Though he will be facing the same opponents that eliminated his team from the postseason last year, KT Wiz right-hander So Hyeong-jun won't be out to get his revenge. "All I am thinking about is winning our first championship," So told reporters Sunday before Game 1 of the Korean Series against the Doosan Bears at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. "It just happened that we'll be playing the Bears again...

As he was watching his Doosan Bears teammates battle through postseason games this month, the competitor in the team's Cuban ace Ariel Miranda was itching to get going and join them on the field. Miranda missed time at the end of the regular season in late October and then the early portion of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason this month with shoulder fatigue. But instead of leavi...

The KT Wiz will be playing in the South Korean baseball championship series for the first time starting Sunday, and their manager Lee Kang-chul believes it could be a short series in his club's favor against the Doosan Bears. At Saturday's media day press conference ahead of the Korean Series, Lee said his club may even pull off a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series. "If we can grab the...

Doosan Bears' left-hander Ariel Miranda has been named South Korean baseball's top player for October, the month in which he also set an all-time strikeout record for a season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Tuesday that the Cuban ace beat five other candidates for the Player of the Month honor for the final month of the regular season. Miranda earned 15 out of 32 votes from me...

Two old rivals in South Korean baseball will reacquaint themselves with each other in the penultimate stage of the postseason starting Tuesday. The Samsung Lions will host the Doosan Bears in Game 1 of the best-of-three second round at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The second game will be at the Bears' home in Seoul, Jamsil Baseb...

At the 2017 rookie draft in South Korean baseball, Moon Sung-ju was selected 97th overall by the LG Twins, with only three players coming after him. Few would have given Moon any chance of even making it to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), let alone thriving in the league. But here he is in November 2021, wielding a hot bat for the Twins in a postseason series against their Seoul rivals, D...

Managers of the two South Korean baseball clubs set up for a win-or-go-home postseason game Sunday said they will take an all-hands-on-deck approach to the final showdown. The LG Twins and the Doosan Bears are knotted at 1-1 in the best-of-three opening round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. Game 3 is at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul, where LG manager Ryu Ji-hyun will have...

Before ex-major leaguer Choo Shin-soo signed with the SSG Landers this year and became an instant star in South Korean baseball, left-hander Kim Kwang-hyun had been the icon for the franchise once called the SK Wyverns. The lanky left-hander has spent the past two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, while Choo played in the Korea Baseball Organization for the first time in 2021. With Kim now ...

The South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants announced Saturday they've hired former New York Mets assistant pitching coach Ricky Meinhold as their director of pitching. The Korea Baseball Organization club said the arrival of the 35-year-old completes their staff on the pitching side for 2022. The Giants said Meinhold will oversee operations and development of their pitching staff at all levels...

From the topsy-turvy regular season to the bitter, early ending to the postseason, things have been all too familiar for the Kiwoom Heroes this year. The Heroes lost to the Doosan Bears 16-8 in the second wild card game Tuesday night to take an exit from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason. They also fell in the wild card stage last year. As the lower seed at No. 5, the Heroes had ...

National health authorities on Tuesday called on baseball fans to refrain from chanting at stadiums, pointing to risks of spreading COVID-19 even among masked individuals. In a press briefing, Son Young-rae, a senior health ministry official, reminded fans that vocal cheering is still prohibited at Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) games, despite stadiums being fully open again. Starting this m...

The offseason for non-playoff teams in South Korean baseball is barely under way, and one of those five teams caught outside looking in has let go of its manager. Will other clubs follow suit? Given the contract situations for the remaining skippers, it doesn't seem likely at the moment. The Kia Tigers, which finished ninth among 10 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs at 58-76-10 (wins-loss...

Following multiple stints on the injured list (IL) in 2021, Tampa Bay Rays' South Korean first baseman Choi Ji-man can't wait for a fresh, not to mention healthy, start to a new season. Choi returned home early Tuesday after completing his sixth major league campaign, and his third full season with the Rays. He was limited to 83 out of 162 games in the regular season. Choi was sidelined at the ...

The seven-year wait is over. The KT Wiz, once a perennial doormat in South Korean baseball, are now headed to the championship series for the first time. The Wiz shut out the Samsung Lions 1-0 in a tiebreaker game on Sunday to capture the regular season crown in the Korea Baseball Organization. As the pennant winners, the Wiz earned a bye to the best-of-seven Korean Series, which begins on Nov. ...

Jamie Romak, one of the most successful foreign hitters in South Korean baseball history, has announced his retirement after spending his final five seasons here. The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Sunday the Canadian slugger decided to call it a career following the end of the 2021 season the previous evening. Romak, 36, batted .273 with 155 home runs and 409 RBIs in...