Official TSKB Year End Awards

The wheels kind of fell off here during the last week. I've been painfully sick. When I say sick, I don't mean a case of the sniffles. I mean, Matt was unable to move or talk at an audible volume for a few days. Either way, I'm healthy now and this blog is back on track. I'm not really going to bother with updates on the last week of games. The only game that mattered got a great writeup by Aaron at the EWC.

Speaking of wheels falling off, The Heroes GM has quit. He feels stress? How about the players whose salaries he cut or the front office people he laid off or the coaches he fired? Although he did bring Shingo to Korea, nah, screw him. He sounds like a jerk.

Without further ado, the awards.


2008 MVP - Kim Hyeon-su, LF, Doosan Bears. The 2008 batting champion is the most deserving for this year's MVP. Personally, I don't give MVP's to pitchers. I refuse to believe that a player that only participates in 20% of the games is as valuable as an everyday player. I can't be convinced otherwise. Kim only hit 9 homers this year, but he lead the league in BA(.357) and OBA(.454!) while playing in all 126 games for the Bears. He finished 5th in RBI(89) and 4th in runs scored(83). He lead the league in doubles(34) and managed 13 steals. Kim hit 3rd for Doosan, so whenever slugger Kim Dong-ju came up after him, Kim Hyeon-su was sitting on 1st or 2nd.

2008 LVP - Shin Myeong-cheol, IF, Samsung Lions. There is nothing worse than watching Samsung start a rally, only to see this zombie kill it. In 244 AB's, Shin posted an OPS of .473. An. OPS. Of. .473. OPS. On base + slugging. .473. 8 of his 45 hits were for extra bases and they were all doubles. When Shin falls out of bed, he's always fine. He can't even hit the floor. When he leaps of a diving board, he never makes it in the pool. He can't even hit water. When Shin.....Shin just sucks.


2008 사이용(Cy Young) Award - Kim Kwang-hyun, SK Wyverns. Kim juuuuust missed the Triple Crown. He finished .06 behind KIA's Yoon Seok-min for the ERA title. He lead the league in wins(16), K's(150) and posted a 2.39 ERA in 162 innings. He also posted a 1.17 WHIP. He's also started doing ads for Anycall. In the commercial he throws 3 darts and they all hit the bull's eye on the dart board at the same time. I don't know what a dartboard has to do with cellphones or baseball, but his star is rising in Korea.

2008 Cy Yuck - KIA's Moon Hyun-jeong. Mr. Moon only threw 11 1/3 innings this year, but he appeared in 26 games! Moon posted a 8.74 ERA with a 2.12 WHIP. Somehow, he struck out 10 men. Of the 21 hits he allowed this year, 18 stayed in the park. He should be arrested for attempted arson.

2008 Comeback Player of the Year - Jo Seong-min, OF, Lotte Giants. Jo had missed the '05, '06 and '07 seasons, but came back this year to bat 3rd and roam the outfield for the Lotte Giants. In 462 AB's, Jo delivered a line of .327/.382/.463. He scored 79 runs and drove in 81. He clubbed 10 homers, 27 doubles and 3 triples. He thieved 31 bases. He was Mr. Everything for the Giants this year.

2008 Manager of the Year - Jerry Royster, Lotte Giants. The energy and change of attitude he brought to Busan was amazing, especially considering he's faced pressures that no other KBO manager has had to deal with.