West All-Stars 5, East All Stars 4 (10)

W - Park Hyeon-joon, L - Oh Seung-hwan
West HR - Cho In-seong
East HR - Choi Hyeong-woo

The box score can be found here. At least 90% of it. They didn't bother to include the tenth inning. Thanks, KBO.

The KBO held it's all-star game on Saturday and, well, I guess I should write about it. This all-star game is especially meaningless because it's only an eight team league and all the teams face each other a lot. There really isn't much that's interesting about seeing Yoon Seok-min pitch against Lee Dae-ho because we already see it several times a year in actual games.

Either way, on with the round up.

The West(KIA, LG, Nexen and Hanhwa)started the scoring in the bottom of the first. KIA center fielder Lee Yong-gyu lead off the game with a double down the left field line and scored when teammate and third baseman Lee Beom-ho poked a single through the right side. Lee would score when the very next batter, LG left fielder Lee Byeong-gyu stung a double off the wall in right center to give the West a 2-0 advantage.

The West picked up another run in the bottom of the second on a solo homer from LG catcher Cho In-seong.

The East(Samsung, SK, Lotte, Doosan) finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Lotte catcher Kang Min-ho singled and advanced to third on a single from Samsung third baseman Park Seok-min. Kang would score on a sac fly from SK second baseman Jeong Geun-woo.

The Eastern squad tied the game at three in the fifth inning when Samsung right fielder Choi Hyeong-woo hit a two-run bomb to right/center off of Hanhwa's Yang Hoon.

The game remained tied until the top of the tenth. The East put runners on first and third with one out. SK left fielder Park Jeong-kwon hit a grounder to the right side that should have been a double play, but second baseman Ahn Chi-hong appeared to struggle finding the handle and the runner from third was able to score to give the East a 4-3 lead.

Samsung reliever Oh Seung-hwan threw the ninth inning and stayed in for the tenth. He put runners on first and second almost instantly. KIA center fielder Lee Yong-gyu flied out to shallow center for the first out of the inning. Nexen left fielder Yoo Han-joon struck out swinging for the second out. LG third baseman Jeong Seong-ho singled to center to score the runner from second and tie the game at four. The next batter, LG slugger Lee Byeong-gyu, fell behind 0-2 and made a desperation swing on what would have been strike three. The ball was a perfectly placed fly ball down the left field line that managed to find fair territory in between three Eastern fielders. The go-ahead run scored and the Western Stars walked off the Eastern stars.

Lee Byeong-gyu was named the MVP of the whole affair.

Now, can we please get back to regular baseball?

Week 2 Rankings and Stuff

Week 2, April 12 to 17

Records in brackets mean the win/loss/tie record for this week.

1. SK Wyverns (5-1) ~ Looked sloppy letting Nexen come back in the 8th inning of the Saturday game. Looked even sloppier letting the 0.385 team beat them the game after. Either way, they still just lost that one game all week. Luckily had an easy start to the week sweeping Hanhwa. Although Hanhwa did play SK close in the middle game of that 3 game series, SK still shut down this team and got the W's. SK is held to a higher standard at this stage though, and I would assume that they are displeased with that one Sunday loss. Their next two series is with LG and Lotte this week and it may get tougher.

2. Samsung Lions (4-2) ~ The weekend series with Doosan was a grind that either team could have taken. Interrupted by a power outage (power outage in Korea? I thought we only had those in Canada), all games were decided by a run with Samsung taking 2 of them. Their weekday series win against a then dominant LG team was more impressive, as they won 2 of those games with an identical 5-1 score and lost the second game by a run. That was an extra innings game and both teams hit 11 hits. Samsung's pitchers are riding the best cumulative ERA in the league at 2.99 (compare that to Hanhwa's 7.23) but other team numbers are pretty middle of the road.

3. Kia Tigers (4-2) ~ Kia has the same record as Samsung but one of those losses was against a very inept Hanhwa team. Soe Jae-woong was moved to the closer role with mixed results: a save in his first appearance which resulted in a pizza party and a blown save loss two days later in the Hanhwa loss which probably resulted in no pizza party. Kia's two foreigners Aq. Lopez and Travis Blackey are winning these games for Kia. Lopez leads the rotation with 3 wins and a 1.57 ERA and Travis got 20K's which is good for best on the team and 2nd best in the league.

4. Doosan Bears (3-2-1) ~ Only 4 errors on the season, Doosan played pretty tight baseball against Hanhwa and Lotte. The only professional baseball team in the world with a tie and an electricity failure this week, this team is going to rely on solid baseball as they are dominant in pretty much nothing besides the small number of errors. Dustin Nippert is doing well. But they are still looking for a new foreign arm and hopefully that person will help this team get their solidly mediocre strikouts (57, 5th in the league), ERA (3.92, 5th in the league), and earned runs (51, 5th in the league) numbers down or they will end up 5th in the league themselves. (This is an 8 team league noobies, 5th place means "that is sucks.")

5. LG Twins (3-3) ~ A re-surging Samsung team spoiled the fun of ending last week in first place for the first time in 100,00,007 days (something like that, as it was widely reported). Either way, none of LG's games got out of hand and I believe they are still contending for a playoff spot at least. Park Hyun-joon is the current ace with Bong Joong-gun not in the picture, but Park did lose his start against Samsung. I don't think this LG team will be elite this year, however.

6. Nexen Heroes (2-4) ~ Kim Seong-tae is performing very well leading the KBO with 23K's. He pitched strong against SK in Nexen's win over SK on Sunday going 6.2 innings and striking out 10. He didn't get the win for the game, however. Kim's career strike out numbers are very good, at a little less than a K per inning. But none of his other stats are very interesting. Not a whole lot to see over here besides this.

7. Lotte Giants (1-4-1) ~ Managed a win on Sunday after starting a week with a 4-4 draw on Tuesday. Losses were the defining theme for the Busan Bombers this week, however. Lee Dae-ho is still elite, but captain Hong Seong-heung is not. Hong's got 13 hits with 50 at bats and has yet to hit a home run. I thought my "Busan Bombers" nickname was pretty clever but I don't think I'm going to be able to use it a whole lot if Busan's offense stays this lame. They only have 5 home runs this year and that's last in the league.

8. Hanhwa Eagles (1-5) ~ Lotte doesn't have to worry about being last in categories a whole lot because of the existence of this team. I talked about what they were last in last week and you might as well look at it again because not much has changed. Hanhwa's pitching also sucks, especially with Ryu Hyun-jin's routinely publicized struggles early. This team is giving up 7.23 runs a game. That is the most in the KBO and Hanhwa Eagles are last again in this week's rankings.

Opening Day Starters Announced...

The KBO season starts at 2 PM Korean time Saturday April 2, 2011.

These fine gentlemen will be taking the ball for their respect teams...

Radhames Liz and Dustin Nippert will make their regular season debuts when the LG Twins and Doosan Bears meet at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.

Gary Glover will start for the 2010 KBO champion SK Wyverns and Brandon Knight will rumble to the bump for the Nexen Heroes.

Samsung lefty Cha Woo-chan will oppose KIA ace Yoon Seok-min.

The K-Monster himself, Ryu Hyeon-jin, will start for the Hanhwa Eagles in Busan, while Bryan Corey makes his KBO regular season debut for the Lotte Giants.

Next Week is Baseball Week In Korea, Says KBO

The KBO announced plans to celebrate the professional league's 30th anniversary next week(Mar. 28 - Apr. 3).

The event I'm most looking forward to is NC Soft unveiling more detailed plans for the future operation of the team. It might be nice to show off a logo or at least a nickname and colors. I still like the sound of "NC Soft Knights," but who knows what we'll end up with.

The only other event that interests me is the meeting of the three commissioners of the Asian baseball leagues. Could we see the start of a real Asian "major league"? Could we at least see a loan and transfer system set up between the three leagues? Only time will tell.

Love is in the Air...

It's the KBO offseason. You know what that means. It's time for KBO guys to get married and the sports news organizations have to cover the weddings because, well, they don't have much else to do until March.

Naver Sports has been kind enough to supply a wedding schedule complete with pictures of some of the happy couples. The only one I'm remotely curious in is Choi Hee-seop. Choi will get married on December 5th and likely tear his bride in half that night.

4/16 - 4/18 Weekend Roundup and News

I was actually to busy for sports this past weekend. I barely saw any KBO action. I avoided my beloved(awful) White Sox as much as possible. Both the Bulls(expected) and Blackhawks(surprise) lost their playoff openers. Also, I was busy doing something to help my professional development all weekend.

I don't have the time or the energy to give each game a write up, but I'll give each series a paragraph.

Also, for the first time in almost 4 years, the KBO has updated its homepage. Look at it in all its blue glory!

On to the roundup of sorts...

Doosan vs. Lotte
4/16 - Doosan 6, Lotte 4
4/17 - Doosan 4, Lotte 3
4/18 - Lotte 9, Doosan 5

What I learned from this series is that when Doosan can play its game, the Bears are hard to beat. The Bears only need 5 or 6 innings from a starting pitcher. After that, they turn things over to their lights out bullpen and its game over. They know they can score runs with their patient "Get-Guys-On-Base-And-THEN-Make-'Em-Pay" approach. If they have a lead after 6, the game might as well be over. The only time they run into problems is if their starter gets bombed(Sunday) or they run into a superior pitching staff(SK in the playoffs). During the season, they're the one KBO team I would never want to see. Les Walrond and Kim Sun-woo gave the Bears exactly enough innings on Friday and Saturday. Their offense gave them exactly enough support and closer Lee Yong-chan nailed down the victories on both days. On Sunday Kelvin Jiminez didn't miss many bats and was battered for 8 runs on 12 hits and 2 walks. Lotte DH Hong Seong-heun and third baseman Lee Dae-ho both took Jimenez deep on Sunday. Hong was 2-5 with 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored, while Lee was 2-4 with 3 RBIs and 1 run scored. Doosan enjoyed a solid team effort at the plate all weekend. Shortstop Son Si-hyeon drove in runs on all three days.

SK vs. Samsung
4/16 - SK 7, Samsung 2
4/17 - SK 4, Samsung 3
4/18 - SK 12, Samsung 1

Okay. I think we have it confimed now. This Lions team is mediocre. They looked really good beating up on teams like Hanhwa, LG and Nexen. I was worried to see them face one of the elite KBO teams and this is why. They'd be exposed. Bae Yeong-su looked like the 2005 Bae against the crappy teams, but he looked very much like the 2009 Bae against SK. I think we should make him our designated crappy team pitcher. If we're facing Doosan, SK or even KIA, Bae isn't allowed to drive to the stadium. When we face Hanhwa or Nexen, Bae gets a start. I think this would work. This weekend was all about that awesome SK pitching. On Friday, Song Eun-beom threw 7 shutout innings(123 pitches, 72 strikes). Song gave up only 6 hits, 3 walks and 1 hit batsman while striking out 3. On Saturday, Eom Jeong-wook tossed 4 2/3 innings of relief after Goh Hyo-joon was pulled in the middle of the 3rd inning. Eom gave up 1 run on 3 hits and 2walks while striking out 4. SK ace Kim Kwang-hyeon made his 2nd start of the season against Samsung on Sunday and he looked like he was in mid-season form. Kim tossed 7 innings(99 pitches, 61 strikes) of shutout baseball. He gave up 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 8. His sideburns were also absolutely bitchin'.

Hanhwa vs. Nexen
4/16 - Hanhwa 5, Nexen 4
4/17 - Hanhwa 6, Nexen 0
4/18 - Nexen 15, Hanhwa 0

If you're going to be inconsistent, you might as well be wildly inconsistent. How do you follow up losing two games to the worst team in the KBO, including one by shutout? By scoring 15 runs and shutting them out, of course! Hanhwa starter Yoo Won-sang tossed 7 shutout innings on Saturday. He gave up 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7. Kim Tae-wan(AKA "The Hanhwa Offense") did most of the damage. Kim went 2-3 with a walk, a double, a homer, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Then on Sunday, my KBO mancrush, Geum Min-cheol, tossed a complete game, 2-hit shoutout against the Eagles. Geum walked two and struck out 8. Every Nexen Hero that played on Sunday either scored or drove in a run. Third baseman Kim Min-woo went 3-5 with a homer, a walk, 4 RBIs, 2 runs scored and a stolen base. A stolen base? Really, Min-woo? 15-0 isn't enough? We have to steal bases too? The Korean baseball gods won't like this. Those who pad stats are usually quickly struck down.

KIA vs. LG
4/16 - LG 8, KIA 4
4/17 - LG 13, KIA 4
4/18 - PPD

I'm surprised the Sunday game was the only game that was canceled last weekend. The weather was kind of gross throughout the peninsula. The Twins have won 4 in a row since ace Bong Jung-geun was allowed to return from his banishment to the Futures League. LG shortstop Oh Ji-hwan was a one-man wrecking crew. The LG #8 hitter went 8-5 with 2 doubles, a homer, a stolen base, 5 RBIs and 4 runs scored in two games. New non-Korean pitcher Matt Wright made his KBO debut on Friday and was, erm, effectively wild. Wright tossed 5 innings(109 pitches, 58 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He gave up 1 hit and 5 walks while striking out 7. The KIA bullpen was a nightmare on both Friday and Saturday. KIA relievers gave up 14 runs(only 9 earned) between the games. Yuck.

I'll be back on Tuesday with regularly scheduled programming.

Matt's Official 2010 KBO Season Predictions

I'm not going to start with a BS paragraph or two about the poetry of baseball or how it relates to my dad or any other nonsense. This is a prediction post. Yes, there is a new KBO season. Yes, I've missed baseball in my life. Saturday can't come fast enough.

8. Hanhwa Eagles - These will be the "Get-To-Know-Your Eagles." They lost their two franchise corner infielders to Japan. Six players who started games ended the year with ERA's over 5.00. One guy started eight games and ended with an ERA over 9.00. The Eagles were amazingly bad last year and they'll probably remain bad this year. They have exactly two players that I'm interested in watching on an every day basis. The first is ace Ryu Hyeon-jin. I get the impression that the K Monster is going to make a run at the MVP this year. My guess is that Hanhwa gets about 40 wins this year. I would be surprised if Ryu earned the W in half of them. He could be the KBO's answer to Steve Carlton. The other guy I'm interested in is right fielder Kim Tae-wan. He posted a .958 OPS in a lineup with Lee Beom-ho, a knocked silly Kim Tae-gyun and six other guys who played baseball instead of delivering Chinese food. One guy to watch out for this year is left fielder Choi Jin-haeng. Choi had a solid exhibition season and is in line to get an extended look. He sounds intruiging.

7. Nexen Heroes - Not finishing last is going to be an accomplishment for this group. At least they have a sponsor this year. I can't imagine how embarrassing it must have been to have been called "The Heroes." They might have a possible franchise player with their 23 year old shortstop, Kang Jeong-ho. Actually, their left side of the infield should be one of the best in the league with Kang and 3rd baseman Hwang Jae-gyun. Both should be over .850 in OPS. On the mound, things...aren't quite as clear. Gone are mainstays Ma Il-yeong Lee Hyeon-seung and Jeong Won-sam. The new non-Korean pitcher, Adrian Burnside, is expected to lead the staff. 20-year old 2nd year man Kang Yoon-guh will probably follow him in the rotation. After that is Doosan castoff Geum Min-cheol. After those three...who knows?

6. Lotte Giants - I'm sad to say it but, I think Jerry Royster's run in Korea is about over. The Giants will have all the usual suspects back in the field. Lee Dae-ho at 3rd, Kim Ju-chan at 1st, Kang Min-ho catching. Even Karim Garcia is back for another season of mediocre power production and inflated expectations. They never found another solid arm to use as bridge between their starting staff and their closer last year. I still think they're a starting pitcher away from the playoffs and an ace reliever away from being an elite team in the KBO. They don't have the staff depth that the elite KBO teams have. I think they're going to miss Jon Adkins more than they realize. He was their only reliable relief pitcher last year. I guess Lee Jeong-hoon is going to take over the closing duties, but who's going to be the bridge between the starters and Lee? Song Seung-joon, Jeong Won-joon, Cho Jeong-hoon and Ryan Sadowski could be in for a lot of ND's this year instead of wins and losses.

5. KIA Tigers - I think they burned out their pitching staff last year and I don't think the career years that a lot of their hitters had are repeatable. I can't believe they brought back Aquilino Lopez for another year. He tired noticably down the stretch last year and wasn't the same pitcher in the playoffs. He logged a ton of innings and I think those innings will take their toll on his 2010 season. I'm also expecting a championship hangover for most of the pitchers on this staff. I think they made the right choice. If you have a chance at a league title, you have to take it, but I think the Tigers will pay for a lot of those decisions this year. I'm interested to see what's going to happen to Seo Jae-wong this year. The former Tampa Bay Ray struggled through an injury plagued 2009 campaign. They'll need him and Yoon Seok-min in the rotation for the entire season if they expect to contend. I don't think that 3rd baseman Kim Sang-hyeon and 1st baseman Choi Hee-seop both will hit over 30 homers again. I do think that left fielder Na Ji-won will. I think Na has a chance for a breakout season.

4. LG Twins - They spent a ton of cash in the off-season and I think they realized they need to make the playoffs if they want to maintain any kind of fanbase. Sharing a stadium with the Doosan Bears has done them no favors. The acquired center fielder Lee Taek-geun from the Heroes and signed free agent right fielder Lee Byeong-gyu back from Japan. Those two will join speedster Lee Dae-hyeong and Park Yong-taek in an outfield/DH rotation. It looks like Lee Byeong-gyu is going to make the switch to first with the three speedsters in the outfield and rightfielder Lee Jin-yeong DHing. This will be an interesting team to watch. All three of their outfielders should top 30 steals. The LG pitching is a bigger question mark, but they at least have a legit ace in Bong Jeung-geun. Edgar Gonzalez is probably the number two starter. After that, things get dicey. LG tried 14 different starting pitchers last year and most of them were completely forgettable. Most of them were younger guys. Dr. Bong and Gonzalez will carry the rotation. Japanese reliever Shinya Okamoto will close and Ryu Taek-hyeon will set him up. This staff is...fairly unsettled.

3. Samsung Lions - Yes, this is a homer pick and no, I don't care. I like my fightin' Lions this year. They've got a rotation that goes five deep and a solid bullpen headed by a (hopefully) healthy Oh Seung-hwan. They've phased out most of their creaky, old ballplayers and brought in younger, better models. The rotation is headed by non-Koreans Brandon Knight and Francisco Cruceta. Both were successful enough last year to make me think they'll be successful this year. Yoon Seong-hwan was the staff ace last year and racked up 14 wins with an ERA over 4.00. I like him much better as a number three starter. The Lions finally landed lefty Jeong Won-sam. The trade for Jeong took two years to get completed. Ahn Ji-man should bring his flat brim to the 5th starter's slot and keep it there this time. I like Ahn's fastball, but so does the rest of the KBO. Did I mention the Lions bullpen was fantastic last season? It was. Did I mention Oh "Iron Mask" Seung-hwan appears to be healthy? A real starting staff with our awesome bullpen? What a day to be alive. Bae Yong-su tried to kill my will to live as a pitcher with the Lions last year. He has nine scoreless innings in the exhibition season. I'm not looking up the numbers, but I'm guessing that's nine more than he threw all year last year. It's a trick. Please, do not subject me to any more Bae Yong-su. The fact that he's actually a year younger than me and completely washed up is really, really depressing.

Shin Myeong-cheol was the KBO answer to Ben Zobrist last year. He came out of nowhere to post 20 homers with a .800+ OPS. I have no idea where it came from. I don't think he had twenty homers in his career before last year. Third baseman Park Seok-min was awesome when he was healthy, but various injuries limited him to 97 games. 2nd year man Choi Hyeong-woo built on his 2008 Rookie of the Year performance with a solid 2009. I'm expected a bigger role for the left fielder.

2. Doosan Bears - Doosan is a really talented ball club stuck playing second fiddle to the obviously better SK Wyverns. The Wyverns are just more poised and professional. The Bears added lefty Lee Hyeon-seung and non Korean guys Les Walrond and Kelvin Jiminez in the offseason. The starting rotation was the Bears biggest weakness in 2009. This trio is expected to bolster it. I'm still not impressed by their starting staff. Former MLBer Kim Sun-woo is mediocre by KBO standards and 20-year old 2nd year man Hong Sang-sam isn't as good as his numbers indicate. The Bears bullpen was probably the best in the league by any measure in 2009. 21-year old closer Lee Yong-chan lead the team with 26 saves. Lim Tae-hoon, Goh Chang-seong and Lee Jae-woo recorded double digit holds. If the Bears had a lead after the 6th inning, you knew your team was in trouble. These guys were devastating. The problem was finding a starting pitcher capable of not giving up 6 runs in the first three innings. In the field, the Bears are lead by left fielder Kim Hyeon-su and third baseman Kim Dong-ju. Both were over 1.000 in OPS last year. Look out for center fielder Jeong Su-bin. He filled in when center fielder Lee Jong-wook was injured last year and was impressive for a 19-year old rookie.

1. SK Wyverns - The Wyverns boast a deep pitching staff and a lineup that was mercilessly efficient last year. If a player goes down, the next man fills in. They are a factory. A winning machine. Catcher/team leader Park Kyeong-won tore his achilles in the middle of a career year. Backup Jeong Sang-ho stepped in like Park never left. 2nd baseman Jeong Geun-woo struggled early, got straightened out and turned in a career year. Right fielder Park Jae-hong was the first KBO player to record 250 homers and 250 stolen bases. He's still chugging along at age 36. The only guy that really disappointed was third baseman Choi Jeong and he still put up an .854 OPS. He just looks like he should be a better player and he's only 23. Ace Kim Kwang-hyeon is going to miss the first few weeks of the season and hasn't thrown in any of the exhibition games. This team proved that they can lose Kim for months and come within one inning of winning a championship. On any other team, losing Kim would be devastating. Gary Glover and Ken Kadokura will return to lead the rotation. Lefty Song Eun-beom and righty Goh Hyo-joon will likely follow. Song lead the team in innings pitched(149) last year and posted a solid ERA(3.13) and WHIP(1.37). Kim Seon-gyu is back from his military service and looks intruiging. He's posted 10 2/3 scoreless innings with 10 K's during the exhibition season. He'll probably start in the bullpen, but could see time as a starter. SK lacks a true closer. Eight different players recorded saves for the Wyverns last year. Jeong Dae-hyeon posted double digit saves and holds with a 1.20 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.

I like Samsung over LG in the first round in 4 games.
Doosan over Samsung in 5 in the second round.
Then, SK over Doosan in 7 in the championship

2010 KBO MVP: Doosan left fielder Kim Hyeon-su finally gets his first of many MVP awards.
2010 KBO Best Pitcher: Ryu Hyeon-jin wins it for a crappy, crappy Hanhwa team.

KBO Tries to Shorten Game Times, Daegu-based Blogger Rejoices

HT to Korea Beat. The Original Korean language article can be found here.

Only good things can come from forcing pitchers to throw a pitch in 12 seconds. The faster pace should make for better, more fan friendly games. Usually, a faster paced game means that the players will be more into the game. Fielders hate standing around and watching. I might actually get home before 11 PM on a school night. There are few sights more depressing than looking at a scoreboard clock, seeing that it reads "9:30" and realizing it's only the 6th inning.

Whenever this gets brought up, I feel the need to link to my favorite regular season baseball game that I've ever seen live. 99 minutes for a 9 inning game. No greater feeling than watching a full game on a Saturday and still having the entire afternoon to goof off.

4/24 Roundup and News

The Joongang Daily's Jee-ho is taking a break from writing about North Korea with "The Spin." This time he dishes on the dispute between the KBO and its various broadcasting partners. Must read.

The Joongang Daily also gives us a write up on one of the bigger high school tournaments. I can't believe there is really a 6'8 pitcher in Korea. I've seen a few large Korean baseball players, but none at 6'8. I could see this guy generating a lot of overseas interest.

On to the roundup...

Samsung 4, LG 1
W - Francisco Cruceta(1-2), L - Shim Su-chang(1-2), S - Oh Seung-hwan (5)

LG outfielder Ahn Chi-yong drove in a run on an RBI single in the first inning and that was all the offense LG was able to muster against Cruceta. Cruceta worked 6 solid innings(92 pitches, 53 strikes). He allowed only the 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk. He appeared to pitch more to contact in this game and only tallied 3 K's. Samsung rallied for 4 runs in the 6th inning. Samsung 1B Chae Tae-in hit a 2-run single to put Samsung on the board. CF Park Han-yi and SS Park Jin-man also drove in runs in the inning. Oh Seung-hwan tossed a scoreless 9th to tie for the league lead in saves. Reports of his demise were terribly premature.

Hanwha 7, Seoul Heroes 6
W - Kim Hyeok-min(2-1), L - Jang Won-sam(0-2)

Didn't Jang Won-sam used to be good? He appeared to be as good as some of the other young, hard throwing lefties in the KBO last season. This year not so much. He left this game with a 6.38 ERA and 1.80 WHIP. If the Heroes want to even fake contending, Jang needs to get the results he got last season. Last night he was battered for 5 runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched(94 pitches, 62 strikes). He allowed 7 hits and 2 walks with 6 K's, but 2 of the hits went beyond the fences. As poor as Jang was on the mound, Doug Clark was excellent at the plate. The Heroes center fielder went 5-5 with a double, a homer, a stolen base, 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. He was Mr. Everything for the Seoul Heroes. His homer was part of a fake rally in the 9th inning. With the score 7-3 and the game looking very much in doubt, the Heroes fake rallied there way to a 7-6 loss. A 7-6 loss looks better than a 7-3 loss. At the plate for Hanwha, Kim Tae-gyun clubbed his 5th homer of the season.

SK 8, Lotte 2
W - Ken Kadokura(1-0), L - Cho Jeong-hoon(2-2)

Ken Kadokura turned in a very nice effort in his first KBO start. Kadokura worked 6 2/3 innings(91 pitches, 59 strikes) of 1 run baseball on six hits. He struck out 4 and didn't walk anyone. Park Jae-hong stole the headline from Kadokura by recording his 250th stolen base. Park is now the only player in the history of the KBO to record 250 homers and stolen bases. If only we had video footage of this historic event. He doesn't turn 36 until September, but he'd have to rack up at least 30 steals if he wanted to even have an outside shot of reaching 300/300. He hasn't stolen more than 20 bases in a season since 2006. He should be able to get to 300 homers sometime next year. He's currently got 277 career homers. He needs 9 more RBIs to reach 1000. Lotte starter Cho Joeng-hoon ran out of gas in the 5th inning. After being shutout for 4 innings, SK exploded for 6 runs in the 5th. SK outfielder Park Jeong-kwon hit a key homer that busted the inning wide open.

Doosan 3, KIA 0
W - Lee Jae-woo(1-0), L - Yim Joon-hyeok(0-1), S - Lee Yong chan(5)

This is the third day in a row that Doosan has won the game in the late innings. This time, Doosan and KIA were locked in a 0-0 tie that went into the 10th inning. In the top of the 10th, Doosan rallied for 3 runs off of the KIA bullpen. Kim Dong-joo scored on Jeong Soo-bin's RBI triple. After a walk to Koh Yeong-min, Jeong was driven in by SS Son Si-hyeon. Finally, Choi Seung-hwan drove in Koh on an RBI double. KIA bullpen Meltdown...complete. Doosan reliever Jin Ya-kob was asked to start and he did his best. Jin worked 4 scoreless innings(62 pitches, 40 strikes) for the Bears. He allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 K's. Senor Smoke, Aquilino Lopez, tossed 7 shutout innings(115 pitches, 68 strikes) for the Tigers. He allowed 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 K's, but sadly couldn't get any help from his offense.

4/21 News and Roundup

The KBO and its broadcasting partners are involved in a dispute. Apparently, the KBO wants broadcasters to pay around 1.4 billion won for the broadcasting rights to KBO games. The broadcasters don't want to pay it because of the KBO webcast policy. The broadcasting companies claim that the webcast takes away viewers and want to be compensated for it. So, they've pulled broadcasts. The KBO has reached a deal with DealOne to broadcast one game a day, but the other companies are still holding out. This makes the KBO look like complete morons. This should have been hammered out before the season started.

SK center fielder Park Jae-hong needs one more stolen base to be the only member of the KBO's 250 homer/250 stolen base club.

I don't want to talk about how poorly written this is. Yay! Homers! Woo! A choice cut... "As each team will play 133 games ― five more than last season ― these sluggers could generate more than a minimum of 47 based on the assumption that they will hit five every 13 games." I believe they played 126 games last year. That's 7 fewer than 133. I don't want to get started on how silly the rest of this is. I just want to shake my head and forget that this guy gets paid to write about baseball for a living.

On to the effing roundup...

Samsung 5, LG 3
W - Kwon Hyeok(2-1), L - Bong Jung-geun(1-2), S - Oh Seung-hwan (4)

In the only game that was broadcast on tv... at all, Samsung was able to scrape together enough of an offense to earn the W. Samsung 6-7-8 hitters, Kang Bong-gyu, Woo Dong-gyun and Cho Dong-chan, combined to go 7 for 11 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored. Cho's 6th inning RBI double was the only extra base hit for Samsung last evening. Reliever Ahn Ji-man was asked to start and he managed to work 4 mediocre innings before being taken out. LG Ace Bong Jung-geun continued his struggles against the Lions. After losing to Samsung on Opening Day, Bong was looking for some revenge. He didn't get it. Bong worked 6 innings(107 pitches, 64 strikes) and surrendered 5 runs. He allowed 8 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batsman with 3 K's. Not his finest outing. Oh Seung-hwan struck out 2 batters in the 9th to help earn his 4th save.

Hanwha 8, Seoul Heroes 4
W - Ahn Yeong-Myeong(2-0), L - Ma Il-yeong (2-2)

Heroes ace Ma Il-yeong was terrible. He allowed 7 runs over 4 2/3 innings(82 pitches, 54 strikes) pitched, but he allowed 6 runs in the first inning. Lee Beom-ho connected for a grand slam to account for the majority of the damage. Eagles starter Ahn Yeong-myeong wasn't much better, but he was able to hold the lead. Ahn tossed 5 1/3 innings(66 pitches, 43 strikes). He allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 2 K's. 3 of the 6 hits didn't stay in the park. Doug Clark, Lee Sung-yong and Song Ji-man all connected for solo homers off of Ahn.

SK 9, Lotte 1
W - Goh Hyo-joon(2-0), L - Jang Won-joon (0-3)

SK jumped all over Jang Won-joon early. SK 3rd baseman Choi Jeong clubbed a 3-run bomb in the 3rd off of Jang to give SK a 5-0 lead SK managed to tack on a few insurance runs and the lead to 7-0 before Lotte would get on the scoreboard in the 6th. Kang Min-ho delivered an RBI single to give Lotte its only run. With the early lead, SK starter Goh Hyo-joon was able to cruise to an easy W. Goh stuck around for 5 1/3 innings(105 pitches, 66 strikes) before his pitch count demanded his removal. He allowed 1 run on 4 hits, 4 walk and 1 hit batter. He managed to record 6 strikeouts during his outing. SK lead off man Jeong Geun-woo continued to swing a hot bat. He finished the night 3-5 with an RBI and 2 runs scored.

Doosan 9, KIA 5
W - Yim Tae-hoon(1-0), L - Han Ki-joo (0-1)

KIA held a 5-4 lead heading into the 9th, but Doosan struck for a 5-run rally to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat. It appears that Han Ki-joo was asked to work 2 innings, but didn't have anything after sitting in the dugout during the KIA half of the 8th inning. I'd love to give more detail, but I don't live in Gwangju and the game wasn't broadcast. I can't even look at highlights because they weren't recorded. KIA starter Rick Guttormson struggled against Doosan. I'm guessing he didn't find the patient Doosan team as much fun to throw to as the swing at everything Lotte team. Rick didn't make it out of the 4th. Doosan 1st baseman Choi Joon-seok clubbed his league leading 6th homer last night. It would've been nice to have seen it. Choi has shown this power before, in 2007 he clubbed 16 homers and drove in 75 in 386 AB's, but he had a terrible 2008 season. He spent most of the season on the bench and couldn't figure anything out last year. He struck out 46 times in only 169 at bats. I'm buying the power #'s. I think he can mash, but I'm not buying the batting average. He's currently hitting .440. I don't think he'll finish over .300, let alone .400.

I miss TV broadcasts.

2009 KBO Season Primer: SK Wyverns

With the 2009 season literally right around the corner and tens of new readers descending upon my little blog, the time has come for a KBO season preview.

I personally detest power rankings and lazy writers that pass them off as an actual column, but four our purposes, power rankings are the best way to structure this post.

1. SK Wyverns

The two-time defending champs should pick up where they left off last season. The team has stayed together and they're still relatively young.

On the mound, this team is lead by KBO MVP and team ace, Kim Kwang-hyun. Kim finished last year with a 16-4 record, a 2.39 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP and 150 K's in 162 innings. He only allowed 9 homers all season and his K:BB was 3.00. He was the best pitcher in the KBO last season. Chae Byeong-yong was the "Jack of All Trades" last year. He spent most of the season as a starter, but he helped to shore up the bullpen in the playoffs. Chae finished the season with a 10-2 record in 27 games. He posted a 2.70 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 136 2/3 innings. He struck out 81 and walked 43. Chae will probably be SK's #2 or #3 starter behind Kim. Righty Jeong Woo-ram and lefty Jeong Dae-hyeon were a devastating 1-2 punch for the Wyverns out of the bullpen last year. Woo-ram would usually throw the 7 or 8th, while Dae-hyeon would lock down the 9th inning. Dae-hyeon missed most of August with an injury and Woo-ram struggled in the closer's role. 8 different Wyverns pitchers recorded saves last year. Jeong Dae-hyeon finished with 20 saves, a 2.67 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP and a K:BB of over 2:1. Woo-ram picked up 5 saves and 25 holds last year. He also posted a 9-2 record in 85(!) appearances

They've swapped out last years foreign pitchers for newer, possibly better models. Mike Johnson and CJ Nitkowski have replaced Kenny Rayborn and Esteban Yan. Both figure to start the season in the rotation. The only other new pitcher worth mentioning is Lee Sung-ho. Lee was signed from LG after a disastrous 2008 campaign. He does have a double-digit win season under his belt(He won 11 games in 2003), but he allowed 62 base runners in 24 1/3 innings last season. He could stick as a long reliever or be selling insurance in May.

At the plate, the Wyverns are as smart and disciplined as any team in the world. SK lead the league with a .361 team OBA. Also, 6 different Wyverns with over 100 AB's posted batting averages over .300. Third baseman, Choi Jeong, lead the way with a .328 average. Choi also posted an OPS of .890 in only his 3rd full KBO season. Center fielder, Park Jae-hong lead the team with 19 homers and posted an OPS of .958(!). Shortstop Jeong Geun-woo lead the team in stolen bases with 40, but he also lead the team in CS with 20. Jeong came in 2nd on the team with 72 runs scored. He also posted a .797 OPS.

The Wyverns really didn't make any significant additions in the off season on offense.

The SK Wyverns are an excellent example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. They didn't really have anyone put up ridiculous offensive totals, but they were capable of scoring enough runs to win. This team simply wore pitchers down and always seemed to deliver with runners in scoring position. Last year's SK Wyverns might have been the best team in Asia last year and there's no reason to believe that won't continue. This team was a buzz saw last year. They could make a run at 90 wins this season.

KBO Throws Out the First Pitch on April 4

The KBO's 2009 Opening Day will be on Saturday, April 4 according to this article from the KT. 2 time defending champ, SK, will open the season at home against Hanhwa. Doosan will face KIA in Seoul. Samsung will take on LG in Colorful Daegu and Lotte will open the season in Busan against The Heroes.

I'm not sure what The Heroes will do for sponsor this year. I keep seeing the old Woori logo used in articles about the team. I'm starting to get the impression that the KBO has painted themselves into a corner with this team. Actually, I'm just happy we still have 8 teams.

Per KoreaBeat....

If this happened in the US it would likely be the scandal of the year.

Former KBO star, Lee Ho-seong was found floating in the Han River in Seoul this morning. He was wanted on suspicion of murdering a woman he was dating and her 3 daughters.

He was a member of the Haitai Tigers(Now KIA) for twelve years. He helped the Tigers to 4 Korean Series Championships during his twelve years with the Tigers.

He's been retired since after the 2001 season and has been dogged by shady business practices since then. Hat tip to the Joonang Daily. "Lee retired after the 2001 season, opening a wedding business in Gwangju that failed in 2003. He also planned an off-track betting business that never took off. In 2005 he was arrested on charges of investment fraud. Two months later, he was released on bail, but was dodging debt collectors. He was still facing fraud charges when he died."

Let's review. Baseball player? Check. Criminal? Check. Murderer? Check. And finally, coward. Big check.

What Can You Get For 6 Billion Won, Anyway?

Chosun Ilbo posted this a few days ago. KoreaBeat provided the English translation. I wanted to sit down and look at these numbers a bit before I did a write up.

My beloved Samsung Lions spent over 6 billion won on player salaries. What exactly did that buy them?

I took Samsung's 6.2 billion won payroll and divided it by wins+(ties*1/2). The KBO counted a tie as half a win in the standings, I figured that would work for my purposes as well.

Samsung(6.2 billion) = 97.3 million per win
Hanhwa (4.6 billion) = 68.3 million per win
Kia (3.5 billion) = 69.75 million per win
Doosan (2.8 billion) = 40.58 million per win
SK (4.02 billion) = 53.2 million per win
Lotte (3.75 billion) = 66.4 million per win
LG (4.085 billion) = 66.97 million per win
Hyundai (4.1 billion) = 73.1 million per win

At current conversion rates, 1 American dollar is equal to about 947 Korean won. So, Samsung's 97.3 million won per win is equal to about $102,745 American. Just for a comparison, the salary cap of the Northern League, an independent American baseball league, is $105,000.

What jumps out at me is that SK and Doosan made it to the Korean Series and had the lowest player costs in the league. Lesson learned, cash doesn't always equal victory.

What's really going to be interesting is where Woori(formerly Hyundai) ends up in terms of payroll. It sounds like they could have a payroll around 2 billion won before the start of the season. Even if they win 50 games this year(looking likely), that's still going to be about 40 million per W. They'll be spending almost half what they spent last year for an equally crummy team. I guess it's better to be bad and cheap than bad and expensive.

Nothing Says, "Buy This," Like Hitting .412

Naver has just posted a bunch of old Korean advertisements in their photo archives. This one caught my eye. A little digging has revealed that the ballplayer in the ad is Baek In-chun. Baek hit .412(!) in the inaugural season of the KBO. In 1982 they only played 80 games in a season, but his record still stands today.

The Newest Addition to the KBO Announces the Official Name, Uni's

I can't decide if I like these or not. They're not quite as exciting as I had hoped and are more than a little similar to these guys, but they're not awful. I'm not a big fan of the grey alternate. I just don't care for the grey jersey with the red hat. I really like the numbers on the shoulder. If the numbers were lower, I think the jersey would look crowded with the massive logo across the chest.

I'm not sure what the logo is supposed to be. I see a "W" humping a rock. Seriously, is this one of those 3-D pictures and if I stare at it long enough, I'll see a massive cartoon baseball player smoking a cigarette? I don't get it.

It also sounds like that massive payroll slashing that I had heard about and dismissed, well it's really happening. What's even shadier is that the league passed a rule to allow this to happen.

Our Heroes!

The secretive new team in the KBO has a name and a sponsor.

I was rooting for a beer company or better yet, a soju company, but I guess we'll have to live with Woori Tobacco. Now, I know, you're all asking, "Matt, a tobacco company can't advertise on TV in Korea. It's illegal!" I would have to agree, but they're not using the company name. The name "Woori"(우리) translates roughly to "our." The official team name will be "Our Heroes." I can't wait to see the logo and jerseys.

KBO to Get Rid of 12-inning Limits???

Possibly. Personally, I hate ties. Especially in baseball. Japan allows them, the US does not. The only argument for allowing a 12 inning limit is that it doesn't burn out the pitching staff. I'd like to see it done away with. Baseball is one of the few sports that works best without a time limit.

The powers that be in the KBO are also deciding what kind of break they should allow for the Olympics. It looks like IF Korea qualifies(I think they will, but they're facing a tough field), they'll be allowing a three week break for travel and rest. It sounds like a good idea. If the Korean team can qualify for the Olympics, most baseball fans probably won't pay much attention to the KBO while the stars of the league are playing in Beijing.

Also, the former Hyundai Unicorns players have resolved a dispute with Centennial Investments. It sounds like the dispute centered on their contracts. Centennial announced it would seek to slash payroll. The players had the impression that they'd be forced to take a pay cut. It doesn't sound like it was that big of a deal. Centennial has made changes to the front office and management of the team, but no changes have been made as far as player personnel...yet.

Finally, the season is already off to a rocky start for Seo Jae-Weong. The former major leaguer tore his hamstring while training and will likely be on the shelf when opening day rolls around. Seo was set to be the opening day starter and a key part of the KIA Tigers attempt to get out of the cellar.

# of days until exhibition games begin: 21
# of days until opening day: 37

8 Teams! Centennial Investment Company Saves the Day!

Here's hoping the KBO got this right.

One thing is kind of distrubing. I'm unable to find any information on Centennial Investment. It's based in Seattle and most likely Korean owned, but not much else is known. Honestly, I don't even care as long as the KBO has 8 teams. 7 teams would have been a scheduling nightmare. I am a little disappointed that Jinro Soju or The Hite weren't interested in sponsoring a baseball team. I would have bought a hat and a jersey in a second.

It is known that Centennial will never have its name on the uni's. They plan to sell the space to multiple companies, with the biggest advertiser getting to have its name on the front. We could see a baseball uni looking like this. Whatever. 8 teams. I'm happy. Let's start the season already.

Oiguks in the KBO

A tentative list of foreign devils invading the KBO.

Doosan Bears:

Matt Randel, P
Gary Rath, P

Hanwha Eagles:

Doug Clark, OF
Brad Thomas, P

KIA Tigers:

Jose Lima, P
Wilson Valdez, IF

Hyundai Unicorns:

Cliff Braumbaugh, OF

Lotte Giants:

Karim Garcia, OF
Marty McCleary, P

Samsung Lions:

Wes Obermueller, P
Jacob Cruz, OF

SK Wyverns:

Kenny Rayborn, P
Darwin Cubillan, P

LG Twins:

Jamey Brown, P
Chris Oxspring, P