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| LG Twins' Lee Chun-woong hits a homerun in a game against the Hanwha Eagles at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, southern Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
This year's season of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) kicked off Friday with great fanfare. While playing the first few games last weekend, the 10 KBO clubs are geared up to reach the league's goal of attracting more than 8 million fans to the ball games this year.
After their three-game series, the LG Twins, the KT Wiz and the Nexen Heroes who are expected to be at the bottom of the standings, got off to good starts.
The Seoul-based Twins, who placed ninth last year, claimed the top spot after winning two-consecutive extra-inning games against the Hanwha Eagles.
In Friday's game at Seoul's Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the Twins's infielder Yang Seok-hwan hit a walk-off double in the 12th inning, edging out the Eagles 5-4. On Saturday, the Twins walked off on the Eagles 8-7 in the 11th inning thanks to outfielder Lee Byeong-kyu's hit to left field.
The second consecutive win is encouraging for the Twins as the team is apparently in the rebuilding process this season. Though the Twins manager Yang Sang-moon fielded the smallest numbers of pitchers _ eight _ on their opening roster, their young pitchers have pitched well as right hander Lee Seung-hyun didn't allow any runs while throwing in the extra innings on Friday and lefty Choi Sung-hoon, who returned to his team after completing his compulsory military duty, pitched a scoreless three innings.
Above all, the right fielder Lee Chun-woong made his fans forget Lee Jin-young who left for the KT Wiz in the expansion draft last November. During the two games, Lee, who also rejoined the Twins after finishing his military duty, had five hits including one homerun with two RBIs.
Many baseball commentators have the Eagles as this year's favorite to win the pennant race, but the team, which placed sixth last season, did not do well in defense or in offense as they have been missing their strong lefty starter Esmil Rogers due to an elbow injury and center fielder Lee Yong-kyu who was hit on his wrist while playing in the spring exhibition game on March 25. Sunday's game was cancelled due to rain.
The Wiz, who joined KBO last season, is off to a winning streak against the SK Wyverns. The Suwon-based team won 8-4 on Friday thanks to their Colombian right hander Sugar Ray Marimon who allowed four runs while throwing six innings. After taking a 3-4 loss on Saturday, the Wiz defeated the Wyverns 5-4 on Sunday as their starter Yohan Pino allowed only two runs in six 2/3 innings.
The Heroes hosted the Lotte Giants at their new home Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, taking two wins and suffering a loss.
Though the Heroes placed fourth last season, many expect the team will have a tough season this year as they lost key players after free agency _ first baseman Park Byung-ho left for the United States to play for the Minnesota Twins this season; free agent outfielder Yoo Han-joon signed with the Wiz; and another free agent Son Seung-lak signed with the Giants. What puts the Seoul-based team in worse shape is that the team's key pitchers Cho Sang-woo and Han Hyun-hee will miss the season due to injuries.
During the three-game series against the Giants, the Heroes took two wins thanks to their pitchers who recorded a 2.67 ERA in three games while they didn't allow any home runs as they struck out 20 batters.
The Samsung Lions, who lost to the Doosan Bears in last year's championship Korean Series, had a return match at their new home, Daegu Samsung Lions Park, and scored a win and a loss. The NC Dinos hosted the Kia Tigers at Masan Baseball Stadium in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province and spent the weekend splitting a win and a loss. Their games on Sunday were cancelled due to rain.
