The Korea Herald

Samsung Lions run away with league title

Sept 28, 2011

The Samsung Lions have won the pennant race title in the country’s top professional league for the first time in five years. After winning the game against the Doosan Bears 5-3 on Tuesday, the Daegu-based club improved their record to 76-47 to claim the regular-season title. And with the title, they have now secured an automatic berth for the best-of-seven Korean Series, starting on Oct. 24. Si...
Samsung Lions wins KBO pennant race

Sept 28, 2011

The Samsung Lions has won the pennant race title in the country’s top professional league for the first time in five years. After winning the game against Doosan Bears 5-3 on Tuesday, the Daegu-based club improved their record to 76-47 this season to claim the regular season title. And with the title, they have now secured an automatic berth for the Korean Series, the best-of-seven championship ...
Korean baseball enjoys golden days

Sept 23, 2011

It’s 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, and the Jamsil baseball stadium is already nearly filled. “LG! LG!” a large squad in the first base stands starts chanting their club’s name as the match between the home team LG Twins and SK Wyverns begins. “SK (clap-clap), SK (clap-clap),” another big crowd at third base shouts, slamming their stick balloons. “I love cheering on my team, and I love the stadium atmosp...
Playoff-hopeful Rays rough up watered-down Yankees

Sept 23, 2011

Tampa Bay pulls within 2 games of Boston in wild-card race NEW YORK (AP) ― Rays manager Joe Maddon heard a few cheers coming from the clubhouse and reached for the computer mouse. He knew what had just happened. He wanted to know how. “Niiiice,” Maddon said after learning the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels in the 12th inning. Indeed, it was a nice night for Tampa Bay. Matt Moore...
Rivera breaks MLB saves mark

Sept 20, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Mariano Rivera stood by himself, in the center of the diamond at Yankee Stadium. For once, the great closer wasn’t sure what to do next. So he smiled, blew a kiss to the crowd, and then doffed his cap as cheers washed over him following the record 602nd save of his career. “Oh, my God, for the first time in my career, I’m on the mound alone,” Rivera said. “It was priceless. I d...
SK, Lotte feel late-season pressure

Sept 19, 2011

The temperature has dropped as the cool breeze of fall has swept in. But the tension and excitement are growing in the country’s top professional baseball league as the race for a playoff berth is well under way. The race will reach its climax this week as two of the top teams ― the Lotte Giants and the SK Wyverns ― face off in a series starting Tuesday. With less than three weeks before the en...
Former MVP pitcher Choi dies

Sept 14, 2011

Considered one of history’s premier power pitchers It was another sad day for the Korean baseball league as Choi Dong-won, an all-time favorite pitcher, died of cancer Wednesday. He was 53. His death came just one week after fans and players were in mourning for the loss of legendary hitter Jang Hyo-jo, who also died of cancer at the age of 55. The former Lotte Giants pitcher was first diagnos...
Rivera gets 600th career save as Yankees top M’s

Sept 14, 2011

SEATTLE (AP) ― Mariano Rivera earned his 600th save, moving within one of Trevor Hoffman’s major league record, by closing out the New York Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Rivera entered with a one-run lead in the ninth and allowed just a one-out single to Ichiro Suzuki. He was retired when catcher Russell Martin caught Suzuki trying to steal second for the final out...
Former MVP pitcher Choi dies of cancer

Sept 14, 2011

Choi Dong-won, one of the premier power pitchers in South Korean baseball in the 1980s, died Wednesday of cancer. He was 53 years old. The National Health Insurance Corp. (NHIC) Ilsan Hospital in Goyang, west of Seoul, said Choi lost his battle with colorectal cancer. The former right-hander for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) was first diagnosed with cancer in 2007, wh...
Korea gears up for Asia hoops championships

Sept 13, 2011

The South Korean basketball team traveled Tuesday to China to participate in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships, which will be held in Wuhan, Hubei, Sept. 15-25. Sixteen teams ― including Korea, host China and defending champion Iran ― are divided into four groups of four in the biennial event. This year, the 26th competition will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Olympic Games in L...
Nationals end Dodgers series with loss, rainout

Sept 9, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Too bad the Washington Nationals couldn’t hop on the plane and follow the Los Angeles Dodgers to sunny California. The Nationals lost a series to the Dodgers this week, and what a messy one it was. It rained Tuesday, nearly ruining Stephen Strasburg’s comeback game. It rained Wednesday. It rained Thursday. OK, Monday was fine, but that seems like a long time ago. Somewhere in ...
Former All-Star Jang dies of cancer

Sept 7, 2011

BUSAN (Yonhap News) ― Jang Hyo-jo, the career batting average leader in South Korea’s top baseball league, died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was 55 years old. Dong-A University Medical Center in Busan said Jang succumbed to cancer early Wednesday, about a month after he was hospitalized. Jang played 10 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, the first six with the Samsung Lions in Daegu. H...
Strasburg tosses 5 solid innings in loss

Sept 7, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Stephen Strasburg allowed two hits over five shutout innings Tuesday night in his first major league start since undergoing Tommy John surgery, but the bullpen blew the lead as the Washington Nationals lost 7-3 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 2009 overall No. 1 draft pick again displayed the blurry fastball, the knee-buckling sinker and the fooled-again changeup that wowed the ...
Tigers extend division cushion over Indians

Sept 6, 2011

CLEVELAND (AP) ― Doug Fister’s breaking ball put the brakes on Cleveland’s challenge to first-place Detroit. Fister struck out a career-high 13, Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer and the Tigers beat the Indians 4-2 on Monday to extend their AL Central lead to 7 1/2 games. “That’s the best I’ve seen Fister,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, still wary of the gritty Indians. “I’m not looking...
Braves fall to Mets, 11-7

Aug 7, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― When the Mets blew an early lead by allowing five runs to the Braves on bloopers and broken bats, Justin Turner knew exactly what everyone was thinking. “I’m sure most of the people watching the game were like ‘Here we go again,’” he said. Turner put a stop to that by hitting his second homer of the game to put New York up for good in the fourth inning and the Mets stopped a fiv...