Asia Series Day One Roundup and News

Lee Seung-yeop admits that he was terrible. The world, somehow, keeps spinning.

I can't believe I missed this. The KBO announced their free agents for this off season and vowed to follow the rules that they have set. The rules are ridiculous and virtually guarantee that top players will start bolting for Japan. I'm going to go more in depth on this in the next week or so.


Uni! Tianjin! Seibu! SK! This week in Tokyo. Asian Series Fever! Catch it!

According to the Korea Times, the SK Wyverns brought more bats than the Seibu Lions did. I didn't notice any flying mammals on the field, but if the KT says it, well, it could have happened.

Uni-President 7-11 Lions 7, Tianjin Lions 4
W - Tseng Yi-cheong, L - Lu Jiangang

I freely admit, I was at work during this game and I have no idea what happened or who did what. I do know that The Uni Lions had their CheerBabes in attendence and all of Asia is grateful. Especially me.

I don't know what the deal is with the moonboots, but the tanktops and hotpants make me smile.

The Uni Lions were losing 4-3 in the 9th inning, but they managed a 4-run rally off the Tianjin bullpen to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat.

SK 4, Saitama Seibu Lions 3
W - Lee Sung-ho, L - Hoashi Kazuyuki


The Seibu Lions also brought their CheerBabes. The more I live in Asia, the more I get used to the idea of baseball teams having CheerBabes.

Seibu got the party started in the first inning with an RBI single from Seibu's Haroshi Harao. Kim Kwang-hyeon didn't look very sharp in this one. I get the feeling he was more than a little rusty and he didn't have his usual catcher. Jung Sang-ho got the start over Park Kyeong-wan. Park Jae-hong tied the game in the 2nd thanks to a, erm, questionable homerun. It was a ball hit down the left field line that was ruled fair. The replay showed that it was, well, obviously foul. In the 4th inning, Lee Jae-won hit a two-run bomb that managed to juuuust stay inside the fair pole to give the Wyverns a 3-1 advantage. Later in the inning, SK's Park Jae-sang would hit and RBI single to expand SK's lead to 4-1. The Lions mounted a fake 2-run rally in the 5th inning to make the score 4-3 and that would be where the game would finish. The SK bullpen shutdown the Seibu offense. Yoon Gil-hyeon, Jeong Woo-ram and Lee Seung-ho would toss 4 1/3 scoreless to secure the victory for SK. This victory should give SK a clear path to the final.


"It's in da bag!"

The action continues at 12pm local time when the Tianjin Lions face the SK Wyverns. The series continues at 6pm local time when the Uni President 7-11 Lions face the Saitama Seibu Lions.

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.

Cheer Babe of the Week

Joongang Ilbo staff reporter, Yoo Jee-ho, posted this article today. I guess he wishes that the KIA Tigers were awesome and the SK Wyverns sucked, but whatever, it's better written than most "Devil You Know..." articles that get posted by English language newspapers here. It's actually an interesting read. It offers a look into the mindset of a Korean baseball fan. Now, onto the cheerbabe...


This is Ahn Hye-min of the Samsung Lions cheer squad. No, Hye-min, we love you.

Cheer Babe of the Week

I'd like you to meet Yu Jin-hyeong of the SK Wyverns cheer squad.

She has a lot to cheer for...and so do we. Sadly, no profile at SKsports.net, but I'm sure she wants to do her best to help her team win. Cheers to you, Jin-hyeong!

Cheer Babe of the Week

I believe this is Kim Shin-hong, but I don't have any way to verify. Doosan doesn't have cheerleader profiles on the website....yet. Either way, she loves her beloved Doosan Bears. Go Shing-hong, go!

Cheer Babe of the Week

I get bored on Mondays and electing a "Cheer Babe of the Week" is my way of getting around it. Why not start with the poor girls that have had the least to cheer for. The Cheer Babes of the Hanhwa Eagles.

I'd like you to meet Hanwha Cheer Babe, Kim Ji-eun. According to her profile at the Hanwha website(as best I can translate), she'd like to "raise the level of performance," and she started cheering "in middle school as a part-time job." Her favorite player is Ryu Hyeon-jin.