Kiwoom Heroes' slugger Park Byung-ho blasted a milestone home run on Tuesday, becoming only the second player in South Korean baseball history with seven straight 20-homer seasons. Park smacked a two-run homer off Warwick Saupold of the Hanwha Eagles in a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The opposite field shot at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul was Park's 20th of the season. With that, Park joined the retired slugger Lee Seung-yuop as the only pla

A person who recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus was found on Tuesday to have attended a baseball game in Seoul, with the league office saying it has cooperated with health authorities in follow-up studies and the season will continue as scheduled. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said the fan went to a game between the Samsung Lions and the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul last Tuesday. The person showed fever two days later and tested positive for COVID-19

Doosan Bears infielder Hur Kyoung-min has been voted the best player in the South Korean professional baseball league for July, the sport's governing body said Sunday. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Hur was named the Player of the Month for July, following voting from fans and the media. It is his first monthly MVP award since he joined the Doosan Bears in the KBO League in 2009. The infielder, who plays both as a third baseman and shortstop, batted .494/.538/.554 in July, with

Toronto Blue Jays' starter Ryu Hyun-jin said Wednesday that he has refreshed his mind to get ready to make a turnaround from his worse-than-expected previous outings. "I performed poorly in the last games," the left-hander with his new short, neat haircut said in a video interview. "I had my hair cut to get myself up for the next match." He will start the game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday (US time). It is Ryu's third outing of

So-called robot umpires officially debuted in a Korea Baseball Organization minor league match Tuesday as the sports organization is preparing to use the system for the entire 2021 season. The automated ball-strike system, simply known as robot umpires, was used for the first time, in a Futures League game between the Hanwha Eagles and LG Twins at LG Champions Park in Icheon, southeast of Seoul. The debut came after the radar and camera-based ball-tracing system was installed at the baseball

Texas Rangers' veteran outfielder Choo Shin-soo belted his second home run of the season. Choo smacked a two-run homer off the Giant's starter Jeff Samardzija over the right field wall into McCovey Cove in the top of the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The Rangers beat the Giants 9-5. It is his second home run this season after hitting an opposite field homer on the game's first pitch Friday against the Giants. Batting leadoff, Choo struck out and grounded out in his first two

The South Korean baseball league said Tuesday it will hold fan voting to select All-Stars despite not organizing the annual midsummer festivities. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said voting to select 12 All-Star players per side will run from Aug. 10 to Sept. 4 on the league's website and mobile app, and also the mobile app for Shinhan Bank, the main sponsor for the KBO this season. The All-Star Game had been scheduled for July 25 but was canceled for this year. The start of the regula

Nearly three months after the start of the season, South Korean baseball teams finally welcomed fans into stadiums on Sunday. Three of the five stadiums opened their gates in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO): the Doosan Bears hosting the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul; the Kiwoom Heroes playing the Lotte Giants at home at Gocheok Sky Dome, also in the capital; and the KT Wiz bringing the NC Dinos to KT Wiz Park in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul. Two remaining games wer

He didn't have a regular season save in 13 years in South Korea. And after one day in his first Major League Baseball season, St. Louis Cardinals' South Korean closer Kim Kwang-hyun has a save. The left-hander walked the tightrope while giving up two runs in the ninth inning of a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, local time. This was the Cardinals' first game of the 60-game regular season. Kim, named the closer near the end of summer camp, came i

Undone by a shaky fifth inning, Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays came up an out shy of qualifying for a victory in his second straight Opening Day assignment. The South Korean left-hander was charged with three earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Friday, local time. He left with two outs in the fifth and the Jays leading 6-3 with a man at second base. Reliever Jordan Romano walked the first batter he faced but struck ou

Kiwoom Heroes' manager Son Hyuk is one of the most articulate skippers in South Korean baseball, and he often speaks with refreshing candor during his pregame media sessions, acknowledging his shortcomings as the first-year bench boss even as the Heroes remain in title contention. It may often seem as though Son hasn't met a baseball subject he isn't keen to discuss, but there's one elephant in the room for him: the protracted slump of his cleanup hitter, Park Byung-ho. "I am trying not

The Toronto Blue Jays have made official what had been a foregone conclusion: Ryu Hyun-jin will start Opening Day. The Blue Jays announced Sunday (local time) that the South Korean left-hander will take the mound against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, the first day of the truncated, 60-game season, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ryu had been widely expected to start the original Opening Day in Toronto on March 28, before the coronavirus pandemic forced Major League Baseball (ML

It wasn't supposed to come this early. No, when Kiwoom Heroes' outfielder Lee Jung-hoo got to work with his team trainers during the offseason, the idea was to put on muscle so he could start hitting with more power in about two to three years. The 2017 Rookie of the Year in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) had already been one of the league's premier contact hitters, boasting bat-to-ball skill that's almost unparalleled. Since his debut, Lee leads all KBO players in batting average (.34

By many measures, the Kiwoom Heroes have had one of the best bullpens in South Korean baseball so far this season. But there's more to that story: Their bullpen has also been the most overworked, never more so than in July, and the heavy load appears to be taking its toll. The Heroes suffered a three-game sweep against the Kia Tigers over the weekend series that extended to Monday due to Sunday's rainout. It dropped the Heroes to 4-7 in July, tied for the second worst record of the month in t

The two best clubs in South Korean baseball so far this season will square off this week, with the first-place NC Dinos looking to put some distance between themselves and the second-seed Kiwoom Heroes. The Dinos will wrap up their six-game Seoul road trip with a three-game set against the Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome, beginning Tuesday. The Dinos lead the season series 4-2. Prior to Monday's slate, the Dinos had the best record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 39-17-1 (wins-losses-t