From Around the Web November

With the baseball season over in Korea there has still been a lot of news.  In case you missed some of the KBO playoffs, I've included a wrap-up article for each round.  Samsung failed to win their second Asia Series title, but had a couple big wins.  The KT Wiz unveiled their new uniforms, logos and what immediately became notorious mascots.  The KBO hot stove is also already over, with some big name players changing teams.  Hope this post catches you up on your Korean baseball news.


KBO Playoffs articles

Doosan eliminates Nexen in KBO playoff with dramatic extra-inning victory

Doosan beats LG to reach KBO championship final

Lions Celebrate Historic Series

Asia Series

Samsung Lions defeat Fortitudo Bologna

Samsung Lions defeat Taiwanese rival

Canberra Cavalry earn historic spot in Asia Series final

New SABR Korea Chapter

SABR welcomes new international chapter in South Korea

Awards: MVP & ROY

Nexen slugger Park, Byung-ho earns 2nd straight MVP in KBO

Hot Stove news

Sixteen players declare free agency in KBO

Four KBO free agents sign huge deals

KBO teams are paying too much for redemption

Yoon, Suk-min news

Does Suk-min Yoon make sense for the Cubs?

Minnesota Twins are eyeing Korean pitcher Suk-Min Yoon

Lukewarm Stove: Cubs an early favorite for Korean righty Suk-min Yoon

Ex-Yankee Breaks Down Suk-min Yoon

Oh, Seung-hwan signing

Hanshin Tigers Announce Additions of Seung-hwan Oh, Mauro Gomez

2013 KBO Player WAR Leader board

Pitchers

Position Players

Ex-KBOers News:

Bronswell Patrick Interview (Part 1)

Random Articles:

Where have all the .400 gone?

Heroes slugger scares pitchers

As always, questions and comments are always welcome.

From Around the Web October 2013

With the end of the regular season, I've included a couple of articles about the KBO playoffs, which start on October 8.  There is also a problem with the site of the NC Dinos' new stadium.  I have noticed some interest in players potentially making the jump to MLB, so I included a couple articles on that topic too.  The last article is about European baseball's inclusion in the Asia Series tournament.

Potential MLB Targets
MLB Scouts Interested in Yoon Seok-min, Oh Seung-hwan

Scouting on Oh, Seung-hwan

About Yoon, Suk-min

Dinos News
KBO demands Changwon to select new stadium location for expansion team

NC Dinos join KBO in Demanding new site for stadium

The Playoffs
Perennial contender back on top, joined by three Seoul clubs as KBO reg. season ends

3 Seoul teams vie to face Lions

KBO's 'Subway Series' to pit Nexen against Doosan

2013 MVP News
Reigning KBO MVP Park among four candidates in 2013
If you want to know who won the award in previous years, you can find a chart in my post here.

Asian Baseball News
European Baseball Club to Make Historic Debut in Asia Series

From Around the Web August 2013

I came across a number of Korean baseball related sites and articles this month and just wanted to share some of what I found.

In foreign player news:

Lions sign ex-major league pitcher Caridad
The above is a Korea Herald piece about the Samsung signing of Esmailin Caridad.  He didn't have a very successful debut with the Lions, lasting only one and a third innings, while giving up 6 earned runs.

2 struggling foreign pitchers released
Pitchers Anthony Lerew and Aneury Rodriguez were released by their respective clubs.

Some KBO related news:

South Korea baseball hits home run with female fans
A CNN article about the rising popularity of the KBO among women in Korea.

Oh Seung-hwan continues to get scouted...
An article containing an update on the rumors surrounding Oh, Seung-Hwan's possible transfer to NPB or MLB.  I included an interview by him in the my July edition of Around the web.

KT Wiz name Cho as inaugural manager
The above article is about the hiring of the inaugural manager for the KT Wiz, Cho, Beom-hyun.

How the ball stayed in the park
This article is an opinion piece looking at some of the current problems in the KBO, especially it lack of English policy and ignorance on racism.

Scouting reports via I R Fast:

Kim, Sa-yul

Yang, Hyun-jong

Off the field news:

In case you missed them or wanted to read a little more about controversial remarks made by Kim, Tae-gyun about Shane Youman in the first half of the season here are two articles.

American Pitcher Shane Youman Reacts to Controversial Remarks

Youman ready to move past Kim's Mistake


Some Korean baseball related sites:

homeplate.kr
In depth coverage of the KBO in English, including news, information and opinions

Bang the Jang-gu Slowly
A personal blog about the Lotte Giants and Korean baseball

Coming to America Baseball
Website following the comings and goings of baseball players between North America and the Pacific Rim 

From Around the Web July 2013

Below are just a few things that I found recently about Korean baseball.


Oh Interview
At the above link is an interview in English with the KBO's all-time saves leader, Oh, Seung-hwan.  He is still quite young, despite holding the record, and rumored to be eying a move to the US.


Lee Home Run Record
An article about another Samsung Lion, Lee, Seung-yeop, and his breaking the all-time KBO home run record.


Foreigners in the KBO
From the Korea Times, an articles about foreign players in Korea.  Just a little background, the title of the article is "the mercenaries," which is the translation of the Korean word '용병.'  Foreigner players are commonly called this in Korean.  The official expression is 외국인 선수, which simply means foreign player.


Foreign Pitchers
An article from the JoongAng Daily about foreign players, especially foreign pitchers (as these days, most of them are pitchers).


Regional Draft
A story about a high schooler from a non-famous high school taken in the regional draft.

First Groups of Foreign Players in the KBO 1998 & 1999

This post is a list of the first groups of foreign players to play in the KBO in 1998 and 1998. I am aware of other earlier cases, and will be posting about them later. I am posting this in both Korean and English as I haven't been able to find a bilingual list in other places. As always, if you have questions or comments, feel free leave them in the comments section.

1998 KBO Season

OB Bears / OB 베어스

Tyrone Woods (타이론 우즈) / 1B (내야수)

Édgar Cáceres (에드가 캐세레스) / IF (내야수)

Hyundai Unicorns / 현대 유니콘스

Joe Strong (조 스트롱) / Pitcher (투수)

Scott Coolbaugh (스캇 쿨바) / IF (내야수)

Samsung Lions / 삼성 라이온즈

Jose Parra (호세 파라) / Pitcher (투수)

Scott Baker (스코트 베이커) / Pitcher (투수)

LG Twins / LG 트윈스

Junior Felix (쥬니어 펠릭스 / 후니오르 펠릭스) / OF (외야수)

Mike Anderson (마이클 앤더슨) / Pitcher (투수)

Hanwha Eagles / 한화 이글스

Mike Busch (마이크 부시) / IF (내야수)

Joel Chimelis (조엘 치멜리스) / IF (내야수)

Lotte Giants / 롯데 자이언츠

Doug Brady (덕 브래디) / IF (내야수)

Haitai Tigers / 해태 타이거즈

Shawn Hare (숀 헤어) / IF (내야수)

1999 KBO Season

Doosan Bears / 두산 베어스

Tyrone Woods (타이론 우즈) / 1B (내야수)

Édgar Cáceres (에드가 캐세레스) / IF (내야수)

LG Twins / LG 트윈스

Junior Felix (쥬니어 펠릭스 / 후니오르 펠릭스) / OF (외야수)

Kevin Dattolla (케빈 대톨라) / OF (외야수)

Haitai Tigers / 해태 타이거즈

Stoney Briggs (스토니 브릭스) / OF (외야수)

Tracy Sanders (트레이시 샌더스) OF (외야수)

Hanwha Eagles / 한화 이글스

Jay Davis (제이 데이비스) / OF (외야수)

Dan Rohrmeier (댄 로마이어) / IF (내야수)

Lotte Giants / 롯데 자이언츠

*Emiliano Giron (에밀리아노 기론) / Pitcher (투수)

*Mike Guilfoyle (마이클 길포일) / Pitcher (투수)

Felix Jose (펠릭스 호세) / OF (외야수)

Samsung Lions / 삼성 라이온즈

Billy Hall (빌리 홀) / OF (외야수)

Bubba Smith (찰스 스미스) / OF (외야수)

Hyundai Unicorns / 현대 유니콘스

Eddie Pearson (에디 피어슨) / IF (내야수)

George Canale (조지 카날리) / IF (내야수)

Brent Bowers (브렌트 바워스) / OF (외야수)

Ssangbangwool Raiders / 쌍방울 레이더스

Jake Viano (제이크 비아노) / Pitcher (투수)

Mike Anderson (마이클 앤더슨) / Pitcher (투수)

Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) First Game: March 27, 1982

MBC청룡 vs. 三星라이온즈

The Korea Baseball Championship is the name of the highest professional baseball league in South Korea. Below is information about the league's inaugural game.

The first game was played in Seoul, at Dongdaemun Stadium (동대문운동장) --also know as Seoul Stadium ballpark (서울운동장)-- between the Samsung Lions (三星라이온즈) of Daegu and MBC Blue Dragons (MBC청룡) of Seoul on Saturday, March 27, 1982 in front of a reported 30,000 (35,000 according to some sources) spectators. Among the notable people in attendance at the inaugural game were: Suh, Jyong-chol (KBO Commissioner), Yoo, Chang-soon (Korean Prime Minister), Takeso Shimoda (NPB Commissioner), Toru Shoriki (Yomiuri Giants owner) and Shigeo Nagashima (ex-Giants player and manager).  According to the Pacific Stars and Stripes, Bowie Kuhn (MLB Commissioner) and Peter O'Malley (Los Angeles Dodgers President) had been invited to the ceremony, but did not attend. Some Americans did attend the game though, most of them connected with U.S. Forces Korea. The then-Korean President, Chun, Doo-hwan threw out the ceremonial first pitch. 



Starting Pitchers
MBC Blue Dragons: Lee, Kil-hwan (이길환)
Samsung Lions: Hwang, Kyu-bong (황규봉)

To the action
The Lions jumped out to an early lead in the first inning scoring two runs on Lee, Man-soo's double off Dragon's starting pitcher Lee, Kil-hwan. Samsung's hot bats continued into the second, scoring 3 more runs and knocking the starter, Lee, out of the game. After the top of the second, it was beginning to look as though Samsung was going to run away with it and make short work of the Dragons.

However, MBC responded with one run in the bottom of that inning, and with their bats slowly starting to come alive, scored one run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Meanwhile Samsung matched them with one run in both the fifth and sixth to build a 7-4 lead going into the seventh inning. Down by three runs in the bottom of that inning, MBC ties it up with a three-run homer off the bat of Yu, Sung-an. The 7-7 tie continues through nine, and so the first ever game heads to extra innings.

In the bottom of the tenth, MBC loads the bases with two outs. With Lee, Sun-hee on the mound, Lee, Chong-do comes to the plate with the winning run only 90 feet away and looking to make history. And make history he does! On a two ball and no strike pitch, Lee launches a walk-off grand slam over the left field fence, catapulting his team to an astonishing comeback victory, and thus bringing to an end the inaugural game in spectacular fashion.


Line Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Samsung	2	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	10
MBC	0	1	0	1	1	1	3	0	0	4	11	16
WP: Yoo, Chong-gyom (유종겸) 1-0 LP: Lee, Sun-hee (이선희) 0-1

Noteworthy events
1st Hit: Lee, Man-soo (이만수) off Lee, Kil-hwan (이길환)
1st Homerun: Lee, Man-soo(이만수) off Yoo, Jong-gyom (유종겸)
1st Grandslam: Lee, Chong-do (이종도) off Lee, Sun-hee (이선희)
4 Home runs (MBC - 3, Samsung - 1)


I hope you find this interesting and please forgive any mistakes with the spelling of names; the romanization of Korean names has been very inconsistent throughout the years. I was working from both English and Korean information. I followed the Korean standard of family name, given name for all Korean names in both English and Korean.

According to the Pacific Stars and Stripes, the price of an outfield ticket on opening day was 2,000 won (about $2.85 at the then rate of 700 won to the dollar).  They also noted that baskets of Korean rice, fish snacks, cakes and various soft drinks were sold by vendors at the game.  Apparently, hot dogs and mustard were not available, but there was popcorn.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the number of errors, but I'm still working on it. I will continue to update this post as I find out more information about the game. If anyone wants to add any information, please feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Original Six KBO Team Rosters: Opening Day 1982

Here are the opening day rosters of the original six teams in the KBO for the 1982 inaugural season. The player's age is also included in parentheses next to his name. This post is meant to serve as a resource for those interested in the KBO. The purpose of this post is to collect this information in one place on the internet, as I have not been able to find it previously.

OB Bears (Daejeon) / OB 베어스 (대전)

Manager - Kim, Yong-duk / 김영덕

Pitchers
Kae, Hyong-chol (28) / 계형철
Park, Chol-soon (26) / 박철순
Park, Sang-yon (27) / 박상열
Kim, Hyon-hong (26) / 김현홍
Hwang, Tae-hwan (30) / 황태환
Sunu, Dae-yong (25) / 선우대영
Kang, Chol-won (24) / 강철원

Catchers
Chung, Chong-hyun (23) / 정종현
Cho, Bum-hyun (22) / 조범현
Kim, Kyong-mun (24) / 김경문
Kim, Chin-hong (20) / 김진홍

Infielders
Lee, Kun-shik (24) / 이근식
Koo, Chon-so (18) / 구천서
Kim, Kwang-su (24) / 김광수
Shin, Kyong-shik (20) / 신경식
Yang, Sae-chong (24) / 양세종
Yoo, Chi-hang (27) / 유지훤

Outfielders
Kim, Yoo-dong (27) / 김유동
Kim, Woo-yol (33) / 김우열
Lee, Hong-bum (29) / 이홍범
Yoon, Dong-kyun (33) / 유동균
Kyong, Wun-choong (18) /
Lee, Kun-shik (22) / 이근식
Park, Chong-ho (19) / 박종호

Samsung Lions (Daegu) / 삼성라이온즈 (대구)

Manager - Suh, Yong-mu (서영무)

Pitchers
Hwang, Kyu-bong (28) / 황규봉
Lee, Sun-hee (27) / 이선희
Kwon, Yong-ho (27) / 권영호
Sung, Nak-su (24) / 성낙수
Park, Yong-jin (24) / 박영진

Catchers
Son, Sang-duk (26) / 손상득
Son, Sang-dae (28) / 손상대
Lee, Man-soo (23) / 이만수

Infielders
Suh, Chon-hwan (27) / 서정환
Chon, Bo-Sung (29) / 천보성
Oh, Dae-suk (22) / 오대석
Hahm, Hak-soo (27) / 함학수
Kim, Han-kun (27) / 김한근
Park, Chong-hwan (25) / 박정환

Outfielders
Huh, Kyu-ok (26) / 허규옥
Park, Chan (27) / 박찬
Song, Chin-ho (25) / 송진호
Chung, Koo-wang (28) / 정구왕
Kim, He-wuk (25) / 김휘욱
Bae, Dae-wung (28) / 배대웅
Chung, Hyun-bal (29) / 정현발

MBC Blue Dragons (Seoul) / MBC 청룡 (서울)

Manager - Baik, In-chon / 백인천

Pitchers
Ha, Ki-yong (27) / 하기룡
Chung, Soon-myong (28) / 정순명
Lee, Kwang-kwon (28) / 이광권
Yoo, Chong-kyom (26) / 유종겸
Kim, Shi-chol (24) / 김시철
Lee, Kil-hwan (23) / 이길환
Cha, Jun-sup (26) / 차준섭

Catchers
Yoo, Sung-ahn (26) /
Kim, Yong-wun (27) / 김용운
Choi, Chong-ki (26) / 최정기
Shin, Eun-ho (27) / 신언호

Infielders
Kim, Yong-dal (26) - 1B / 김용달
Kim, Yong-yun (27) - 1B /
Kim, In-shik (29) - 3B / 김인식
Chung, Yong-ki (26) - SS / 정영기
Park, Chae-chon (25) - 2B / 박재천

Outfielders
Lee, Chong-do (30) - LF / 이종도
Song, Yong-wun (30) - RF / 송영운
Choi, Chong-woo (27) - CF / 최정우
Kim, Bong-kee (29) - LF / 김봉기
Bae, Su-hee (27) - RF / 배수희

Haitai Tigers (Gwang-ju) / 해태타이거즈 (광주)

Manager - Kim, Dong-yup / 김동엽

Pitchers
Shin, Tai-chung (26) / 신태중
Kang, Man-shik (25) / 강만식
Kim, Yong-nam (23) / 김용남
Kim, Sung-han (22) / 김성한
Lee, Sang-yun (22) / 이상윤
Bang, Soo-won (22) / 방수원

Catchers
Park, Chon-sup (23) / 박전섭
Kim, Yong-man (25) / 김용만

Infielders
Kim, Tai-yon (30)
Cha, Yong-hwa (25) / 차영화
Cha, Chong-dok (21)
Choi, Yong-jo (19) / 최영조

Outfielders
Kim, Woo-kun (26) / 김우근
Kim, Jun-hang (26) / 김성한?
Kim, Chong-mo (23) / 김종모
Kim, Chong-yun (25) / 김종윤

Lotte Giants (Busan) / 롯데자이언츠 (부산)

Manager - Park, Yong-kil

Pitchers
Rho, Sang-su (24) / 노상수
Kim, Duk-yol (27) / 김덕열
Bang, Ki-man (29) / 방기만
Chon, Chang-ho (28) / 천창호
Lee, Yun-sup (24) / 이윤섭
Choi, Ok-kyu (29) / 최옥규
Kim, Moon-hee (27) / 김문희
Lee, Chin-woo (26) / 이진우

Catchers
Choi, Soon-ha (27) / 최순하
Cha, Dong-yol (26) / 차동열

Infielders
Kwon, Doo-jo (31) / 권두조
Lee, Sung-duk (29) / 이성득
Kim, Il-hwan (28) / 김일환
Chung, Hak-soo (26) / 정학수
Kim, Yong-hee (27) / 김용희
Kim, Yong-chol (25) / 김용철
Kim, Chong-soo (29) / 김정수

Outfielders
Um, Tae-sup (23) / 엄태섭
Chung, Moon-sup (22) / 정문섭
Park, Yong-sung (24) / 박용성
Kim, Sung-kwan (30) / 김성관

Sammi Super Stars (Inchon) / 삼미슈퍼스타즈 (인천)

Manager - Park, Hyun-shic

Pitchers
Kim, Jae-hyun (23) 김재현
In, Ho-bong (24) / 인호봉
Kim, Don-chol (22) / 김동철
Park, Kyong-ho (23) / 박경호
Lee, Ha-yong (21) /
Lee, Dong-ju (25) /

Catchers
Choi, Yong-hang (23) / 최영환
Kim, Jin-chol (24) / 김진철
Kum, Kwang-ok (26) / 금광옥

Infielders
Cho, Hung-wun (28) / 조흥운
Huh, Wun (23) / 허운
Kim, Ku-kil (29) / 김구길
Kim, Kyong-nam (23) / 김경남
Kim, Mu-kwan (27) / 김무관
Chang, Chong-ki (24) / 장정기
Song, Kyong-sup (22) / 송경섭
Lee, Chol-song (25) / 이철성
Han, Sang-yon (18) / 한상연
Lee, Chan-son (20) / 이찬선

Outfielders
Moon, Ju-mo (20) / 문주모
Han, In-chol (20) /
Kim, Ho-in (28) / 김호인
Yang, Sung-kwan (23) / 양승관

I hope you find this interesting or helpful, and please forgive any mistakes with the spelling of names; the romanization of Korean names has been very inconsistent throughout the years.  I followed the Korean standard of family name, given name for all Korean names in English. 

As always any comments are welcome.