After going 2-0 in his first two career starts in South Korea's top baseball league, Samsung Lions' left-hander Heo Yun-dong is headed back to the minors. And the 18-year-old Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) rookie is far from upset at the demotion, which, at first glance, may seem counterintuitive. Heo won both of his first two starts, including Wednesday against the LG Twins in Seoul. Why mess with success? "Whether it's my breaking ball command or fastball velocity, I still have so m

Four matches into the 2020 K League 1 football season, four clubs are still looking for their first win. Daegu FC, Busan IPark, Incheon United and Gwangju FC occupy the last four places in the 12-team table. In addition to zeroes in the win column, these four are also united by their lack of firepower. Daegu and Busan have managed just two goals, while Incheon and Gwangju have found the back of the net just once each. At the other end, Busan, Incheon and Gwangju have each conceded five goals

CHANGWON -- Having played more than 20 regular games before thousands of empty seats during the coronavirus pandemic, NC Dinos' designated hitter Na Sung-bum has grown accustomed to playing without fans. That does not mean Na does not miss them. With the Dinos having jumped out to the best record in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) at 19-6, Na feels fans in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are missing out. "It'd be great if fans were here to watch us win games," Na

South Korean baseball's minor league will start using "robot umpires" in August, a league official said Thursday. The official with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said about 20 games in the Futures League will have the automated ball-strike system in place this season, and it will be used for the entire 2021 season. The KBO's top league may follow suit as early as 2022. Though the system is colloquially called the robot umpire, it doesn't involve any robots standing behind t

CHANGWON -- At the tender age of 23, NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo may already have become the ultimate Zen master in South Korean baseball. He has figured out how to pitch with an empty mind, a state where he is clear of unnecessary thoughts and his focus is solely on his target. "When I am on the mound, I am not thinking of anything else but trying to hit the catcher's mitt," Koo told reporters Wednesday prior to a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game versus the

For baseball pitchers, throwing strikes is much easier said than done. If they could all do it at will, baseball would be a much simpler game for them. It's only the elite few that can do it at a rate that makes them successful. In the 2020 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season, the NC Dinos' Koo Chang-mo, the best starter after the first month by many measures, also leads the league in first pitch strike percentage. Koo tops all qualified pitchers with a first pitch strike rate of 76.4 pe

Two aces and two hitters will contend for South Korean baseball's top player honor for the month of May. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) unveiled four candidates for the Player of the Month award Tuesday. They are NC Dinos' starter Koo Chang-mo, Kiwoom Heroes' starter Eric Jokisch, LG Twins' first baseman Roberto Ramos and Doosan Bears' designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez. Koo and Jokisch are tied for the league lead at four wins apiece. Koo is the sole leader in other Triple Crown

South Korean volleyball icon Kim Yeon-koung is considering a return to the domestic league, a source close to the player said Tuesday, amid uncertainty in international markets caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The source confirmed an earlier television news report that Kim has left open the possibility of reuniting with the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders in South Korea's V-League. She made her professional debut with the team in 2005. Kim, 32, became a free agent after her two-year deal wi

South Korea women's national football head coach Colin Bell said Monday he'll be working closely with coaches of domestic clubs, stressing the importance of building mutual trust through continued communication. Bell met with head coaches of the eight clubs in the semi-professional WK League at the Korea Football Association (KFA) House on Monday. In the press conference that followed, the Englishman insisted that the national team program can't be successful without the help and support of cl

Rare is a South Korean baseball team that feels genuinely happy for a player it has just traded away. But the Doosan Bears may prove to be an exception, after dealing their third-string catcher Lee Heung-ryun to the SK Wyverns last Friday. Trades aren't that common in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), with teams reluctant to make deals out of fears that players would often come back to haunt them in the small, 10-team league. Even the deals that are made don't move the needle much. The

A Chinese team became the inaugural champion of the League of Legends Mid-Season Cup on Sunday, defeating several Korean teams. The cup features the top four teams from the Korean and Chinese leagues in the popular multiplayer online battle game, based on their spring competitions. Only one of the three League of Legends Champions of Korea (LCK) teams in the tournament, Gen.G Esports, was able to qualify for the semifinals, while three teams of China’s LoL Pro League -- JD Gaming, Top

The Samsung Lions' rookie left-hander Heo Yun-dong readily admits he got lucky in his first professional start last week. Still just 18, the first-year hurler out of high school faced the Lotte Giants in his Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) debut Thursday, filling in for injured starter Ben Lively. Heo promptly hit the first batter he faced, and two batters later, issued a walk to put two aboard for the dangerous slugger Lee Dae-ho. Lee turned on a 0-1 pitch and sent it soaring over the left

There are many different ways to measure the excellence of a baseball team. And sitting atop the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) standings after the first month of the season, the NC Dinos check off many boxes. Offense? They lead the league with 152 runs scored, a .370 on-base percentage and a .482 slugging percentage. Long balls? They have gone deep 35 times, more than any other club. Pitching? Their staff has the league-low 3.73 ERA, and they have given up fewer runs than anyone with 92. W

The Lotte Giants have scored a grand total of five runs in their past four games in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) heading into their weekend series against the Doosan Bears starting Friday. But when the Bears' manager Kim Tae-hyoung looks across the diamond and into the opposing dugout, he sees a lineup that can go off at any moment. "Every team has its ups and downs, and the Giants' lineup can be really explosive," Kim said in his pregame media availability at Jamsil Stadiu

SK Wyverns' slugger Choi Jeong had hit that proverbial rock bottom. He had the worst batting average among 61 qualified batters in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) with .153 before Thursday's game against the Doosan Bears. The only way for him to go was up. Choi went 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs Thursday, helping the Wyverns to a 6-1 victory at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. Well, Choi is still the worst qualified hitter in the league, but at least his batting average went up to .17