5/6 Roundup and News

You can't beat fun at the 'ol ballpark.

There was some trouble last night in Busan. In protest of an injury to Lotte's Cho Seong-hwan, the gentleman pictured above ran onto the field, tossed a stick towards the SK batter and then played to the crowd before being head locked and removed. Cho was hit in the face during the April 23 game against SK and has been out with a broken cheek ever since.

LG 3, Doosan 1
W - Jeong Chan-heon (4-0), L - Lee Jae-woo (1-1), S - Woo Gyu-min (7)

This game was all about the bullpens. LG's worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings. The Doosan bullpen surrendered 2 runs in relief of starter Geun Min-cheol, but Geun only lasted 4 1/3 innings. With the score tied 1-1 in the top of the 7th, Park Yeong-taek appeared to score on a wild pitch to give LG a 2-1 lead, but it was ruled that the ball hit Roberto Petagine in the leg. The ball was dead and the run was take off the scoreboard, but it would load the bases with 1 out. LG DH Choi Dong-su hit a sac fly to right to score Park and give LG a 2-1 advantage. LG would tack on an insurance run in the 8th inning thanks to an RBI single from Park Yong-taek. LG closer Woo Gyu-min threw a perfect 9th inning to earn the save.

KIA 6, Seoul Heroes 5
W - Han Ki-joo (1-2), L - Hwang Doo-seong (0-1), S - Yoon Seok-min (2)

The Heroes actually held a 5-2 lead heading into the 8th inning. Cliff Brumbaugh hit a 2-run bomb in the 5th and Lee Taek-geun hit a solo shot in the 7th to give the Heroes the advantage. The Heroes bullpen entered the game in the 8th inning. Heroes starter Lee Hyeon-seung had provided 7 solid innings(100 pitches, 62 strikes). He allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. The Heroes bullpen did many things, but they did not provide any relief. KIA rallied for 4 runs in the 8th inning. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, relief pitcher Hwang Doo-seong balked to score the first run of the inning. Bad start. With runners on the corners and 2 outs, Choi Hee-seop crushed a Hwang fastball over the left field fence to give KIA a 6-5 lead. New KIA closer Yoon Seok-min would toss a 1-2-3 9th inning to nail down the W.

Samsung 8, Hanwha 5
W - Choi Won-je (3-0), L - Yang Hoon (0-3)

Last night was all about Samsung infielder, Shin Myeong-cheol. Shin hit first and played 2nd base for the Lions, but he inflicted damage that was more befitting of a DH hitting cleanup. Shin lead off the game with a solo homer to center. In the 2nd inning, Shin went deep again. This time hitting a two-run blast to left/center. Then he watched a 3-0 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit. Hanwha DH Lee Do-hyeong delivered an RBI single in the 4th. In the 6th inning Hanwha 3rd baseman Lee Yeo-sang hit a solo homer to make the score 3-2. Hanwha catcher Shin Kyeong-hyeon hit an RBI single in the 7th to tie the game at 3. With 2 outs and the bases loaded Lee delivered an RBI single through the left side to untie the game and give Hanwha a 4-3 lead. Samsung would rally in the 8th inning. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Samsung outfielder Kim Chang-hui hit a sharp grounder to 2nd. The throw from Hanwha 2nd baseman Kim Min-jae bounced away from the catcher and the run scored. The two baserunners advanced. The next batter, Son Joo-in, drew a walk to load the bases. Shin Myeong-cheol stepped to the plate and just missed his 3rd homerun of the game. He hit a deep fly ball to left center that stayed in the park. Shin had to settle for a bases clearing triple. Samsung tacked on an insurance run in the 9th and Hanwha offered up a fake rally in the 9th. All that did was make the final look a little better in the papers.

SK 6, Lotte 3
W - Chae Byeong-yeong (1-1), L - Kang Yeong-sik (0-1), S - Jeong Dae-hyeon (5)

Lotte actually held a 2-0 lead in this one until the 6th inning. SK tied the game at 2 thanks to a 2-run rally off of Lotte starter Lee Sang-hwa. With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, SK catcher Park Kyeong-wan singled to right to load the bases. The relay throw to the catcher was wild and the runner on 3rd was allowed to score while the other runners advanced. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, SK 2nd baseman Park Jeong-hwan reached on an infield single to score SK's 2nd run. In the 7th inning, SK busted the game open thanks to a pair of 2-run homers from Park Jeong-kwon and Park Kyeong-wan. Lotte offered a fake rally in the bottom of the 7th, but they would never threaten to tie or take the lead. In the bottom of the 7th, 2nd baseman Lee In-gu hit a bouncer over the head of SK shortstop Na Ju-hwan. SK closer Jeong Dae-hyeon recorded the final 6 outs in order to earn the save.

4/24 - 4/26 Weekend Roundup and News

The only news worth mentioning is that the great blackout of 2009 is over. KBS, Xsports and MBC started broadcasting again on Saturday. Huzzah. Morons.

Doosan vs. Hanwha

4/24 - PPD
4/25 - PPD
4/26 - Doosan 6, Hanwha 2

After rain washed out the first two games, Doosan knocked Hanwha starter Yoo Won-sang out of the game after only the 2nd inning. Doosan starter Kim Sun-woo was able to settle down after a rocky begninning and earn the W. Kim worked 5 innings(98 pitches, 51 strikes) of 2-run baseball. He was lucky to escape with only 2 runs allowed. Kim allowed 6 hits, 5 walks and 1 hit batsman. Somehow, he managed to strike out 1 batter. Kim was given an early 3-2 lead and did his best to get out of jams. Doosan extended its lead in the 6th inning. Doosan 2nd baseman Goh Yeong-min clubbed a 3-run homer to give Doosan a 6-2 lead. Doosan 1st baseman Choi Joon-seok didn't homer, but he did drive in a pair of runs in this game. Doosan's bullpen was excellent on Sunday. 3 pitchers combined to lock down the final 4 innings. Of the 12 batters retired 7 went down via the strikeout. Yim Tae-hoon struck out 5 during 2 innings of work.

SK vs. Seoul Heroes

4/24 - PPD
4/25 - SK 7, Heroes 1
4/26 - SK 4, Heroes 3

Kim Kwang-hyeon was able to keep the Heroes off of the scoreboard for the most part, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Kim threw 6 innings(102 pitches, 56 strikes) of 1-run baseball and struck out 5. That's the good news. The bad news is that he allowed 6 hits and 5 walks. The Heroes kept this one close until the 6th inning. SK DH Lee Ho-joon hit a solo homer to give SK a 2-1 lead. The next batter, SK 3rd baseman Choi Jeong, hit another solo homer and chased Heroes starter Lee Hyeon-seung from the game. With 2 outs and the bases empty, SK mounted a 3-run rally to put the game out of reach.

Heroes ace Ma Il-yeong was knocked around again on Sunday. This time he surrendered 4 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk during his 4 1/3 innings of work. SK starter Song Eun-beom worked 6 solid innings(73 pitches, 46 strikes). The only run he allowed came on a Jang Yeong-seok solo homer in the 3rd inning. Losing 4-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Cliff Brumbaugh hit a 2-run bomb to make the score look respectable in the newspapers.

Samsung vs. KIA

4/24 - Samsung 6, KIA 5
4/25 - KIA 2, Samsung 1
4/26 - KIA 10, Samsung 2

Friday was the battle of the Yoons. KIA ace Yoon Seok-min rumbled to the bump for KIA, while Yoon Seong-hwan took the ball for Samsung. Neither were all that impressive and neither figured in the decision. Yoon Seok-min worked 6 innings(114 pitches, 75 strikes). He allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He recorded 5 K's. Yoon Seong-hwan lasted 6 1/3 innings(108 pitches, 75 strikes). He allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk, but only struck out 3. Samsung was losing 5-4 in the 8th inning when catcher Jin Kab-yong connected for a 2-run homer that gave Samsung a 6-5 lead. Samsung closer Oh Seung-hwan tossed a 1-2-3 9th inning with 2 K's. He recorded his league leading 6th save.

Saturday was all about KIA's pitching. Samsung had exactly 2 hits, but managed to draw 9 walks. KIA starter Yang Hyeon-jong left the game after the 7th inning with a 1-hitter. Yang struck out 3 and walked 6 during his start. KIA 3rd baseman drew first blood with a sac fly in the 1st inning. That would be KIA's only run until the 9th inning. Samsung tied the game in the 8th inning on a passed ball. Samsung infielder Shin Myeong-cheol ran sprinted home from 3rd when the ball got past KIA catcher Kim Sang-hoon. KIA broke the 1-1 tie in the top of the 9th. KIA shortstop Lee Hyeon-gon hit a groundball through the left side to score Ahn Chi-hong from 3rd and give us our 2-1 final.

On Sunday, KIA absolutely pounded Samsung starter Ahn Ji-man. I've been a big supporter of Ahn's in the past, but even I wouldn't accept a high-five from him after Sunday's effort. He was thumped for 6 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks during his 3 crummy innings. KIA's Na Ji-hwan hit a solo homer in the 1st inning. Na finished the game 2-5 with 2 walks, 3 RBIs and 3 runs scored. After Ahn walked the bases loaded in the 3rd inning, Kim Sang-hyeon hit a grand slam to give KIA a 6-0 lead. On the other side of the field Rick Guttormson pitched well. Rick tossed 7 strong innings(109 pitches, 63 strikes) of 1-run baseball. 6 hits and 2 walks with 6 K's. The only run he allowed came on a Park Jin-man solo homer in the 4th inning. Guttormson is looking MUCH more confident these days than he did during the first week. A few nice starts will do that for you.

Lotte vs. LG

4/24 - LG 7, Lotte 6 (8)
4/25 - LG 10, Lotte 9
4/26 - Lotte 5, LG 3

Everything about Friday's game was ugly. The weather was awful, pitching was awful and there was more than one instance of awful fielding. This was your typical KBO 10 pitcher meatgrinder. Roberto Petagine did hit his 6th homer in this soggy affair, but not much else is really worth writing about. After both starters were chased from the game early, the bullpens took turns giving up runs until the umpires told everyone to go home. LG didn't really win this game, they just happened to have the most runs when the dust settled. Lee Dae-ho finished the game 2-4 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. Also, somehow Karim Garcia hit a triple. He probably needed more than a few oxygen canisters by the time he bellyflopped into 3rd.

After clobbering Lotte pitching in the early innings, LG's bullpen tried really hard to give the lead back. With a 10-4 lead in the 8th, LG allowed Lotte to mount a 4-run rally in the 8th inning. Kim Min-sang hit a 2 RBI single to make the score 10-6. The next batter, center fielder Lee In-gu hit an RBI infield single to get Lotte even closer. Kim Joo-chan hit a chopper up the middle that was fielded cleanly, but Roberto Petagine couldn't find the handle on the throw. Another run scored on the error to make the game 10-8. With runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, Lotte's Park Nam-seob grounded out to short to score a run and record the 2nd out. With the tying run on 3rd base, Kim Min-sang hit a towering pop up to left to end the game. LG left fielder Park Yong-taek put together a solid day at the plate. Park finished 3-6 with a homer, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. LG DH Choi Dong-soo helped LG's cause with 3 RBIs.

On Sunday Lotter starting pitcher Jang Won-joon actually gave the Giants a quality start. It's amazing what happens when your starting pitcher makes it out of the 4th inning. Jang threw 7 innings(107 pitches, 69 strikes). He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. He managed to strikeout 3. LG Ace Bong Jung-geun pitched well enough to win, but didn't get much help. Bong threw 6 innings(108 pitches, 64 strikes). He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks with 4 K's. With Lotte leading 3-2 in the 7th inning, Lee Dae-ho hit a 2-run bomb to extende Lotte's advantage to 5-2. Lotte would need the insurance. Jon Adkins surrendered his first KBO run in the 9th inning. He was able to get the save, but there was a little more excitement than we've gotten used to with Big Jon.

I feel awful. Time to build a small fort out of blankets and pillows and camp out until my alarm goes off tomorrow morning.

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.