Tigers vs. Lions in 31 years as Samsung hopes to break KIA's record of never losing the Korean Series

[Anchor]

The top and most rivalrous teams in professional baseball, KIA and Samsung, have met in the Korean Series for the first time in 31 years.

It's a showdown between the Samsung Tigers and the KIA Lions, the tiger and the lion.

With the first game tomorrow, the verbal sparring between the two teams is intense.

Reporter Moon Young-kyu has the story.

[Report]

Both teams at the media day expressed the same belief that it would take all five games for the series to end, but opinions were divided on whether the winner would be the tiger or the lion.

[Lee Beom-ho/KIA Manager: "These days, if you go to the zoo, most of the time the tiger is in charge...."]

[Park Jin-man/Samsung Manager: "I guess you haven't been to a theme park. The lion always seems to be on top."]

The last Korean Series between these two fierce rivals was marked by intense fan incidents, including a bus arson case.

KIA has won every time they reached the Korean Series, inlcuding their triumphs in the two teams' last three encounters, but Samsung is confident they can break that jinx this time.

[Kang Min-ho/Samsung: "(Choi Hyung-woo) said that KIA has never lost after reaching the Korean Series. I told him, 'Records are meant to be broken.'"]

In response, KIA's Kim Do-young, who is a strong candidate for the regular season MVP, hinted at his aspirations for the Korean Series MVP.

[Kim Do-young/KIA: "I believe that if I just do my part, opportunities will come, and if I have star quality, I think I might receive all the MVPs this year."]

Samsung is at a disadvantage with Gu Ja-wook injured and both Conner and Oh Seung-hwan absent, but the outcome of a short series is unpredictable.

For the critical first game, KIA has announced Nail as their starting pitcher, while Samsung will start Won Tae-in.

KBS News, Moon Young-kyu.