Opposing managers taking contrasting pitching plans into KBO postseason series

With his bullpen considerably weaker than the team's title run from a year ago, LG Twins manager Youm Kyoung-youb said Saturday he will need his starters to munch up innings. In ending a 29-year title drought in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2023, the Twins leaned heavily on their bullpen. But gone is the closer from that season, Go Woo-suk, who signed with the San Diego Padres in January. Setup man Jung Woo-young just had his worst regular season of his career, and not many reli

Oct. 5, 2024

SF Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo back home after injury-shortened rookie season

The San Francisco Giants' outfielder Lee Jung-hoo returned home Tuesday following a rookie season cut short by a shoulder injury in May. Lee signed a six-year, $113 million contract with the Giants in December but only played in 37 games in 2024, after suffering a left shoulder injury on May 12. He crashed into the outfield wall at Oracle Park in San Francisco while trying to make a leaping catch in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. He was initially diagnosed with a left shoulder dislocat

Oct. 1, 2024

Hanwha Eagles lose final home game at oldest KBO stadium

The Hanwha Eagles lost their final home game at the oldest stadium in the South Korean professional baseball league Sunday. The Eagles fell to the NC Dinos 7-2 at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, to finish off their 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season at 66-76-2 (wins-losses-ties). Opened in 1964, the stadium had been the oldest ballpark in the KBO and also the smallest in the league with a capacity of 12,000. The KBO had its first season in 1982,

Sept. 29, 2024

LG Twins breaks KBO single-season attendance record

The defending South Korean baseball champions LG Twins broke the single-season attendance record Thursday. The Twins drew 21,593 fans for their home game against the Kiwoom Heroes at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Thursday. With that, the Twins reached 1,397,499 fans for the season, surpassing the previous record of 1,380,018 fans drawn by the Lotte Giants in 2009. The Twins lead the 10-team Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in attendance this season. They are one of six teams to have attra

Sept. 26, 2024

Bears defeat Dinos to move closer to KBO postseason spot

The Doosan Bears smacked three home runs, including a pair by No. 8 hitter Kang Seung-ho, as they defeated the NC Dinos 10-5 at home to step closer to a postseason berth in the Korea Baseball Organization on Tuesday. Kang slapped a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the second inning at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in the capital city, before delivering a two-run shot that extended the Bears' lead to 4-1 in the fourth inning. Jared Young added a two-run homer of his own in the three-run f

Sept. 24, 2024

Tigers pitcher Stout out for season with hamstring injury

The Kia Tigers announced Friday their temporary foreign pitcher Eric Stout will miss the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury. The Tigers, the 2024 regular-season champions in the Korea Baseball Organization, said Stout was diagnosed with a left hamstring injury that will keep him from pitching again this season. The Tigers, who clinched the best regular-season record on Tuesday, have six games remaining. Stout suffered the injury after delivering a pitch during Thursday's gam

Sept. 20, 2024

Ex-MLB All-Star Choo Shin-soo pushes retirement ceremony to next year

The retiring South Korean baseball star Choo Shin-soo has decided to postpone a celebration of his long professional career to next year. The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Friday that Choo, who plans to hang up his spikes after this season, asked the club not to hold his retirement ceremony this year. According to the Landers, Choo said he didn't want to be a distraction during the club's fight for a postseason spot. With their game on Friday rained out

Sept. 20, 2024

KBO surpasses 10 mln in attendance

The top South Korean baseball league surpassed the 10-million mark in attendance Sunday, clearing yet another milestone in its record-breaking season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said its 10 clubs have now combined for over 10 million fans after four games Sunday. Prior to Sunday, the league's attendance sat at 9,943,674. The KBO established a single-season attendance record Aug. 18 with 8,475,664 fans, eclipsing the previous mark of 8,400,688 from 2017. Fans have kept flocking to

Sept. 15, 2024

Lions slugger Park Byung-ho becomes 3rd KBO player to hit 400 home runs

Park Byung-ho of the Samsung Lions became the third player in South Korean baseball to hit 400 home runs Wednesday. Park belted his 400th homer to lead off the bottom of the second inning against the Doosan Bears in their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 230 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Park drove a forkball from Bears starter Choi Seung-yong over the right-center field fence for the milestone. He has now homered in four consecutive games.

Sept. 4, 2024

Ex-baseball player ordered to pay W800m won to Padres' Kim Ha-seong in contract dispute case

A former baseball player has been ordered to pay a substantial penalty to San Diego Padres' shortstop Kim Ha-seong for violating an agreement between the two. The Seoul Central District Court ruled in Kim's favor on Friday in a lawsuit against Lim Hye-dong for breach of contract, mandating the defendant to pay 800 million won ($597,000). The dispute originated from a scuffle between the two at a Seoul bar in February 2021. Lim had demanded a settlement from Kim, who was then completi

Aug. 31, 2024

Korean-ethnic high school wins prestigious Japanese baseball tournament

TOKYO -- A Korean-ethnic high school in Japan won a prestigious national baseball championship for the first time on Friday. Kyoto International High School defeated Kanto Daiichi High School in the final of the National High School Baseball Championship, better known as "Summer Koshien," by the score of 2-1 in extra innings at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, just west of Osaka. Kyoto International was founded in 1963 as an ethnic institution for students of Korean descent. S

Aug. 23, 2024

KBO's new strikeout king proves nice guys can finish first

Kia Tigers left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong was crowned the new career strikeout king in South Korean baseball Wednesday, proving that nice guys can finish first in sports. Yang struck out Yoon Dong-hee of the Lotte Giants in the top of the third inning of the teams' Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. It was Yang's 2,049th career strikeout, moving him past former Hanwha Eagles pitcher Song Jin-

Aug. 21, 2024

Padres' Kim Ha-seong leaves game with shoulder injury

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres exited his latest game with a shoulder injury after a dive back to first base on a pickoff attempt. Kim hurt his right shoulder during the top of the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Sunday. He opened that inning with a single off the starter Bradley Blalock, and with Luis Arraez at the plate, Kim dove safely back to the bag when the right-hander tried to pick him off. After the safe call, Kim immediately signaled to the d

Aug. 19, 2024

KBO breaks single-season attendance record

The South Korean baseball league set a new single-season attendance record on Sunday, surpassing a 7-year-old mark with more than a month left on the season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the attendance for the season reached 8,407,887 as of Sunday afternoon, after all 23,750 tickets were sold out for the evening tilt between the Kia Tigers and the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The previous record had been 8,400,688 fans from the 2017 season, covering 720 ga

Aug. 18, 2024

Tigers' Kim Do-yeong becomes youngest member of 30-30 club in KBO

The Kia Tigers' All-Star Kim Do-yeong became the youngest member of the "30-30" club in South Korean baseball history Thursday. Kim launched his 30th home run of the 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season in the top of the fifth inning against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, a two-run shot off Heroes starter Enmanuel De Jesus. Kim already had 33 steals prior to Thursday's game. With this home run, Kim, at 20 years, 10 months and 13 days old, became the

Aug. 15, 2024

Baseball game canceled due to severe heat for 1st time

Severe heat caused the cancellation of a South Korean baseball game Friday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the regular-season game between the LG Twins and the Lotte Giants scheduled in the southeastern city of Ulsan was scrapped due to extreme heat. This marks the first game in the KBO's 42-year history to be canceled because of heat wave. Per KBO regulations, games may be canceled in cities where the highest daily temperature has reached 35 C for at least two consecutive days.

Aug. 2, 2024

Choo Shin-soo becomes oldest position player in KBO history

Former major league All-Star Choo Shin-soo became the oldest position player to appear in a game in the South Korean league Wednesday. At 42 years and 11 days old, Choo started as designated hitter for the SSG Landers against the KT Wiz at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, just south of Seoul, in their Korea Baseball Organization regular-season game. Choo moved past former Lotte Giants player Felix Jose, who was 42 years and eight days old when he played in his final KBO game on May 10, 2007. Jose also home

July 24, 2024

KBO club manager welcomes new pitch-calling device

Kiwoom Heroes manager Hong Won-ki said Tuesday he welcomed the introduction of the new pitch-calling device that he feels will help speed up games. The Korea Baseball Organization has distributed PitchCom transmitters and receivers to all 10 clubs, and they're available for use starting with Tuesday's games. Catchers can use the transmitter to give pitch signals to pitchers instead of using conventional finger signs, and pitchers will be able to listen to the call via the receiver worn

July 16, 2024

KBO's Landers reinstate injured pitcher, cut ties with temporary replacement

The South Korean baseball club SSG Landers reinstated pitcher Roenis Elias from the injured list Tuesday, while terminating a deal with his temporary replacement in a corresponding move. The Landers said Elias, who had been out since May 18 with an oblique injury, will start against the NC Dinos on Wednesday at Changwon NC Park in the southeastern city of Changwon. The Cuban left-hander last pitched on May 12, and was sidelined before his next scheduled start six days later. With Elias out, th

July 2, 2024

Top vote getter to miss KBO All-Star Game due to injury

Kia Tigers closer Jung Hai-young, the top vote getter for the All-Star Game, will miss the midseason exhibition due to shoulder injury, his manager said Tuesday. The Tigers put Jung on the injured list on Monday with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder. The Tigers initially held out hope that Jung would be able to appear in the All-Star Game for the Korea Baseball Organization, scheduled for July 6, as he led all players by receiving about 1.39 million votes from fans. However, Tigers

June 25, 2024