Friday, May 22, 2009

5/21 Roundup and News

A solid article in the Joongang Daily about steroids in the KBO from Mr. Yoo Jee-ho. Jee-ho has always been a favorite of mine and I like what he wrote about PEDs in the KBO. Jee-ho is still the only English language sportswriter in Korea that I actually enjoy reading.

SK 9, Samsung 4
W - Ken Kadokura, L - Bae Yong-su

What a surprise. The Wyverns beat the tar out of another Samsung starter. Bae Yong-su was a little worse than usual last night. He was pummelled for 7 runs on 12 hits and 1 walk during his 4 2/3 innings of work. The fact that he was born in 1981 and pitches like he was born in 1971 makes me worry for my future. This guy is technically younger than I am. SK 3rd baseman Choi Jeong clubbed another moon shot. In the 5th inning, Choi hit a home run that landed in the last row of seats in center field. I usually sit out in center field and I've never seen a ball make it past the 2nd row, let alone almost leave the park. Ken Kadokura offered another solid outing. Kadokura tossed 6 2/3 innings(88 pitches, 59 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He allowed hits and 1 hit batsman while striking out 3. No one told Samsung right fielder Choi Hyeong-woo that the Lions had surrendered. He turned in an excellent day at the plate. He hit a solo homer in the 6th inning and a 2-run shot in the 8th. He also added a double to finished the game 3-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored.

KIA 13, LG 13 (12)

This game was completed in just under 6 hours. I believe the previous record for the longest game in KBO history was 5 hours, 51 minutes. This one took 5 hours, 58 minutes. I got in a little late last night and I honestly thought they were showing highlights. I couldn't believe that I was watching a live baseball game at 12:30 at night. This game would have been my nightmare. My all-time favorite game that I was in attendance for(other than Game 2 of the '05 World Series) was this one. 99 minutes for a 9-inning baseball game. Bliss. Last night's KIA/LG tilt was the exact opposite.

The two teams combined to use 16 pitchers. KIA starter Aquilino Lopez lasted the longest with a whopping 4 innings pitched. With KIA leading 13-10 in the 9th inning, the Tigers called on uber-closer Yoon Seok-min to record a save with a 3-run lead. LG right fielder Lee Jin-yeong lead off the inning with a base hit to center. The next batter, center fielder Park Yong-taek, reached on an infield single to put runners at 1st and 2nd with 0 outs. Then Lee Dae-hyeong hit a bunt(while losing by 3?!?!?! only in Asia) back to Yoon. Yoon double-clutched on the throw and it got away from the KIA 3rd baseman. The first run of the inning was able to cross the plate and the runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Pinch hitter Lee Byeong-gyu ripped a double to right/center to score both runners and tie the game at 13. LG loaded the bases in the 9th with one out, but KIA was able to get out of it thanks to a few lazy fly balls. In the bottom of the 12th Choi Hee-seop came to the plate with the tying run on 2nd and 2 outs. He struck out swinging to end the game and immediately destroyed 19 cups of ramyon. KIA scored 13 runs in the first 6 innings, but were shutout for the final six innings.

Doosan/Lotte and Hanhwa/Seoul Heroes were both washed out. No make-up dates have been scheduled yet.

1 comment:

Eujin said...

Looking forward to the posts about the sweep. Was that Jeong Subin's fist ever career home runs? The kid's what? Eighteen years old? I saw him take an at bat earlier in the season (perhaps his second of all time?) but unfortunately I missed the games in Incheon.

I'm still not expecting anything other than a repeat of the last two years, especially with no starting pitching, but Doosan are top of the standings now and did I say SWEEP?