8/29 Roundup and News

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The LG cheerbabes put on their Christmas uni's...in August.

KIA 8, LG 0
W - Yoon Seok-min (13-4), L - Choi Won-ho (0-5)

KIA dominated this game. The score makes this sound closer than it was. KIA starter, Yoon Seok-min, was excellent last night. He kept LG batters off balance for 7 shutout innings(83 pitches, 52 strikes) allowing only 1 hit and striking out 9 Twins. In the 3rd innings, KIA's Jang Seong-ho broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer. It was all downhill from there for LG. KIA lead only 3-0 heading into the 7th, but a 5-run rally put the game well out of LG's reach.

Lotte 11, Hanhwa 4
W - Song Seung-joon (10-6), L - Koo Dae-seong (2-2)

Lotte only lead 4-2 in the 8th before busting the game open with a 6-run rally. The Hanhwa left fielder got quite a work out in this inning. There were five base hits to left. The hits, along with a few miscues on defense lead to the sustained rally. Lotte also stole 6 bases in this one, half of them coming from Lee In-koo.

On the mound for Lotte, starter Song Seung-joon, kept his team in the game. Song worked 7 strong innings(111 pitches, 68 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks with 7 K's. On the mound for Hanhwa, nothing good happened. Hanhwa sent 6 pitches to the mound and all 6 allowed runs. Hanhwa starter, Ahn Yeong-myeong didn't make it out of the 3rd inning. In 2 2/3 innings of work, Ahn surrendered only 1 run on 2 hits, but he walked 4 batters.

SK 9, Doosan 4
W - Kim Kwang-hyeon (12-4), L - Lee Hye-cheon (4-4)

Kim Kwang-hyeon pitched better than his line indicates. He didn't get hit until he ran out of gas in the top of the 7th. He was lifted in the 7th inning without recording an out. He left with the bases loaded. The relief pitcher promptly gave up a bases clearing double. The final line for Kim was 6 innings(95 pitches, 57 strikes) of work while allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk with 9 K's. SK lead 8-1 after the first three innings. Homers from Choi Jeong in the 2nd and Park Jae-hong in the 3rd contributed to their early lead. Lee Jae-won was the only SK batter that didn't record a base hit last night.

Samsung 5, Heroes 3
W - Jeong Hyeon-wook (7-3), L - Park Joon-soo (0-3), S - Oh Seung-hwan (29)



This game was tied at 3 at the end of 9. The "Heroes" had the look of a team that just wanted to get out of the ballpark as quickly as possible. Yang Joon-hyeok helped out by crushing a Park Joon-soo offering over the wall for a two-run homer. The homer was his 338th of his career. He needs two more to tie and 3 more to break the KBO career homerun mark. Oh Seung-hwan came on to strikeout the last batter for no good reason at all. I guess it was stat paddin' time.

8/27 Roundup and News

All quiet on the Korean baseball news front...

On to the roundup...

LG 3, KIA 0
W - Shim Soo-chang (4-4), L - Felix Diaz (0-2), S - Jeong Jae-bok (9)

Shim Soo-chang was able to keep the sleepy Tigers off balance most of the night. Shim worked 7 innings(86 pitches, 54 strikes) of shutout baseball. Shim allowed only 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 1. KIA's Lee Yong-gyu tripled in the 3rd, but was unable to score thanks to some great defense from the LG infield. Lee finished the night 3-3 with a walk. LG was able to scrape across just enough runs to give Shim some support. In the 4th inning, both Jo In-seong and Kwon Yeong-kwan were able to pickup RBI singles during a 2-run rally. In the 8th inning, LG's Park Yong-geun was able to score from 2nd on a wild pitch to give LG a 3-0 advantage.

Samsung 4, Woori 2
W - Yoon Seong-hwan (8-9), L - Hwang Doo-seong (6-7), S - Oh Seung-hwan (28)

I get the impression that Woori has given up their sponsorship. The KBO website now refers to this team only as "Heroes" and the team was wearing its BP jerseys last night. The BP jerseys don't have the Woori logo, just an "h" for Heroes on the chest.

Samsung broke a 0-0 tie with a 3-run rally in the 4th inning. Kim Chang-hee delivered a 2-run double and Chae Tae-in drove Kim in with an RBI single. Chae struck again in the 7th with a solo homer to give Samsung a 4-0 advantave. Samsung starter, Yoon Seong-hwan, was excellent, until he ran out of gas in the 9th inning. Yoon worked 8 strong innings(96 pitches, 65 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 3 hits with 4 K's. It took Oh Seung-hwan only 7 pitches to record 3 outs and give up two hits in the 9th inning.

Doosan 12, SK 3
W - Kim Sun-woo (4-5), L - Kenny Rayborn (4-3)

Doosan staked Kim Sun-woo to an early lead and didn't let up. Doosan leadoff man, Lee Jong-wook finished the night 5-6 with 4 runs scored. Doosan 3rd baseman, Kim Dong-ju was 3-5 with a double, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Every Doosan starter recorded a base hit last night during their 12-run, 22-hit barrage. Kim Sun-woo stuck around for 6 2/3 innings(96 pitches, 69 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 4 K's.

Lotte 7, Hanhwa 3
W - Jang Won-joon (10-7), L - Song Jin-woo (4-6)

A 5-run, 5th inning rally was all Lotte would need last night. The amazing part? After hitting 4 homers last night, Lotte didn't record a single extra base hit in this game. This time Hanhwa played long ball. Hanhwa's Kim Tae-won clubbed a 2-run bomb in the 4th and Kim Tae-gyun hit a solo shot in the 8th. Both homers accounted for all the runs Hanhwa was able to muster last night. Both Lee Dae-ho and Karim Garcia drove in 2 runs last night.

8/26 Roundup and News

We get a preview of sorts on the second half from the Joongang Daily. They have an interesting take on the KBO's top two managers. It's definitely worth a read, but I disagree with them about the Samsung Lions. I think Samsung's younger guys will have more of an impact on the next two months than Jin Kab-yong or Park Jin-man.

Aaron at the EWC offers up power rankings with eyes on the 2nd half.

On to the roundup...

LG 4, KIA 2
W - Chris Oxspring (9-8), L - Kane Davis (2-2), S - Jeong Jae-bok (8)

LG's Chris Oxpsring had the flutterball fluttering last night. Oxpsring tossed 7 innings(106 pitches, 63 strikes) allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 1 walk with 2 K's. LG struck for two quick runs in the first inning when Park Yeong-taek hit an RBI single and later scored on Choi Dong su's sac fly. LG added two insurance runs in the 8th inning on a 2-run bomb from Jo In-seong. It turns out LG would need the insurance because Jeong Jae-bok allowed KIA to add another run in the 9th.

Samsung 5, Woori 2
W - Lee Sang-mok(6-6), L - Ma Il-yeong (9-8), S - Oh Seung-hwan (27)

The difference in this one was a 3-run bomb in the 5th inning from Samsung 3rd baseman, Park Seok-min. Losing 5-0 in the bottom of the 5th, Woori struck for a two run rally off of Samsung starter, Lee Sang-mok. Those would be the only runs the Heroes could muster. Lee worked 5 1/3 strong innings(73 pitches, 50 strikes) allowing 2 runs on 4 hits with 7 K's.

SK 4, Doosan 3
W - Lee Seung-ho (2-1), L - Im Tae-hoon (5-5), S - Esteban Yan (1)

The Wyverns actually trailed 3-1 heading into the 7th inning, but a late rally put them on top to stay. In the top of the 7th with one out, SK's Lee Jae-won slapped a broken bat single into right. Mo Chang-min came on to pinch run for Lee. Jo Dong-hwa hit a sharp grounder to 2nd. Mo was already sliding by the time the ball was caught, so the Doosan 2nd baseman tossed the ball over to first, but Jo beat the throw to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. The next batter, Jeong Gun-woo slipped a seeing-eye single up the middle to score Mo. The next batter, Kim Jae-hyeon, slapped a double off the wall in right to score Jo and Jeong, giving SK 4-3 advantage. All of Doosan's runs came on a first inning 3-run homer from Hong Seong-heun. Esteban Yan recorded the last two outs to earn his first KBO save.

Lotte 11, Hanhwa 4
W - Son Min-han (9-3), L - Jeong Min-cheol (6-9)

It was a homerun barrage from the Giants in the first game back from the Olympic break. Foreign sensation Karim Garcia got things started right by launching a three-run bomb in the first and a solo shot in the 4th. Garcia finished 4-5 with 2 runs scored and 6 RBI's. Jo Seong-hwan clubbed a 2-run homer in the 5th and Lee Dae-ho hit his 16th of the year in the 8th inning. Son Min-han wasn't great, but he kept his team in the game for 6 2/3 innings allowing all 4 runs on 7 hits with 3 K's. All of the damage on Son came during the 4th inning. Son allowed an RBI single to Hanhwa's Song Kwang-min and a 3-run bomb to Doug Clark.

Korea Wins Gold! Matt comes back from vacation!

I arrived in Colorful Daegu yesterday. Public schools were on their winter break and I headed home to Chicago for two weeks of R & R at my family's fortified compound in Arlington Heights, IL. I caught 3 White Sox games(All W's!!!), suffered a terrible sunburn on my legs and took roadtrips to Busch Stadium in St. Louis(world class facility) and Miller Park in Milwaukee(an MLB class facility). Only the Brew Crew disappointed with an loss.

It was Happy Days night in Milwaukee with a reunion of all the living cast members. The city of Milwaukee dedicated a statue of The Fonz in downtown Milwaukee. Chicago has its war heroes and great works of art, Milwaukee gets The Fonz. That's about right. The big highlight from the St. Louis game was my dad on the jumbotron. Before the game, a camera crew interviewed us for a jumbotron video after the 5th inning. The question was, "What Olympic event would you like to participate in?" I said, "baseball." My dad wasn't quite as sure as me, so I suggested synchronized swimming and he went along with it. The ending was killer, a freeze frame of my dad giving an "I'm going for your throat" smile and then having his face imposed on a swimmer's body.

I guess the Korean baseball team won some games....or something? Seriously, congratulations to the Korean Baseball team, they deserved it. Also, what the heck happened to the Taiwanese team? I thought those guys were supposed to be really talented. I guess the majority of the talent has left the island.

The Joongang Ilbo also covered the events in Beijing. Hopefully this will bring a renewed interest to the game here in Korea. While this is a great victory for the country, I'm not reading anything into this for the WBC. Korea will likely send the same team there that they sent to Beijing. I'm not sure if these guys are good enough to compete with the Pujols, Suzukis and Brauns of the world.

I want to do a full writeup for each game, but even getting a boxscore in the US was difficult. That and, well, I was on vacation. I get the impression that NBC did their best to ignore baseball during the Olympics. Given the quality of the teams sent by Japan and the USA, I'm not surprised.

The KBO season starts back up tomorrow. I'm actually looking forward to some of these games. Who knows, my beloved Samsung Lions might actually claw their way into contention again. They're only 1/2 game behind Lotte for the 4th playoff spot...

Also, Happy Birthday to the East Windup Chronicle. I can't believe the EWC is only one year old.

All Star Roundup and News

The KBO's All Star Game was last sunday. I wanted to do a full write up of the game, but if the KBO isn't going to attempt to take this seriously, neither am I.

For a better write up, check out Aaron at the EWC. I found myself fairly frurstrated by the way this was put together. First, I couldn't figure out why they were doing an East vs. West set up with teams that where not necessarily in the east or in the west. I was terribly confused. Why not just keep it Seoul/Incheon vs. the other 4 cities or better yet, the previous year's champ vs. the best players from the other 7 teams. Then, they stopped the game in the 5th inning for a homerun contest. The goal was to make these 9 innings as long and as excruciating as possible. Third, no one seemed to really care. Neither the players or the fans seemed to really care. So, why should I?

The Joongang Ilbo was fairly critical of the affair, but for different reasons.

Can the Olympics start now?

7/31 Roundup and News

The last slate of games before the All Star Game on Sunday and the Olympics next week...

Lotte 9, Doosan 6
W - Kim Il-yeop, L - Lee Won-jae

Game Ball: Lee Dae-ho and Karim Garcia. Both of Lotte's thumpers showed up on Thursday night. Lee went 2-3 with 2 walks, a double a homer, 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. His homer came in the 2nd inning and was of the 2-run variety. Garcia went 2-5 with a double, a homer, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Garcia's homer came in the 5th inning and was also a 2-run bomb.

Hanhwa 4, Woori 2
W - Koo Dae-seong, L - Hwang Doo-seong, S - Brad Thomas

Game Ball: The game was tied 2-2 heading into the 8th when Hanhwa struck for a 2-run rally. With runners on first and third with no out, foreign sensation Doug Clark drove a fly ball into right field to score the go ahead run. Then with two outs and the bases loaded, Woori pitcher, No Hwon-su drilled Han Sang-hoon in the leg to drive in Hanhwa's 4th run. Brad Thomas pitched a 1-2-3 6-pitch 9th inning to nail down the save. I'll give him the game ball just because no one else really did anything.

Samsung 8, SK 4
W - Kwan Hyeok, L - Lee Seung-ho

Game Ball: Samsung shortstop, Park Jin Man. Park finished the night 2-4 with a homer, 5 RBI and 1 run scored. The homer was a 3-run bomb that came during a 4-run 4th inning rally.

It's also worth noting that the two teams combined to use 14 pitchers in a 9 inning game.

KIA 5, LG 0
W - Lee Beom-seok, L - Jeong Chan-heon

Game Ball: KIA starting pitcher, Lee Beom-seok. Lee threw shutout 6 1/3 innings(79 pitches, 46 strikes) allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks with 2 K's. KIA pitching held the Twins to only 4 hits all night.

7/30 Roundup and News

Lotte 9, Doosan 3
W - Jeong Won-joon, L - Kim Sun-woo

Doosan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a 2-RBI double from Kim Dong-ju, but Kim Sun-woo tired early and was battered by the Giants in the 3rd and 5th inning for 3 runs in each. Jeong Won-joon tossed a complete game(111 pitches, 64 strikes) last night. Jeong allowed 3 runs on 10 hits and 1 walk with 3 K's. Karim Garcia gets the game ball for his 2-RBI double that broke a 3-3 tie in the 5th inning. Garcia finished with a 3-5, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored on the night.

Woori 6, Hanhwa 2
W - Jang Won-sam, L - Yang Hoon

6-2 makes this one sound close. Woori was leading 6-0 in the 7th when Hanhwa finally got on the board thanks to an RBI single from Hanhwa's Kim Tae-won. Kim struck again with a solo homer in the 9th off of my hero, Shingo Takatsu. Woori was able to combine an opportunistic offense with a quality start from Jang Won-sam. Jang lasted 6 innings(105 pitches, 67 strikes) allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks with 8 K's. A 4th inning solo homer from Woori's Kang Jeong-ho was the difference in the game. Kim Taek-geun added a 2-run blast in the 5th to make the lead a little more comfortable.

LG 5, KIA 1
W - Shim Soo-chang, L - Lee Dae-jin

LG battered KIA starter, Lee Dae-jin for 5 runs in the 3rd inning and coasted to an easy W. Lee Dae-hyeong scored the first run on a wild pitch. Then, LG first baseman, Roberto Petagine, delivered a 2 RBI single to push the lead to 3 runs. Petagine would score two batters later thanks to a sac fly from Park Kyeong-su. LG scored its fitfth and final run of the inning on an RBI double off the left field wall by Jo In-seong.

LG starter, Shim Soo-chang, was able to cruise to an easy W. Shim lasted 5 1/3 innings(82 pitches, 54 strikes) allowed 1 run on 7 hits with 1 K.

Samsung vs. SK
PPD