And the World Baseball Class has officially begun.....after half an inning, Korea has 0 while Chinese Taipei is due up.

 

Hee Seop Choi is batting 5th for Korea, due up to lead off next inning for Korea.

This pitcher for Chinese Taipei, E.Y. Lin, is pretty good. He doesn't follow through completely so his stuff tails right (save his curveball) despite being a RHP. Plus he throws 140! (km/h) The only runner that reached base against him was on an error, and he fanned two (including Korea's cleanup hitter on a pitch that made the hitter fall down swinging).

 

Another fun fact: the first three hitters in the Korean lineup are all somehow named 'Lee'.

*makes sure to avoid this thread to watch it on ESPN tonight at 2am*

Hee Seop gets a double in his first WBC at bat, to compliment the nice pick he made to end the first

 

And after his inning is finished, I will update no longer.

 

The Taipei SS made a really nice play on a surefire single, didn't even have to dive and flipped it to second to double off Hee Seop.

 

Two outs in the inning with no score, and I am gone for the night.

ESPN Deportes has it in Spanish. Dish Network has the live ESPN Syndication feed on ESPN Alternate Channel 145.

LOL look at the Korean lineup

 

Korea:

Lee, LF

Lee, CF

Lee, 1B

Kim, 3B

Choi, DH

Hong, C

Lee, RF

Park, SS

Kim, 2B

 

4 Lee's!

Korea is up 2-0 in the middle of the 5th

The Taipei SS made a really nice play on a surefire single, didn't even have to dive and flipped it to second to double off Hee Seop.

 

 

Yeah, that is Ching-Lung Hu. He is in the Dodgers system and is known for his ridiculous glovework.

 

This has been a really good game. Korea's pitching sequence has been: Jae Seo, Byung-Hyun Kim, Dae-Seung Koo, Chan Ho Park. Good times.

 

It's 2-0 Korea through 7 complete. MLB.TV has no announcers, it's kind of awesome.

fun game to watch, i love the WBC already

 

cant wait for the other pools to start playing

 

this was pretty good baseball, and you can imagine everyone playing had jitters galore

Very good game by both teams yesterday. The Koreans definitely weren't taking any chances, sending four legit major league pitchers out there to throw Game 1. My only question is who they have left to throw for the rest of the group.

 

I was going to watch the Japanese game on archive, but when I caught a glimpse of the game ending by Mercy Rule I decided I'll just watch the replays later. Japanese team is going to be a monster in this group.

 

Here's hoping the rest of the games of this weekend mirror the Korea-Taipei game.

Very good game by both teams yesterday. The Koreans definitely weren't taking any chances, sending four legit major league pitchers out there to throw Game 1. My only question is who they have left to throw for the rest of the group.

 

I was going to watch the Japanese game on archive, but when I caught a glimpse of the game ending by Mercy Rule I decided I'll just watch the replays later. Japanese team is going to be a monster in this group.

 

Here's hoping the rest of the games of this weekend mirror the Korea-Taipei game.

 

 

Both Kim and Park both pitched under 30 pitches....at least i know Kim did. That means they are available to pitch the next day.

 

My guess is that they'll use one or both along with their younger pitchers against china....then save Jae Soe for Japan along with Koo

 

I was wrong. Soe cant pitch the next two games because he was too close to the 65 pitch limit. Park pitched the last three innings, so he must have pitched over 30, not sure what his status is considering availability. Maybe he gets the nod against Japan.

 

Korea hopes to make it 2-0 in Classic

By Jim Street / MLB.com

 

 

TOKYO -? Korea is trying to use the World Baseball Classic to bury the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2004 Summer Olympics and they have a huge leg up on redemption.

The Koreans, who opened with a 2-0 victory today over Chinese Taipei on Thursday (ET), take on the under-manned China National Team on Friday and a victory would give Korea a 2-0 record with only one first-round game remaining ?- against Japan.

 

Barring unforeseen circumstances, a victory over the Chinese would virtually assure the Koreans of being one of the two teams advancing to the second round, March 12-16 in Anaheim, Calif.

 

"One-third of the games are done, but the game against Chinese Taipei meant a whole lot more than one-third of the games," Korean manager In Sik Kim said. "You never know what will happen (against China), who will win. And the day after tomorrow, we'll just keep doing our best."

 

The Korean team has personnel issues, however. The first-game starter Jae Seo, who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, threw 61 pitches. That brought him close enough to the 65-pitch limit that he can't be used in either of the next two games.

 

And third baseman Dong Joo Kim, the team's cleanup hitter, jammed his left shoulder in the sixth inning while diving into first base. He was removed from the game and taken to the hospital for examination.

 

His status is uncertain.

 

"He's one of our main batters," In Sik Kim said. "He is the heart of our order. I hope his injury in not serious. If we have to play without him, it's a big loss."

 

China comes into the WBC as a fledgling 3-year-old program. The Chinese are managed by former big-league skipper Jim Lefebvre and Bruce Hurst, a 15-year big-league veteran, is the pitching coach. It's a team thin on both talent and bodies. Some of the better players are either eliminated or limited by injuries.

 

China does have a victory over Korea, three years ago in extra innings. However, a more significant loss for Korea was in 2003 when a victory by Chinese Taipei eliminated the Koreans from qualifying for the Olympics.

 

"I was the manager in Sapporo," Kim said. "Maybe if we had Major League pitchers back then, we would have won."

 

The Koreans beat Chinese Taipei in the opener with a diet of four straight big-league pitchers. Seo, who went 3 2/3 innings, the Rockies' Byung Hyun Kim, who went 1 2/3 innings, the Mets' Dae Sung Koo, who worked 2/3 of an inning and finally the Padres' Chan Ho Park, who finished the final three innings.

 

If needed, three of them could pitch against China, but none of them are expected to do so.

Apparently Ichiro was talking trash, saying that he wants to make Korea know they won't be able to beat Japan at baseball in the next 30 years. Will make for a fun game tomorrow.

 

2 outs in the bottom of the 7th - one more run and China will be dropped to the Mercy rule for the second straight night.

Korea defeats China 10-1.

 

With a win by Japan in a few hours, Korea and Japan would both advance to Pool 1.

QUIN CHIN!!

 

best name ever

Better than Bum Ho Lee?

hahahahahahah! no! hahahah, but its up there.

Japan defeats Chinese Taipei 14-3 behind another offensive explosion. This one ended after 7 innings.

 

Tonight's 9 PM will see China and Chinese Taipei battle to not go home winless. Japan will battle Korea in the nightcap (6 PM Tokyo time, 4 AM Miami time) for Asian bragging rights, as apparently the two teams despise each other. The winner of the second game doesn't matter, as both have advanced to Pool 1 and second round play.

 

Interesting tidbit from yesterday's broadcast: Korea is among the many countries in the world where military service is compulsory once you reach a certain age. The ministry in charge of sports is trying to pass a law whereas if Korea advanced to the Semifinals of the WBC or better all the players on the roster would be exempt from the service. Gives them some added bonus to win.

even thought he is hitting just .143, Kosuke Fukudome scares the crap out of me

Ichiro's not doing so hot to start the classic either.....when those two click Japan might have a scary, scary offense

Japan's offense, despite from coming from a small ball style of ball, is looking satanic, I'm sure they will slow down against the better pitching nations.

 

Anyone notice those catcher helmets without the bills used by the Asian teams?

Anyone notice those catcher helmets without the bills used by the Asian teams?

Yeah, little league style helmets.

 

The best is the all white helmets the bat boys wear :lol

Taipei defeats China, 12-2, for their first and only victory of the WBC. China goes back to Beijing with their tails between their legs.

 

We're in the top of the 5th inning with Korea featuring men on the corners and two outs, in the middle of a pitching change for Japan. Japan currently leads the game 2-1. Both Japenese runs came early against starter Sum Woo Kim, while Korea got their first run on a sac fly this inning and still trying for more.

 

Soichi Fujita in to pitch for the Japanese.

Korea upsets Japan

Lee's home run in the eighth stuns Tokyo Dome crowd

By Jim Street / MLB.com

 

TOKYO -- Team Korea was getting a taste of its own medicine Sunday and it wasn't real delicious.

 

After winning their first two games in the inaugural World Baseball Classic with terrific pitching, the Koreans ran into a mirror in Team Japan. They were one run behind with one out in the eighth inning and facing hard-throwing left-handed reliever Hirotoshi Ishii when they pulled a proverbial rabbit out of their hats.

 

Jong Beom Lee lined a single to center field and Seung Yeop Lee drove a hanging slider into the right-field seats, giving Korea the runs it needed for a 3-2 victory before 40,553.

 

The largest crowd of the series, 40,553, included Emperor Akihito and his wife.

 

After Lee's long drive put the Koreans ahead for the first time, Chan Ho Park, the most famous pitcher in Korea history, worked a scoreless ninth inning for the save.

 

The Koreans wanted to win the Pool A series finale and gain Far East bragging rights from the first-ever Classic, but they seemed destined for the consolation prize -- a trip to the United States on Monday morning to prepare for the second round of the 16-team tournament, which will be played March 12-16 in Anaheim, as the second seed from Pool A.

 

As the top seed, Korea plays three exhibition games in Arizona -- Wednesday night against the Mariners in Peoria, Thursday night against the Rangers in Surprise and Friday night against the Brewers in Phoenix. A date with the top seed from Pool B (United States, Canada, Mexico or South Africa) awaits Korea in Anaheim on Sunday.

 

Pool B teams begin play Tuesday afternoon with the U.S. playing Mexico at Chase Field in Phoenix and Canada taking on South Africa later that night in Scottsdale. The top two seeds from Pool B advance to Anaheim.

 

Korea played its second game of the Classic without star third baseman and cleanup hitter Dong Joo Kim, who suffered a serious left shoulder injury sliding headfirst into first base in Friday's tournament opener. He wasn't missed in Korea's lopsided victory over China, but surely could have been used in Sunday's win.

 

But in the end, having Seung Yeop Lee there was enough.

 

A pitching staff that includes six Major Leaguers surrendered just one run in wins over Chinese Taipei (2-0) and China (10-1). But single runs in the first and second innings gave Japan an early edge and Korea's hitters were held in check through most of the game.

 

Seven innings into the game, the Korea offense consisted of three singles, three hit batters, one sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly. The only run had scored in the fifth inning when Jin Man Park singled, went to second when In Sung Cho was hit by a Shunsuke Watanabe pitch, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly.

 

Wow.

I DVR'd the Korea-Japan game.....wow....great game. Ichiro will have to eat some crow....not only did Korea beat them by they hit him with a fastball in the game.

 

The US better bring their A game, because these teams are playing all out.

DRAMA!!!!!!!!! This is what it's all about!!!!

 

By the way, Koreans hate the Japanese primarily because of WWII when Japan occupied Korea. They've had various wars before that as well. This is like France v. Germany type of thing.

Can't compare France to anybody.......biggest wimps on the planet. I don't think Japan would mess with Korea now.....Korea could make them disappear in a cloud.