In 1980, the year he turned 17, he led Gwangju Jeil High School to the Presidential Cup high school title and was named the tournament MVP. In 1981, a first-year at Korea University, he played in the first World Junior Baseball Championship, led Korea to the title and became its first MVP.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 19, he was the winning pitcher against the U.S., Taiwan and Japan at the Amateur World Series in Seoul and was named tournament MVP, as Korea took the first title by an Asian team.
In 1983, he faced Mark McGwire six times in the Korea-U.S. college all-star series in the U.S. and struck him out every time. In 1984, he pitched in the Los Angeles Olympic baseball demonstration as the national team’s ace, and U.S. clubs made offers to sign him afterward.
In 1985, after the dispute over joining the Haitai Tigers, he made his pro debut on July 2 and led the league in ERA that year. In 1986, the year he turned 23, he went 24-6 with a 0.99 ERA and won regular-season MVP, the KBO’s first sub-1.00 ERA. In May 1987, he faced Choi Dong-won in a 15-inning complete-game duel. In 1990, he won regular-season MVP for the third time.
In 1991, the year he turned 28, he won the pitching triple crown with 19 wins, a 1.55 ERA and 201 strikeouts, and in June struck out 18 in one game. In the November Korea-Japan Super Game, he struck out five batters in a row. In 1993, he took over as closer full time and set the KBO single-season low with a 0.78 ERA.
In November 1995, after the Korea-Japan Super Game, he said he wanted to play in Japan, and in December news came that he would join the Chunichi Dragons. In 1996, he joined Chunichi but struggled in his first season with a 5.50 ERA and was sent down to the farm team. In 1997, he bounced back with 38 saves and a 1.28 ERA, a save total that ties the Japanese pro baseball single-season record. In 1998, he had 29 saves and a 1.48 ERA. In 1999, he closed the game that clinched Chunichi’s Central League title and retired as a player after that season. He held his retirement ceremony in March 2000.
In 2003, he did a coaching study at Chunichi. In 2004, he signed as head coach of the Samsung Lions. In 2005, he became Samsung manager and won the Korean Series in his first year. He won the Korean Series again in 2006.
In December 2010, he left the Samsung manager’s job. In 2011, he returned to the KIA Tigers as manager, 16 years after playing for the team. In 2014, he resigned as manager of his own accord five days after re-signing with KIA. In July 2017, he became the first full-time manager of the national baseball team. In 2018, he won Asian Games gold, but the controversy over player selection continued and he stepped down in November.
In 2019, the year he turned 56, he announced training with the New York Yankees at spring camp. In 2020, after COVID-19 stopped the training plan, he wrote the Ilgan Sports column series Sun Dong-yol’s Baseball Studies. In 2022, he finished first in the vote for the KBO’s 40 legends for the league’s 40th anniversary. In 2024, he attended the main round of the 15th deaf baseball tournament. In 2025, he took part in a joint interview by Ilgan Sports and the Chunichi Shimbun and attended the 16th deaf baseball tournament. In 2026, he served as chairman of the 17th Sun Dong-yol Cup, and in August threw the ceremonial first pitch at the Chunichi legends event game.
Sun Dong-yol (born Jan 10, 1963) became known when Korea won the Amateur World Series in Seoul and he was named tournament MVP on Sep 14, 1982, the year he turned 19. He made his pro debut with the Haitai Tigers on Jul 2, 1985, the year he turned 22, and in 1986, the year he turned 23, won regular-season MVP with a 0.99 ERA.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.