I. Synopsis
The Dreams are a Korean professional baseball team that has placed last in the league for the past four seasons. When their general manager steps down, the team hires Baek Seung-soo (Namkoong Min), 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 (Park Eun-bin) and Jae-hee (Jo Byung-gyu) 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.
II. Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient |
| 2020 | 56th Baeksang Arts Awards | Best Drama | Hot Stove League |
| 2020 | 47th Korean Broadcasting Awards |
Best Art | Lee Yong-tak |
| 2020 | 15th Seoul International Drama Awards |
Outstanding Korean Drama | Hot Stove League |
| 2020 | 33rd Grimae Awards | Best Picture (Drama) | Hot Stove League |
| 2020 | 33rd Grimae Awards |
Best Actor | Namkoong Min |
| 2020 | 33rd Grimae Awards |
Best Actress | Park Eun-bin |
| 2020 | 33rd Grimae Awards | Best Lightning | Choi Jong-geun |
| 2020 | 14th Media Awards | Excellence Award in a Terrestrial Content Drama | Hot Stove League |
| 2020 | SBS Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Namkoong Min |
| 2020 | SBS Drama Awards | Best Character Award, Actor |
Oh Jung-se |
| 2020 | SBS Drama Awards | Best Supporting Team | Hot Stove League |
| 2020 | SBS Drama Awards | Best New Actor | Jo Byung-gyu |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Oh Jung-se |
| 2021 | 7th APAN Star Awards | Best Writer | Lee Shin Hwa |
| 2021 | SBS Commendation | Audience satisfaction target | Hot Stove League |
| 2021 | Korea PD Awards | Best Word for Drama | Hot Stove League |
