Jamsil Baseball Stadium, records of ‘Pitcher’s Heaven and Batter’s Hell’ in its 44-year history

Seoul = Yonhap News Reporter Dae-ho Lee = When a well-hit ball was sucked into the outfielder's glove, the batter took off his helmet, and the pitcher sighed in relief on the mound.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium has been that kind of place for the past 44 years. This stadium, which has the widest outfield in the country with 100 meters on each side, 125 meters in the center, and a fence height of 2.6 meters, was early nicknamed 'Pitcher's Heaven, Batter's Hell'.

Moreover, due to geographical characteristics, there are many days with headwinds, making it even more difficult to hit a home run.

The intimidation of Jamsil can be proven by numbers.

In 44 years, only three batters have hit 100 home runs in this stadium.

Doosan Bears franchise star Kim Dong-ju (131) holds the record for the most, and as of September 7, active players Kim Hyun-soo (120) and Kim Jae-hwan (115) are the only players.

Even Tyrone Woods, the home run king who commanded Jamsil Stadium, ranked 4th with 90 home runs in Jamsil, failing to exceed 100.

To top it off, the LG Twins installed a temporary fence in the outfield, the so-called 'X zone', in 2009 and 2010 to increase the team's home runs.

Since they couldn't beat the stadium, they pulled the fence forward. There is no scene that shows Jamsil’s personality better than this.

Unlike the OB-Doosan franchise, which produced three home run kings: Sang-ho Kim (1995, 25), Woods (1998, 42), and Kim Jae-hwan (2018, 44), the MBC-LG franchise has never produced a home run king until 2025.

On the contrary, Jamsil was a blessing for pitchers.

Doosan and LG, which used Jamsil Stadium as their home, each produced four wins.

Lee Sang-hoon (LG) won the most wins for two years in a row with 18 wins in 1994 and 20 wins in 1995, and Kim 'Nosong' Yong-su became the oldest winner with 18 wins in 1998 at the age of 38.

And Casey Kelly was named the first foreign winner in LG club history with 16 wins in 2022.

For Doosan, all four wins were won by foreign pitchers.

After Gary Res topped the leaderboard with 17 wins in 2004, Daniel Rios took the title with 20 wins in 2007.

Michael Bowden continued the lineage with 18 wins in 2016, and Raul Alcantara continued the streak with 20 wins in 2020.

In 1982, Park Cheol-soon (OB), the first year's most wins king, had 24 wins, but at that time, OB used Daejeon as its home.

Jamsil Stadium was also the cradle of no-hits and no runs.

On September 9, 1993, Kim Tae-won (LG) recorded the 8th no-hitter in KBO history and the first at Jamsil Stadium against the Ssangbangwool Raiders, and on April 9, 2015, UNESKI Maya (Doosan) set the 12th no-run in history against the Nexen Heroes.

And on June 30, 2016, Bowden (Doosan) held the NC Dinos to no hits and became the protagonist of the 13th record.

In addition to Charlie Schreck's (NC Dinos) record against LG on June 24, 2014, Jamsil Stadium was the home of four no-hit, no-run pitchers.

It is the most tied record with the ‘Pitcher Kingdom’ Haitai Tigers’ ‘Tiger Den’ Gwangju Mudeung Stadium.

Jamsil accounts for half of the team's no-hit, no-run record, only four times in history.

On October 6, 2014, LG created the KBO's first team no-hitter and no run in the NC game with a fight between Shin Jeong-rak, Yoo Won-sang and Shin Jae-woong.

On April 15, 2025, LG Eliezer Hernández, Kim Jin-seong, Park Myung-geun, and Jang Hyun-sik teamed up to become the fourth team in history to record a no-hitter and no run against Samsung.

There were others who survived even in hell.

A cycling hit (hit for the cycle), which involves hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game, is a record that has only occurred 33 times in history.

After Lee Kang-don (Binggrae Eagles) recorded the first cycling hit at Jamsil Stadium in a game against OB on August 23, 1987, Lim Hyeong-seok in 1992 (against OB and Lotte Giants), Lee Jong-wook in 2009 (against Doosan and LG), Oh Jae-won in 2014 (against Doosan and Hanwha), Seo Geon-chang in 2017 (against Nexen and Doosan), In 2017, Jin-ho Jeong (Doosan and Samsung) left his name on the pages of history.

Among them, Jin-ho Jeong achieved the record in the 5th inning, holding the fewest at-bats (4) and the fewest innings in KBO League history.

The most recent protagonist is Austin. Austin started as first baseman 3 times in the game against Jamsil NC on August 25, and completed the cycling hit with a double in the 4th inning, a single in the 6th, a 3-run home run in the 8th, and a triple in the 10th overtime.

It was the 33rd in KBO history and the first overtime cycling hit in history.

It was the first time for a foreign player from LG, and it was also the first time in the KBO that the team whose batter hit the cycling hit achieved a walk-off victory.

Jamsil's wide outfield, which had swallowed up home runs, paradoxically produced triples and paved the way for cycling hits.

Thanks to the wide outfield, Jamsil Stadium is also the place where the most Inside the Park home runs (inside the park home runs) were recorded.

Jamsil Stadium's all-time Inside the Park home runs are 22, one more than Sajik Stadium in Busan, which ranks second in this category.

After Min Gyeong-sam (MBC Blue Dragon) hit first base in 1989, Kim Jae-bak (LG), Lim Hyeong-seok, Jang Won-jin, Kim Hyeong-seok (OB), Lee Jong-yeol, Lee Dae-hyung, Oh Ji-hwan, Chae Eun-seong (LG), Jeong Jin-ho (Doosan), Austin Dean (LG), Yu-chan Lee (Doosan), and Park Hae-min (LG, 2nd inning) played first and second base for Jamsil Stadium. He ran all the way to third base and home in one go.

Park Hae-min hit inside the park home runs once in 2024 and 2025, making him the only player in Jamsil to hit two home runs.

Jamsil Stadium will disappear into history once this year’s professional baseball season ends.

The moment the final lights go out in the stands at Jamsil Stadium, the countless stories that have been told over the past 44 years as the mecca of Korean baseball will become the past.

When you hold the hands of your parents and friends and climb the stairs until you are out of breath, the green field that spreads out so much that it hurts your eyes now remains a page of memories.