Korean Baseball League Begins Today, Hopes High for Six Million Spectators
After the glory of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Korean domestic league kicks off its seven-month-long season today.
The two-time defending champion SK Wyverns face the Kim In-sik-led Hanwha Eagles at Incheon and last-year's runner-up Doosan Bears will open the season against the Kia Tigers in Seoul.
The Samsung Lions host the LG Twins at Daegu and the Lotte Giants will meet the Heroes.
Korean baseball, which drew 5.25 million people to stadiums thanks to a Beijing Olympic gold medal and the perennial cellar-dweller Giants' upstart season, now aims to top 5.55 million for the season.
As the talent gap has narrowed between the teams, the 2009 season is expected to be a tighter pennant race.
But last season's Korean Series rivals, the Wyverns and the Bears, are in contention for the championship again.
And the Giants, which broke out last season under American boss Jerry Royster, round out the top three favorites.
The Incheon-based Wyverns lost outfielder Lee Jin-young to free agency. But power hitter Lee Ho-jun has recovered from injury and their strong rotation and bullpen are expected to be key to a run for a three-peat.
The Bears, which dropped the Korean Series for two consecutive years, will start the first season without franchise player Hong Sung-heon, who departed for the Giants via free agency, but defensive-minded shortstop Son Si-heon has rejoined the team after his military service to solidify the Seoul-based club's infield.
Entering manager Royster's second stint, the Giants, which reached the postseason last season for the first time since 2000, added Hong from the Bears to have one of the most feared batting orders in the league, featuring Cho Sung-hwan, Lee Dae-ho and Karim Garcia.
They combined for 552 hits and 66 homers in the 2008 season.
The rest of the pack is likely to be squaring off for a lone spot in the playoffs.
The Eagles, headed by manager Kim In-sik, who led the Korean team to the WBC final; the Lions, which boast a strong bullpen boosted by hard-throwing reliever Chong Hyun-wook; and the Tigers, trying to rebuild their reputation as a baseball powerhouse behind WBC standouts Yoon Suk-min and Lee Yong-kyu, have improved during the off-season to have a shot at a playoff berth.
Particularly, the Twins, which finished last twice in four years, were busy in the off-season.
They recruited Heroes infielder Jeong Sung-hoon on the free agent market along with Lee Jin-young.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has made some rule changes for the new season.
The league has returned to a 133-game format for the first time since 2004, and the baseball governing body has scrapped a no-limit rule in extra innings, which was controversially introduced last season; and an undecided game will be played until the 12th inning.
In addition, the playoff format underwent a bit of a change, going back to the best-of-five series from a best-of-seven, inserted last year. But the Korean Series will continue as a best-of-seven setup.
source: ksw@koreatimes.co.kr
credits: aeinsshi