'Superstar or Shlabotnik' KBO Edition

This is a bit of a fun post to go along with the most recent one in my series of foreigners in the KBO.

In a few tweets related to my posts about foreigners in the KBO I've made references to a game called "Superstar or Shlabotnik."  This game comes from the old Baseball Today podcast from ESPN.  On the podcast, Eric Karabell and Mark Simon play a game superstar or shlabotnik, where one of them names a player and the other says whether that player is a superstar or a shlabotnik. 

The term 'Shlabotnik' is itself a reference, to a character on the comic strip Peanuts.  Joe Shlabotnik is a minor recurring character and Charlie Brown's favorite ball player.  Shlabotnik was demoted to Stumptown of the Green Grass League after hitting a minuscule .004 in the bigs.  Now that you know what a Shlabotnik is, you should have a pretty good idea of the game.  The criteria is of course pretty subjective.

So far on my blog I've covered the foreign players in the KBO from 1998 to 2000.  Among the foreign players for those first three years, the Joe Shlabotnik award goes to George Canale.  In 1999 he hit .184 in 38 at bats over 17 games for the Hyundai Unicorns.  The .184 was however better than his career MLB mark though.  You can compare is numbers with the rest of the foreign crop of 1999 in my earlier post here.

If you're interested in hearing the podcasts (and if you can find them), the game was played at least twice, first on 2/28/12 for batters and then again on 3/13/12 for pitchers.

As usual, comments are always welcome.

Foreign Players in the KBO 1999

With 1999 came the second year of foreign players in the KBO.  The total number of foreign players increased to 18 this year and while you will notice an influx of new players, there are also some familiar faces.  Prior to this season, the OB Bears became the Doosan Bears.  You will also notice that Ssangbangwool signed their first two foreign players.  As mentioned in the first group of foreigners post, they did not take part in the first foreign player draft due to financial difficulties.


1999 Season

Doosan Bears / 두산 베어스

Tyrone Woods (타이론 우즈) / 1B (내야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.297	124	454	135	20	0	34	83	5	101

 Eddie Cacerres (에드가 캐세레스) / IF (내야수) / Venezuela (베네수엘라)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.250	62	168	42	8	2	3	10	2	17

 

LG Twins / LG 트윈스

Junior Felix (쥬니어 펠릭스 / 후니오르 펠릭스)  / OF (외야수) / Dominican Republic (도미니카 공화국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.253	97	336	85	18	1	13	41	1	58

Kevin Dattolla (케빈 대톨라) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.279	101	265	74	12	1	9	26	0	42

 

Haitai Tigers / 해태 타이거즈

Stoney Briggs (스토니 브릭스) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.283	115	361	102	14	6	23	13	6	74

 Tracy Sanders (트레이시 샌더스) OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.247	125	409	101	14	0	40	105	3	94

 

Hanwha Eagles / 한화 이글스

Jay Davis (제이 데이비스) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.328	130	525	172	31	3	30	41	35	106

 Dan Rohrmeier (댄 로마이어) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.292	132	487	142	30	3	45	74	6	109

Lotte Giants / 롯데 자이언츠

Emiliano Giron (에밀리아노 기론) / Pitcher (투수) / Dominican Republic (도미니카 공화국)

Year	G	W-L-S	Innings	Batters	Hits	HR	Walks	SO	ER	ERA
1999	24	5-1-2	73 2/3	313	59	7	33	57	27	3.30

 Mike Guilfoyle (마이클 길포일) / Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)

Year	G	W-L-S	Innings	Batters	Hits	HR	Walks	SO	ER	ERA
1999	6	0-0-1	6	26	10	1	4	3	9	13.50

 Felix Jose (펠릭스 호세) / OF (외야수) / Dominican Republic (도미니카 공화국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.327	132	462	151	29	3	36	79	12	122

 

Samsung Lions / 삼성 라이온즈

Billy Hall (빌리 홀) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.244	116	414	73	12	3	4	34	0	23

 Bubba Smith (찰스 스미스) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.287	123	408	117	20	1	40	25	1	98

 

Hyundai Unicorns / 현대 유니콘스

Eddie Pearson (에디 피어슨) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.289	129	502	145	12	0	31	47	0	108

 George Canale (조지 카날리) / IF (내야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.184	17	38	7	0	0	1	2	0	3

 Brent Bowers (브렌트 바워스) / OF (외야수) / American (미국)

Year	Avg.	G	AB	Hits	2B	3B	HR	Walks	SB	RBI
1999	.290	43	124	36	6	3	3	6	0	12

Ssangbangwool Raiders / 쌍방울 레이더스

Jake Viano (제이크 비아노) / Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)

Year	G	W-L-S	Innings	Batters	Hits	HR	Walks	SO	ER	ERA
1999	28	3-3-0	72 2/3	282	88	10	55	37	57	7.06

 Mike Anderson (마이클 앤더슨) / Pitcher (투수) / American (미국)

Year	G	W-L-S	Innings	Batters	Hits	HR	Walks	SO	ER	ERA
1999	19	2-9-0	69 1/3	336	94	12	41	31	52	6.75

Any questions or comments are always welcome.