By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A Seoul district court ruled in favor of batter-turned-sportscaster Ma Hea-young, ordering his former team, the LG Twins, to pay him 138 million won ($115,000) in overdue annual pay. LG has filed an appeal.
Ma signed a four-year contract to play for Kia Tigers in November 2003 but was traded to LG Twins in November 2005.
Ma, however, was injured shortly after the trade and was sent to the minor leagues until he was traded to the Lotte Giants in 2007.
LG insisted that it had the right to reduce his salary based on a Korea Baseball Organization rule that allows a player’s salary to be cut should he suffer a long-term injury, as he did prior to the injury. It slashed his pay by 138 million won to 669 million won.
Ma claimed that the contract he signed with Kia made no mention of injury and other health issues which may affect his salary. He said LG inherited all conditions and therefore, the team must pay him the rest of the money regardless of his health.
The Seoul Eastern District Court said, ``Contract gets renewed annually. However, since the team did not push the renewal, it must respect the old one and pay Ma the money.’’
Ma retired in November 2008 and is now working as a sportscaster for cable network XSports.