Kim Hyun-soo wasn't on the team at the time, but he clearly remembers how South Korea faltered in the group stage of the 2017 World Baseball Classic on home soil, unable to get past the opening phase despite playing all three games in Seoul.More than two years later, South Korea is back at the scene, Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, with even more at stake. The dome will host all Group C games for the Premier12, an international tournament doubling as the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas

South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin has been nominated for the 2019 National League Cy Young Award.Ryu, who led all of baseball with a 2.32 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year, was announced as one of three finalists for the NL's top pitching prize by the Baseball Writers' Association of American on Monday (US Eastern Time).Ryu, who's now a free agent, is the first South Korean pitcher to be shortlisted for the Cy Young in either league.BBWAA members already cast their ballots at the end

The South Korean national baseball team eked out a 5-1 win over the military club Sangmu on Tuesday in a tuneup game for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. Starter Park Jong-hoo tossed three shutout innings and slugger Choi Jeong had two of the team's seven hits at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, where pitchers generally looked sharper than hitters.Managed by Kim Kyung-moon, South Korea is gearing up for the Premier12 tournament, which begins next week as the Olympic qualification event. Sou

Back on Aug. 15, the Doosan Bears were nine games back in third place in the Korea Baseball Organization standings, far enough behind the league-leading SK Wyverns with 33 games remaining that the Bears weren't regarded as a serious threat to the Wyverns' bid for the regular season crown.But the Bears toppled the Wyverns for first place on the final day of the regular season on Oct. 1. And some three weeks later on Saturday, the Bears celebrated the 2019 Korean Series title, the franchise's sixt

Los Angeles Dodgers' South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin has come up short of winning a pair of awards voted by fellow players.The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) announced Thursday (US Eastern Time) that Ryu finished second in the National League (NL) Outstanding Pitcher category, behind Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, as part of MLBPA's Players Choice Awards. Ryu finished third in the NL Comeback Player category, trailing Josh Donaldson of the Atlanta Braves and Sonny Gray o

Kiwoom Heroes infielder Song Sung-mun has apologized for crossing the line with expletive-laden trash talk directed at opposing players from the Doosan Bears during Game 1 of the Korean Series from Tuesday.In a video clip posted on a portal site and since taken down, Song, 23, was heard wishing injury on Doosan players, saying things like, "He just blew out his elbow!" and "He's going to have surgery on his hamstring today and he'll be out for two years!"The video went viral

The Kiwoom Heroes will be playing for the South Korean professional baseball championship for the first time in five years. The Heroes routed the defending champions SK Wyverns 10-1 at home on Thursday to complete the three-game sweep in the second round Korea Baseball Organization playoff series.The Heroes will go on to meet the Doosan Bears in the best-of-seven Korean Series, which begins next Tuesday at the Bears' home, Jamsil Stadium.The Bears, after finishing with the best regular season re

So they meet again.A year after trading blows in a playoff battle for the ages, the SK Wyverns and the Kiwoom Heroes will clash once again in the Korea Baseball Organization postseason starting Monday.The Wyverns will have the home field advantage in this best-of-five second round action. Game 1 is 6:30 p.m. Monday at SK Happy Dream Park in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul.The Wyverns, the 2018 Korean Series champions, earned a direct berth in the second round after finishing the regular sea

With more than a little help from his friends in the lineup, Los Angeles Dodgers' South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin picked up his third career postseason victory over the Washington Nationals on the road Sunday.Ryu was the winning pitcher in the Dodgers' 10-4, come-from-behind victory in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park in Washington. The Dodgers now lead the best-of-five series 2-1 and have a chance to close out the Nationals Monday night.Ryu gave up two earne

Los Angeles Dodgers' South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin will start Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made the announcement Thursday, hours before the start of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.The Dodgers, which finished with the best record in the NL at 106-56, will have the home-field advantage until the World Series, if they go that far. Game 3 of this best-of-five series against the Nationals will be at Nation

The 2019 postseason in South Korean baseball will begin this week with a wild-card game between one of the league's top pitching staffs and its best slugging club. The LG Twins, which finished at 79-64-1 (wins-losses-ties), will host the NC Dinos (73-69-2) at 2 p.m. Thursday at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. As the higher seed, the Twins will have two cracks at trying to win or tie one game to advance to the next stage.  If the Twins claim Thursday's game or end up in a tie after 15 innings,

Los Angeles Dodgers' starter Ryu Hyun-jin has finished the 2019 season with the lowest ERA in the majors.The South Korean left-hander tossed seven shutout innings in the Dodgers' 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Saturday (local time), lowering his major league-best ERA from 2.41 to 2.32.Ryu was lifted for pinch hitter Jedd Gyorko to begin the top of the eighth, with the Dodgers leading 2-0. The bullpen made the score stand, and Ryu finished the year at 14-

It's come down to one last outing.Los Angeles Dodgers' South Korean left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin will make his final start of the regular season this weekend against the San Francisco Giants. The game will be at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at Oracle Park in San Francisco -- that's 5:05 a.m. Sunday in Seoul.Ryu (13-5) will try to win his 14th game of 2019 and match his single-season career high. He previously won 14 games in each of his first two big league seasons in 2013 and 2014.More importantly, Ryu will

Former Chicago Cubs scout Sung Min-kyu has been named the new general manager for the South Korean club Lotte Giants.The Korea Baseball Organization team announced Tuesday that Sung will succeed Lee Yoon-won, who resigned in July, in the front office.Sung, 37, had been in the Cubs organization for more than a decade, first as a minor league player, then as a minor league coach and, most recently, as the Pacific Rim scouting supervisor and special assignment professional scout.Sung has also dabbl

Los Angeles Dodgers' Ryu Hyun-jin seems to be losing his grip on the Cy Young Award.The South Korean left-hander got rocked by the New York Yankees to the tune of three homers and seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday (local time). The Dodgers lost 10-2 as Ryu suffered his second straight loss and dropped to 12-4 for the season. He hadn't lost consecutive starts since Sept. 5 and 11 last year.Ryu entered the game with a major league-best 1.64 ERA, but it h