Some ugly pitching and defense led to plenty of runs in the opening weekend of the top South Korean pro baseball league.The Korea Baseball Organization launched its 32nd season last Saturday, with eight of the nine teams in action. The same teams played each other again on Sunday.The first day yielded 54 runs scored, a league record for an opening day. There were three grand slams hit on that first day, also a KBO record.The teams followed that up with 36 runs scored on Sunday. Three of the four

Ryu Hyun-jin is following in the footsteps of former major league pitcher Chan Ho Park, who inspired him and countless other South Korean kids who dreamed about getting to the big leagues.Ryu is slated to make his official debut Tuesday on the same mound where Park threw his first pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 1994.Park spent 17 seasons in the majors before retiring at the end of the 2010 campaign with a 124-98 record, 4.36 ERA and 1,715 strikeouts. He spent his first eight big leagu

Managers and key players of the nine pro baseball clubs gathered on Monday to talk a big game ahead of the new season, with the league’s defending champions touted as the title favorite again.The Korea Baseball Organization hosted the annual preseason media day at the New Millennium Hall at Konkuk University in eastern Seoul. Most managers said they felt the Samsung Lions should once again contend for the title.Ryu Joong-il, manager of the Daegu-based Lions, said he is willing to take on challen

BRADENTON, Florida (AP) ― Andrew McCutchen walked to the podium, brushed back his trademark dreadlocks, unfolded a sheet of paper and took a deep breath.The Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star centerfielder looked across the massive ballroom at the Dapper Dan Awards ― think Pittsburgh’s version of the ESPYs ― while accepting the 2012 Sportsman of the Year honor in January and cleared his throat.“I don’t do this a lot,” McCutchen said.Maybe, but he better get used to it. It kind of comes with the territo

American media is shedding new light on a fanatic baseball fan who inspired the movie “The Natural” starring Robert Redford. Ruth Ann Steinhagen played by actress Barbara Hershey had made countless headlines in America for nearly killing a player and was recently reported to have died three months ago.In 1949, the 19-year-old girl was so obsessive about Eddie Waitkus, a first baseman for the Chicago Cubs that she chose to check in to the same hotel as him. She left a note about “something of imp

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― Sweeping the Dallas Mavericks in the regular season for the first time in 15 years could have been a cause for celebration. Instead, it just raised more concerns for the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan had 28 points and 19 rebounds and San Antonio escaped with a 92-91 victory over Dallas when Vince Carter’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer. “Overall I thought (the Mavericks) played better than us,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I thought they executed better

MIAMI (AP) ― With the score tied and two outs, Puerto Rico’s Alex Rios kept running from second base.Rios scored the go-ahead run without a play, and the Puerto Ricans rallied to oust Italy from the World Baseball Classic with a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.The Puerto Ricans went hitless in their first 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position but still overcame a 3-0 deficit to score once in the sixth inning and three times in the eighth.“With the lineup we had, it was a matter of time before

A South Korean expansion baseball team on Wednesday shot down rumors that it would relocate to another city in protest of its hometown’s decision to build a new stadium at a remote location.In a press release, the NC Dinos, based in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, said they aren’t going anywhere.“Our ballclub is only thinking about playing baseball for fans in Changwon,” the team said. “Presently, we’re not considering moving to another city.”The Dinos will join the top-flight Korea Basebal

VIERA, Florida (AP) ― Chipper Jones putting on pinstripes?The banged-up New York Yankees would love to have him. General manager Brian Cashman even said so Monday, expressing interest in the retired Atlanta Braves star.“He’d be perfect,” Cashman said at Yankees’ camp in Tampa. “I’d take Larry in a heartbeat. I think everybody would.”The eight-time All-Star third baseman ― better known by his nickname than actual first name ― quickly ended such talk.“Enough with the rumors!” Jones tweeted. “While

The great Mariano Rivera is getting set to close his career.The New York Yankees reliever plans to announce this weekend that he will retire after this season, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement. A news conference was called for Saturday at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Florida.The 43-year-old closer is Major League Baseball's saves leader with 608.

The nation’s top men’s professional basketball league will play out the season despite the cloud of a match-fixing scandal involving an active coach, the league’s commissioner said Friday.Han Sun-kyo, head of the Korean Basketball League, convened an emergency board meeting Friday to discuss fallouts from the match-fixing allegations surrounding Kang Dong-hee, head coach of the Dongbu Promy.Hours after the KBL meeting, prosecutors filed for an arrest warrant for Kang, who allegedly took cash fro