national-team second-base spot. In the 2025 season, when the team was shaken due to leadoff Hong Chang-ki’s injury, Shin Min-jae kept first place with a godlike batting touch and on-base percentage. A player who once considered retirement has now become the center of the team.

Many players, coaches, and fans say the biggest reason LG became a strong team is “Kim Hyun-soo.” He won the 2025 Korean Series MVP and led the team with a .500 batting average and timely hits in crucial moments. In fact, Kim Hyun-soo was known as the “hitting machine” of LG’s nemesis, Doosan. He even captained Doosan. Then after heading to MLB, due to Doosan’s financial difficulties, he transferred to LG—this decision was later called “a gift from God.” Before he came, LG had a rigid hierarchy that made it hard for rookies to breathe. A veteran-centered lineup delayed rebuilding, and the young blood couldn’t get chances to grow. But after the arrival of Kim Hyun-soo, LG’s atmosphere completely changed. He didn’t cling to career or age; he asked juniors for advice and taught directly, changing the team culture. Moon Bo-kyung and Hong Chang-ki, who were rookies at that time, recall, “At first he felt unfamiliar, but he was the leader who would ask us to eat first and point out our shortcomings honestly.” Kim Hyun-soo’s signing was not just a reinforcement of batting; it was the first puzzle piece of the LG dynasty that led to victory.

No LG fan can forget this day. After the All-Star break, the team had fallen into a slump, and the gap between first-place Hanwha had grown to five games; usually it takes a week to cut a 1.0 game gap in the regular season. So many experts declared, “The 2025 title belongs to Hanwha.” But in the July 22 game against KIA, one swing flipped everything.

Down 4-7 into the ninth. A hit by Oh Ji-hwan, who had been silent for weeks, and a hit by rookie Park Kwan-woo made it one out, runners on first and second. On the mound was Jeong Hae-young, who was especially strong against LG; at the plate was No. 9 hitter Park Hae-min, who doesn’t even average five homers a year. When his bat went through the zone, everyone thought it was a fly ball—but the ball hit the fence. The score was instantly tied 7:7. After that, LG kept the atmosphere with four straight hits and took a thrilling 9:7 comeback win.

From that day on, even when LG was behind, it didn’t feel like they would lose; if they were ahead, it didn’t feel like they would collapse. It was literally “Invincible LG.” And after a winning streak, they overtook Hanwha and even stretched the gap to five games, creating a rare scene.

(2025.7.22 Park Hae-min’s game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. copyright=스포츠동아)

Park Hae-min’s contribution did not end with that home run. Having experienced Samsung’s dynasty and even captained there, he became “the championship captain” at LG and ruled Jamsil’s vast outfield like a spider in its web. In Jamsil, the largest ballpark in Korea, his defensive range was absolute, and thanks to him, LG’s center line was rated the best in the league. Like his nickname “Spider-Min,” his defense became legendary; he also opened “Hae-min School” for juniors, giving generous advice, and juniors like Choi Won-young and Kim Hyun-jong who grew under his hand are now the team’s future. With free agency ahead, fans can only pray that Jamsil’s Spider-Man stays.

So was the reason they dominated only because of the veterans? Absolutely not. Another condition of a strong team is raising competent rookies. Veterans eventually have to retire with time. To maintain depth similar to the championship period, it’s very important to keep producing good rookies and developing their skills. It’s often called the “bottomless-well baseball,” and you could say LG’s well burst open in the 2020s. If the veterans above paved the road to a dynasty, it was the rookies who completed that road. 

For LG, the left-handed starter spot was always a worry, along with second base. After the 2023 championship, Lee Jeong-yong enlisted. And in 2024, even when a new lefty, Son Ju-young supported the staff well, there was a hole in the defense. In 2025, with Choi Won-tae’s move to Samsung, the No. 5 starter spot became vacant. Experts expected LG’s No. 5 starter spot to go to long reliever Lee Ji-gang or FA (free agent) Choi Chae-heung, but LG chose the rookie Song Seung-gi. Although the burden of being the No. 5 starter right after discharge was heavy, the front believed in his second-team achievements. In the end, he stepped onto the first-team stage, piling up the beautiful stat called QS (quality starts), won 11 games in the season, and became the protagonist who completed the “all four starters with 10 wins” record for the first time in 31 years for LG.

Called the LG Twins’ all-time “championship merch,” Kim Young-woo is loved by fans for both his looks and his tremendous potential. After winning in 2023, LG had the very last pick (10th) of the first round in the draft and selected Kim Young-woo; at that time, General Manager Cha Myung-seok said, “We didn’t expect this player to fall to us—what luck.” Proving those words, Kim Young-woo said in his draft interview, “I’ll make the teams that didn’t pick me regret it,” and he made it come true. Actually his first mound appearance was pretty funny. In the last game of 2024, he threw the ceremonial first pitch as the rookie representative, and writing as someone that had actually been at the site, the ball was totally out of the strike, and people said it seemed like LG had picked the wrong rookie. But the worry was useless. As soon as the 2025 season began, Kim Young-woo overwhelmed hitters with a crazy fastball and precise command; with a poker face and mentality that cannot believe him as a rookie, he even drew praise from many experts. He ended up hitting a max of 158 km/h, posting a 2.40 ERA with 60 innings in an amazing first year, and enjoyed the joy of sending off his debut season with an overall championship. Without our “championship merch,” Kim Young-woo, I’m sure LG’s bullpen couldn’t have locked the back door this tightly.

There are so many precious players I couldn’t mention—Moon Bo-kyung, LG’s treasure who became the first in LG Twins history to post 20–100 and hit 20 homers in back-to-back years; the foreign duo Kelly and Austin, who solved the long-standing foreign-player problem; and Koo Bon-hyuk, the best domestic utility player who can play shortstop, second, third, and even left field. It’s a shame I can’t include them all. But the Twins’s championship was a collaboration made possible because every single player was there, a dynasty built together by veterans and rookies, fans and the club.

In 1990 and 1994, as the team representing Seoul, LG was called Seoul’s pride as its golden age began. But from 1995 to 2022 they went through a very long dark age, and fans, the club, and players had to endure criticism and ridicule. Then in 2023, after 29 years of waiting, LG announced the start of its dynasty, and in 2025, this year, LG declared to everyone that the dynasty had opened. This season’s LG championship is not a miracle—it was achieved by their pure ability. Seoul’s pride will always be our pride, LG TWINS. 

“This is how the LG Twins declare an age of invincibility!  I believe we are sharing this moment together.  I believe that your heart, crying out for ‘invincibility,’ and your heart that sang ‘I love you’ all night long become one right at this moment.  The 2025 KBO champions, the crown reclaimed after two years—the LG Twins!”  

— 2025 championship call, SBS caster Jung Woo-young —