2017 champ Kia Tigers vow to defend KBO title

Opening games slated for Saturday

By Baek Byung-yeul

With the long-awaited new baseball season beginning on Saturday, managers and players from the 10 baseball clubs of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League spoke of their hopes, Thursday.

Ten clubs have completed the spring exhibition league Wednesday and will each play 144 games beginning with a two-game series at 2 p.m. Saturday, in five ball parks nationwide. Defending champion Kia Tigers will play the KT Wiz in Gwangju; the Doosan Bears, who lost its throne to the Tigers last year, will host the Samsung Lions in Seoul; the NC Dinos will play the LG Twins in Changwon; the SK Wyverns will play the Lotte Giants in Incheon; and the Nexen Heroes will meet the Hanwha Eagles in Seoul.

During the press and fan meeting at Blue Square iMarket Hall in Seoul, the Tigers’ manager Kim Ki-tae said the Gwangju-based team “will never forget its original intention” of defending the championship. Kim added his team will do their best to entertain fans.

When asked which teams will be their biggest rivals, Kim said all the other nine clubs would be their rivals. “Not just us, but the other teams have improved a lot. So I think all the other nine teams will be strong competitors.”

The Bears manager Kim Hyung-tae said he will bring back the championship title this year. “We lost our chance to win the championship last season. But we will try to bring it back this season.”

Ryu Joong-il, new manager for the Twins, said he “analyzed the weakness of the Twins. I guarantee the Twins will be a strong team this season.”

While managing the Lions, Ryu led the team to four consecutive championships from 2011 to 2014. After a year’s hiatus, Ryu has a three-year contract with the Twins.

Players returning from Major League Baseball (MLB) also expressed their hopes for the new season.

“This is my first season at Gocheok Sky Dome. It is really big ball park. I will try my best,” the Nexen Heroes first baseman Park Byuong-ho said.

Park, a two-time MVP and a four-time home run leader in the KBO League returned to the Heroes after spending two seasons with the Minnesota Twins of MLB. The Heroes manager Jang Jung-suk added he expects Park to hit 50 home runs this season.

LG Twins manager Ryu said he expects his team’s new outfielder Kim Hyun-soo to have a batting average of .350, make 150 hits and more than 30 home runs. In response to his manager, Kim said he “will try his best.” During the offseason, the Twins signed Kim, who returned to the KBO League after spending two seasons in the Major League Baseball, to a four year contract.

The 2018 season will begin earlier than usual to accommodate this year’s Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang of Indonesia from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2. As players from the KBO League will compete in the Asian Games, league play will be paused from Aug. 16 to Sept. 3.

On the account of the 37th baseball season, the KBO set its goal to attract a total of 8.79 million spectators this season, a 4.6 percent increase from the 2017 season which played in front of 8,400,688 fans. The KBO League reached the 8 million attendance mark for the first time in the 2016 season.