Hot Stove League[1] (Korean: 스토브리그) is a South Korean television series that aired on SBS TV from December 13, 2019, to February 14, 2020.[2][3] The series stars Namkoong Min, Park Eun-bin, Oh Jung-se, and Jo Byeong-kyu. It revolves around a baseball team named Dreams, which has been the worst in the league for four consecutive years.
Hot Stove League | |
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![]() Promotional poster | |
Hangul | 스토브리그 |
Revised Romanization | Seutobeurigeu |
Literally | Stove League |
Genre |
|
Developed by | Han Jung-hwan |
Written by | Lee Shin-hwa |
Directed by | Jung Dong-yoon |
Starring | |
Music by | Park Se-joon |
Opening theme | "Cue Sign" by Lee Won-suk |
Country of origin | South Korea |
Original language | Korean |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Jo Eun-jung |
Production locations | |
Running time | 59–63 minutes |
Production company | Gill Pictures |
Distributor | SBS |
Release | |
Original network | SBS TV |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
Audio format | Dolby Digital |
Original release | December 13, 2019 (2019-12-13) – February 14, 2020 (2020-02-14) |
Hot Stove League received critical acclaim and several awards, including Best Drama at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards.[4] Namkoong won his first Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 28th SBS Drama Awards.
The Dreams are a Korean professional baseball team that have placed last in the league for the past four seasons. When their general manager steps down, the team hires Baek Seung-soo, who has managed several championship winning sports teams, as his replacement, despite Seung-soo having zero experience with managing a baseball team. Facing shrinking budgets, infighting between the coaching staff and a team deeply set in their ways, Seung-soo uses his outsider's insight and the help of operations manager Se-young and Jae-hee to upend the Dreams' culture in a bid to create a championship winning team, despite the looming fact that every team he has managed before has folded after winning the championship.
The series is based on Lee Shin-hwa's screenplay, which was one of the winners in the 2H 2016 MBC Drama Screenplay Contest (Miniseries Category).[9]
Namkoong Min and Park Eun-bin previously worked together as second leads in Hur Jun, The Original Story (2013).[10]
The first script reading took place in September 2019.[11]
Munhak Baseball Stadium, home stadium of the South Korean professional baseball team SK Wyverns who gave their support to the series, served as a filming location and was used in one teaser poster.[12][13] Scenes taking place in California were filmed in Hawaii.[14]
After episodes 10 and 11 were divided into three parts instead of two, viewers expressed their discontent concerning the advertisements on the program's website.[15]
Following the success of the drama, the cast and crew went on a four-day reward vacation to Saipan on February 17, 2020.[16]
Hot Stove League OST | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released | 20 December 2019–31 January 2020 |
Genre | Soundtrack |
Language | |
Label | Blending Co., Ltd. SBS Content Hub Co., Ltd. |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cue Sign" (큐사인) |
|
| Lee Won-suk (Daybreak) | 4:51 |
2. | "Cue Sign" (Inst.) |
| 4:51 | ||
Total length: | 9:42 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Mind" | OneTop | OneTop | Kevin Oh | 4:01 |
2. | "Mind" (Inst.) | OneTop | 4:01 | ||
Total length: | 8:02 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "As The Cold Wind Passes" (찬바람이 스쳐가며) |
|
| Oliver | 3:30 |
2. | "As The Cold Wind Passes" (Inst.) |
| 3:30 | ||
Total length: | 7:00 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Another Day Is Passing" (하루가 저물어간다) |
|
| Kim Tae-hyun (DickPunks) | 3:46 |
2. | "Another Day Is Passing" (Inst.) |
| 3:46 | ||
Total length: | 7:32 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Down" | U.je |
| Savina & Drones | 3:23 |
2. | "Down" (Inst.) |
| 3:23 | ||
Total length: | 6:46 |
Season | Episode number | Average | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||
1 | 0.943 | 1.502 | 1.811 | 2.244 | 2.219 | 2.729 | 2.769 | 2.862 | 3.277 | 3.260 | 3.333 | 3.016 | 3.256 | 3.274 | 3.528 | 3.921 | 2.747 |
Ep. | Part | Original broadcast date | Title[18] | Average audience share (AGB Nielsen)[19] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationwide | Seoul | ||||
1 | 1 | December 13, 2019 | My Name Is Baek Seung-soo And I'm the General Manager (단장 백승수입니다) |
3.3% (NR) | — |
2 | 5.5% (16th) | 5.8% (13th) | |||
2 | 1 | December 14, 2019 | I am Going to Trade Lim Dong-gyu (임동규 선수를 트레이드하겠습니다) |
5.5% (NR) | — |
2 | 7.8% (11th) | 8.3% (7th) | |||
3 | 1 | December 20, 2019 | It's a Team That's Bad at Baseball and Also Without a Future (야구는 제일 못하는데, 미래도 없는 팀) |
7.3% (14th) | 8.3% (10th) |
2 | 9.6% (6th) | 10.3% (4th) | |||
4 | 1 | December 21, 2019 | I'd Say It's an Unprecedented Scouting Scandal of a Professional Team (전례 없는 프로팀 스카우트 비리가 아닐까 싶습니다) |
8.2% (10th) | 8.5% (9th) |
2 | 11.4% (3rd) | 11.9% (3rd) | |||
5 | 1 | December 27, 2019 | Do You Want to Make a Bet? Let's See Who Is Laughing When We Arrive In Korea (내기하실까요, 귀국길에 웃는 게 누군지?) |
9.6% (6th) | 10.1% (4th) |
2 | 12.4% (2nd) | 12.9% (2nd) | |||
6 | 1 | January 3, 2020[lower-alpha 1] | Did You Bring Someone Problematic From America? (미국에서 뭐 문제 있는 애 데리고 왔어?) |
11.6% (6th) | 13.1% (4th) |
2 | 14.1% (2nd) | 15.4% (2nd) | |||
7 | 1 | January 4, 2020 | Cut a Little Bit Larger (삭감 폭이 좀 큽니다) |
11.3% (4th) | 12.5% (4th) |
2 | 13.8% (3rd) | 15.1% (3rd) | |||
8 | 1 | January 10, 2020 | How Much Do You Want? (얼마를 받아야 되는 겁니까) |
12.2% (6th) | 13.7% (4th) |
2 | 14.9% (2nd) | 16.3% (2nd) | |||
9 | 1 | January 11, 2020 | Thank You For Letting Me Dream For A Brief Moment, Baek Seung-soo (잠시나마 꿈을 꾸게 해줘서 감사합니다, 백승수씨) |
11.8% (4th) | 13.2% (4th) |
2 | 15.5% (3rd) | 17.0% (3rd) | |||
10 | 1 | January 17, 2020 | Are We Evil? (우리가 적폐입니까?) |
12.9% (5th) | 14.1% (4th) |
2 | 15.5% (3rd) | 16.6% (2nd) | |||
3 | 17.0% (2nd) | 18.4% (1st) | |||
11 | 1 | January 18, 2020 | What Difference Does It Make If I Bring Them In? (얘네들 데려오면 뭐가 달라져?) |
10.7% (6th) | 11.6% (5th) |
2 | 13.5% (4th) | 14.5% (4th) | |||
3 | 16.5% (3rd) | 18.1% (3rd) | |||
12 | 1 | January 31, 2020[lower-alpha 2] | Lim Dong-gyu VS Kang Doo-gi (임동규 대 강두기) |
12.0% (6th) | 13.0% (4th) |
2 | 14.4% (3rd) | 15.2% (3rd) | |||
3 | 15.3% (2nd) | 15.5% (2nd) | |||
13 | 1 | February 1, 2020[lower-alpha 2] | I Trust Him, I'm Going to Check Whether the Rumors are True or Not (믿지만 확인은 할 겁니다) |
10.1% (6th) | 11.2% (5th) |
2 | 11.9% (4th) | 12.9% (4th) | |||
3 | 16.0% (3rd) | 17.4% (3rd) | |||
14 | 1 | February 7, 2020 | The Reason Why We Must Bring Back Lim Dong-gyu (임동규를 다시 데려와야 하는 이유) |
13.2% (6th) | 14.4% (4th) |
2 | 15.1% (3rd) | 15.8% (3rd) | |||
3 | 16.6% (2nd) | 17.2% (2nd) | |||
15 | 1 | February 8, 2020 | I'm Trying To Protect The Dreams At All Costs (어떻게든 드림즈를 지키려고 합니다) |
10.6% (6th) | 11.6% (5th) |
2 | 13.6% (4th) | 14.6% (4th) | |||
3 | 16.8% (3rd) | 18.2% (3rd) | |||
16 | 1 | February 14, 2020 | The Best Is For Sale (최선은 매각입니다) |
14.8% (5th) | 15.8% (4th) |
2 | 17.2% (3rd) | 18.3% (3rd) | |||
3 | 19.1% (2nd) | 20.8% (1st) | |||
Average | 12.5% | —[lower-alpha 3] | |||
Special | December 7, 2019 | Hot Stove League Scout Report (스토브리그 스카우트 리포트) |
2.6% (NR) | — | |
Special | February 15, 2020 | Hot Stove League Final Report (스토브리그 파이널 리포트) |
3.9% (NR) | ||
5.8% (NR) | |||||
|
Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | The 241th PD Award of the Month | PD of the Month | Jeong Dong-yoon | Won | [20] |
Lee Shin-hwa | Won | ||||
56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | Stove League | Won | [21][4] | |
Best Director (TV) | Jeong Dong-yoon | Nominated | |||
Best Actor (TV) | Namkoong Min | Nominated | |||
Best Screenplay (TV) | Lee Shin-hwa | Nominated | |||
47th Korean Broadcasting Awards | Best Drama TV | Stove League | Nominated | [22][23] | |
Best Art | Lee Yong-tak | Won | |||
15th Seoul International Drama Awards | Best Mini-Series | Stove League | Nominated | [24][25] | |
Outstanding Korean Drama | Won | ||||
Best Director | Jeong Dong-yoon | Nominated | |||
33rd Grimae Awards | Best Picture (Drama) | Stove League | Won | [26][27] | |
Best Actor | Namkoong Min | Won | |||
Best Actress | Park Eun-bin | Won | |||
Best Lighting | Choi Jong-geun | Won | |||
14th Media Awards | Excellence Award in a Terrestrial Content Drama | Stove League | Won | [28] | |
SBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Namkoong Min | Won | [29] | |
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Action Drama | Nominated | ||||
Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Genre/Action Drama | Oh Jung-se | Nominated | |||
Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Genre/Action Drama | Park Eun-bin | Nominated | |||
Best Character Award, Actor | Oh Jung-se | Won | |||
Best Supporting Actor | Jo Han-sun | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Team | Stove League | Won | |||
Best New Actor | Jo Byung-gyu | Won | |||
Ha Do-kwon | Nominated | ||||
2021 | 25th Asian Television Awards | Best Drama Series | Stove League | Nominated | [30] |
7th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellent Actor in a Miniseries | Namkoong Min | Nominated | [31][32] | |
Excellent Actress in a Miniseries | Park Eun-bin | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actor | Oh Jung-se | Won | |||
Best Writer | Lee Shin Hwa | Won | |||
SBS Commendation | Audience satisfaction target | Stove League | Won | [33] | |
33th Korea PD Awards | Best word for drama | Stove League | Won | [34] | |
Talented actor | Namkoong Min | Won | |||
WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival | Platium Remi for TV series | Stove League | Won | [35] |