BUSAN (Yonhap) ― New appointees of the Lotte Giants, the troubled South Korean baseball club, vowed Thursday to get the team off to a fresh start, apologizing for a series of unsavory incidents centered on the previous regime and players.Lee Chang-won has been named the new president of the Busan-based Korea Baseball Organization club, while former Lotte player Lee Jong-woon has been appointed the new manager.They’re taking over a team mired in trouble on and off the field.Lee Chang-won succeeds

Nov. 13, 2014

Samsung’s Lee Seung-yeop is in the twilight of his great career. (Yonhap)The Samsung Lions, crowned the South Korean pro baseball champs for the fourth consecutive year, proved once and for all that they can win ball games in many different ways.The Lions defeated the Nexen Heroes 11-1 to take the best-of-seven Korean Series in six games at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. More so than in the previous three seasons, the Lions had to fight hard for each victory.In the end, it was their never-say-die atti

Nov. 12, 2014

In December 2009, Lee Jang-seok, president of the Nexen Heroes, said in a media interview that he was building his Korea Baseball Organization club in a way that they could win a championship by 2014.The prediction drew snickers around the league. After all, Lee was running a team so cash-strapped that it was trading players for cash.The Heroes, which joined the KBO in 2008, were coming off a season in which they placed sixth among eight teams. In 2010, they fell to seventh. The next year, they

Nov. 12, 2014

Mariano Rivera takes part in a press conference on Wednesday. (Yonhap)Mariano Rivera, the former New York Yankees closer and the all-time saves leader in Major League Baseball history, on Wednesday offered this message to aspiring big leaguers from South Korea: The door to the ultimate baseball competition is open.“The opportunities are there, and you just have to go for it,” Rivera said at a press conference in Seoul, during his five-day visit. “You have to have the desire to play the game at t

Nov. 12, 2014

The Samsung Lions are the champions of South Korean baseball for the fourth straight year.The Lions pounded the Nexen Heroes 11-1 on Tuesday to capture the Korean Series in six games at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The Lions became only the second team to win four consecutive Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) titles in the league's 32-year history.Samsung Lion's players celebrate their win of the Korean Series on Tuesday. (Yonhap)Yamaico Navarro, voted the Korean Series MVP, belted a three-run home

Nov. 11, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) ― Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu was a unanimous winner of the AL Rookie of the Year award, and New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom won the NL honor.“I don’t have any words to describe this moment,” Abreu said through a translator on the MLB Network telecast Monday. “I consider myself a good hitter, and I guess I’ve proven it.”One year after defecting from Cuba, the 27-year-old Abreu led the major leagues with a .581 slugging percentage. He was sixth in batting at .317,

Nov. 11, 2014

The South Korean baseball club SK Wyverns have been informed of the highest bid submitted by a Major League Baseball club for their posted pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun, officials said on Tuesday.The Korea Baseball Organization said it was told by MLB on Tuesday that a yet-to-be-identified big league club won the bidding war for the South Korean left-hander and that it has relayed the information to the Wyverns.The amount of the bid has not been disclosed. The Wyverns have four business days in which t

Nov. 11, 2014

Lifted by four home runs and impressive starting pitching, the Nexen Heroes defeated the Samsung Lions 9-3 Saturday to even the South Korean baseball championship series.Starter Andy Van Hekken flirted with a perfect game and outfielder Yoo Han-joon backed him up with two homers, as the Heroes knotted the best-of-seven Korean Series at two wins apiece at home, Mokdong Stadium in Seoul. Nexen starter Andy Van Hekken delivers on Saturday. (Yonhap)The Korea Baseball Organization teams will be back

Nov. 9, 2014

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen. (MCT)NEW YORK (AP) ― The Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen and Washington’s Ian Desmond have won their third straight Silver Slugger Awards.Chicago White Sox rookie first baseman Jose Abreu and Houston second baseman Jose Altuve were among eight first-time winners announced Thursday by Louisville Slugger, which presents the annual honors following voting by major league managers and coaches for the top hitter in each lea

Nov. 7, 2014

DAEGU (Yonhap) ― He doesn’t throw blazing fastballs, but Yun Sung-hwan had enough in his arsenal for the Samsung Lions, as he cooled off the hot bats of the Nexen Heroes in the Korean Series on Wednesday.Making his sixth career start in the South Korean baseball championship series, the 33-year-old right-hander tossed seven effective innings, scattering four hits and holding the Heroes to one run, as the Lions beat them 7-1.The Lions pulled even in the best-of-seven affair, which moves to Nexen’

Nov. 6, 2014