The NC Dinos are one win away from capturing their first South Korean baseball championship. Starter Koo Chang-mo fired seven shutout innings, and cleanup Yang Eui-ji blasted a two-run home run in the bottom sixth, lifting the Dinos to a 5-0 victory in Game 5 of the Korean Series at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Monday. Yang's shot followed Aaron Altherr's tiebreaking RBI single in the fifth. The Dinos added two insurance runs in the seventh. After their second straight shutout, the Dinos lea

When the 2020 South Korean baseball championship is awarded this week, it will be done before a reduced crowd due to tighter social distancing rules in the capital region. The government decided on Sunday to enforce Level 2 distancing regulations for the greater Seoul area, the third-highest in South Korea's five-tier coronavirus alert system, effective Tuesday. The move was in response to the continued surge in COVID-19 cases in Seoul and surrounding regions, even after the distancing level wa

Starting next year, South Korean baseball clubs will be allowed to reduce player salaries if the season is interrupted by extraordinary events. The Korea Baseball Organization announced Thursday that, following their board meeting, general managers from its 10 clubs agreed to add the "force majeure" clause into player contracts. Under that clause, teams will be able to cut wages without liability, if events beyond their control disrupt the season. Those events include an outbreak of

An American baseball player competing in the South Korean baseball championship series apologized on Wednesday for refusing to wear a mask during official pregame and postgame functions. Aaron Altherr of the NC Dinos skipped the award ceremony and his postgame press conference on Tuesday, after being named the Player of the Game in the Dinos' 5-3 victory over the Doosan Bears in Game 1 of the Korean Series. Altherr hit a three-run home run at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, but told the club and th

This is the 39th season of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) but starting Tuesday, the NC Dinos and the Doosan Bears will only be playing in the 38th Korean Series. So what happened in that one missing season? The very first Korean Series game, back in 1982, ended in a tie. Yes, even in games that matter the most, there are ties in the KBO. The answer to the above question and other factoids like tie games have helped shape the history of championship baseball in the country. The Korean S

Two right-handers will renew their regular season rivalry to open the South Korean baseball championship series on Tuesday. The NC Dinos and the Doosan Bears, two contestants of the Korean Series, each announced their Game 1 starters at Monday's media day. Right-hander Drew Rucinski will take the mound for the Dinos, the regular season champions who earned a bye to the Korean Series. The Bears will counter with right-hander Raul Alcantara. They finished third in the regular season and had to

The KT Wiz will live to see at least another day in the South Korean baseball postseason. The Wiz defeated the Doosan Bears 5-2 to stave off elimination in the best-of-five penultimate round in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason on Thursday. Starter William Cuevas fired eight strong innings, and the Wiz broke out for five runs with two outs in the top of the eighth inning for the victory at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. This was the Wiz's first postseason win in franchise history, w

To hear Jeong Keun-woo tell it, his 16-year career in South Korean baseball has exceeded even his own expectations -- the way he performed, how much love his fans showed him and all the honors that he won. Now at 38, Jeong, considered one of the greatest second basemen in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) history, has no second thoughts over hanging up his cleats. "It feels like yesterday I was crying tears of joy after getting drafted by a pro team," Jeong said Wednesday during his

In their march toward a second straight South Korean baseball championship, the Doosan Bears will be running into the Cinderella team of the season in the penultimate stage of the postseason. The KT Wiz, first-time participants in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason after joining the league in 2015, earned a bye into the best-of-five second round. They put up the second-best record in the regular season. The Bears, as No. 3 seed, had to play an extra round, and knocked off the LG T

The top two starting pitchers for the Doosan Bears have been shortlisted for the top player award for October in South Korean baseball. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced five candidates for the Player of the Month award for October, the final month of the regular season. Right-handers Chris Flexen and Raul Alcantara, the one-two punch at the top of the Bears' rotation, headline the list. Flexen, who'd missed time earlier in the year with injury, capped off his first KBO season w

The interim manager for the South Korean baseball club SK Wyverns has resigned, leaving a leadership vacuum for a team coming off its worst season in 20 years. The Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Saturday bench coach Park Kyung-oan, who served as interim skipper in the absence of ailing Youm Kyoung-youb, expressed his intent to resign following their season finale from the previous night. The club accepted his resignation Saturday. Youm fell ill and briefly lost con

The SK Wyverns wasted no time filling up their foreign player quota for next season, as they retained a veteran Canadian infielder and newly acquired two pitchers less than 24 hours after finishing up a disappointing 2020 campaign. The Wyverns announced Saturday, one day after their final Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season game, that they have re-signed first baseman Jamie Romak for his fifth season. Then they added right-handers Wilmer Font and Artie Lewicki to their staff. The

He gave it a good run, but Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz has ultimately come up short of winning a South Korean baseball batting Triple Crown. The 30-year-old outfielder led the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in the regular season with 47 home runs and 135 RBIs. He built such substantial leads in those two categories down the stretch that the only suspense was whether he would also win the batting title and take home the Triple Crown. The best Rojas Jr. can hope for now is to finish second i

Starter Raul Alcantara tossed eight shutout innings for his league-leading 20th win, as the Doosan Bears blanked the Kiwoom Heroes 2-0 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul to close out their Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular season on Friday. Alcantara lost his perfect game bid with two outs in the sixth inning, while allowing just two hits and striking out five to finish the season at 20-2 with a 2.54 ERA. The Bears scored a run in each of the first two innings, and Alcantara made tha

A South Korean baseball club manager has resigned after experiencing health scares amid a disappointing season. The SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Friday that Youm Kyoung-youb has decided to step down after two seasons on the bench. The 52-year-old had one more year left in his contract. Youm fell ill and briefly lost consciousness during a game on June 25. Doctors later pointed to excessive stress, lack of sleep and poor diet as causes for Youm's health problems. Be