After being rebuffed numerous times to meet with Korea Baseball Organization upper management and teams, players in South Korea are moving forward with plans to form a union. Korea Professional Baseball Players Association president Min-han Son announced the plan at a recent press conference in Seoul. Son pitches for the Lotte Giants. The players association was formed ten years ago, but has never acted as a collective bargaining unit with KBO teams.
Predictably, the KBO has objected. League spokesman Jin-hyung Lee told The Korea Times, “The clubs are making a deficit. If we make a profit, we can have a dialogue with them.” Another unnamed KBO spokesman said, “Professional baseball players are not workers, but individual businessmen…Individual businessmen cannot make a union.” Son replied, “Our legal support team confirmed that to form a union is not against the law.”
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions says it will support a players union.
Showing posts with label Korea Baseball Organization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea Baseball Organization. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
PARK FINALLY ESTABLISHES 250-250 CLUB IN KOREA
Jae-hong Park of the SK Wyverns has finally stolen the 250th base of his Korea Baseball Organization career to become the first player in KBO history to collect both 250 homers and 250 steals in a career.
The 35-year-old Park stole second base after singling in an April 24 game against the Lotte Giants. As Giants starter Jung-hoon Cho tossed his third pitch to Wyverns batter Choi Jeong, Park took off for second base. Lotte catcher Min-ho Kang attempted to throw Park out, but the ball dropped from his glove before he could get the throw off.
Park stole the first base of his career on April 13, 1996 against the LG Twins, three days before cracking his first KBO homer against the Hanwha Eagles.
Making the 250-250 Club is rare in any league. Only 19 Major Leaguers have turned the trick, the most recent being Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs, and just four Japanese baseball players have recorded that feat.
The 35-year-old Park stole second base after singling in an April 24 game against the Lotte Giants. As Giants starter Jung-hoon Cho tossed his third pitch to Wyverns batter Choi Jeong, Park took off for second base. Lotte catcher Min-ho Kang attempted to throw Park out, but the ball dropped from his glove before he could get the throw off.
Park stole the first base of his career on April 13, 1996 against the LG Twins, three days before cracking his first KBO homer against the Hanwha Eagles.
Making the 250-250 Club is rare in any league. Only 19 Major Leaguers have turned the trick, the most recent being Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs, and just four Japanese baseball players have recorded that feat.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
PARK ONE STEAL AWAY FROM BECOMING KBO’S FIRST 250-250 MAN
Jae-hong Park is on the verge of becoming the first player in Korea Baseball Organization history to collect 250 homers and 250 stolen bases in his career. The 35-year-old Park, who plays for the defending KBO champion SK Wyverns, has recorded three homers and two steals this season, giving him 277 roundtrippers and 249 swipes since his rookie season in 1996.
Park smashed 30 homers and stole 36 bases in his first year, becoming the first member of Korea’s 30-30 Club. Just to show it wasn’t a fluke, Park turned in a 30-homer, 43-steal campaign in 1998 before a 32-30 season in 2000. But, apparently, that was then and this is now.
Since pilfering a bag against the Kia Tigers April 10, Park has gone eight games without a steal. He’s hitting just .229 this year, including a stretch of just three hits and one walk in 28 plate appearances between April 11 through 16. To add injury to insult, Park was drilled on the right knee by a Hanwha Eagles pitcher April 17, and has experienced discomfort and swelling ever since.
Despite Park’s woes, the Wyverns are otherwise firing on all cylinders with a KBO-leading 11-4-6 record. The Doosan Bears are second at 9-6-1, while the 9-7-0 Samsung Lions hold third place.
Park smashed 30 homers and stole 36 bases in his first year, becoming the first member of Korea’s 30-30 Club. Just to show it wasn’t a fluke, Park turned in a 30-homer, 43-steal campaign in 1998 before a 32-30 season in 2000. But, apparently, that was then and this is now.
Since pilfering a bag against the Kia Tigers April 10, Park has gone eight games without a steal. He’s hitting just .229 this year, including a stretch of just three hits and one walk in 28 plate appearances between April 11 through 16. To add injury to insult, Park was drilled on the right knee by a Hanwha Eagles pitcher April 17, and has experienced discomfort and swelling ever since.
Despite Park’s woes, the Wyverns are otherwise firing on all cylinders with a KBO-leading 11-4-6 record. The Doosan Bears are second at 9-6-1, while the 9-7-0 Samsung Lions hold third place.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
KOREAN SLUGGER TIES KBO HOME RUN RECORD
Joon-hyuk Yang of the Samsung Lions is now just one home run away from setting the Korea Baseball Organization’s all-time homer record after blasting the 340th roundtripper of his career Tuesday, April 14 in the bottom of the first inning of a game against the Hanwha Eagles. Yang is tied on top of the list with Jong-hoon Jang, who now manages Hanwha’s minor league team.
The 39-year-old Yang is in his 17th professional season. He was the KBO’s Rookie of the Year with Samsung in 1993, and has gone on to appear in 14 All-Star Games, win eight Gold Gloves and posted nine straight seasons in which he batted .300 or better. He has posted over 2,000 hits in his career, with at least 100 hits every year since 1993. He has registered four seasons with at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases, and posted 15 consecutive seasons of double-digit home run totals (including nine years or 20 or more dingers). Yang has hit for the cycle twice, in 1996 and 2003, both times against the Hyundai Unicorns.
A left-handed Daegu native, Yang also played for the Haitai Tigers and LG Twins before returning to Samsung in 2003.
The 39-year-old Yang is in his 17th professional season. He was the KBO’s Rookie of the Year with Samsung in 1993, and has gone on to appear in 14 All-Star Games, win eight Gold Gloves and posted nine straight seasons in which he batted .300 or better. He has posted over 2,000 hits in his career, with at least 100 hits every year since 1993. He has registered four seasons with at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases, and posted 15 consecutive seasons of double-digit home run totals (including nine years or 20 or more dingers). Yang has hit for the cycle twice, in 1996 and 2003, both times against the Hyundai Unicorns.
A left-handed Daegu native, Yang also played for the Haitai Tigers and LG Twins before returning to Samsung in 2003.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
KOREAN SEASON BEGINS IN FRONT OF RECORD CROWDS
Baseball is on a roll in Korea. After winning the Gold Medal in last summer’s Olympic Games and reaching the title game of this spring’s World Baseball Classic, domestic interest in the game is at an all-time high in South Korea, demonstrated by sellout crowds at all four games April 4 for the 2009 Korea Baseball Organization season opener.
In all, 96,800 fans attended KBO Opening Day games, smashing the former record by over 13,000 turnstile clicks. The largest crowd of 30,500 in Seoul watched the Doosan Bears beat the Kia Tigers, 7-5. In Busan, 28,500 fans turned out to see the Lotte Giants slip past the Seoul Heroes, 3-2; the Hanwha Eagles walloped the hometown SK Wyverns, 8-2, in front of 27,800 spectators in Incheon (the first home opener sellout in Wyverns history); and another 10,000 observers watched the Samsung Lions take a 6-2 opening win over the LG Twins in Daegu, a game that was called a sellout although Daegu Stadium’s capacity is listed as 13,941.
In all, 96,800 fans attended KBO Opening Day games, smashing the former record by over 13,000 turnstile clicks. The largest crowd of 30,500 in Seoul watched the Doosan Bears beat the Kia Tigers, 7-5. In Busan, 28,500 fans turned out to see the Lotte Giants slip past the Seoul Heroes, 3-2; the Hanwha Eagles walloped the hometown SK Wyverns, 8-2, in front of 27,800 spectators in Incheon (the first home opener sellout in Wyverns history); and another 10,000 observers watched the Samsung Lions take a 6-2 opening win over the LG Twins in Daegu, a game that was called a sellout although Daegu Stadium’s capacity is listed as 13,941.
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