Welcome to Hwa-ting Sports! I am your host Mr. S. Our show focuses on all things Korean sports with irreverent takes and 100% accurate never wrong sports commentary. Special episodes as the need arises. And with that, say it with me, 1-2-3 HWAI-TING!!!


Today on the show, we’re talking about Baseball! It’s that time of year again! The sound of bats hitting balls, the sound of fans cheering, and the smell of dried squid wafting around your seat. We’re going to look at the teams this season and what I think their chances are of making the postseason. Naturally this will involve a lot of ass-pulls to the point where you will see my colon *joke sting* but when am I ever wrong? 


Team comparison

We’re going to start with my favorite team because they won the Korean Series last year. The Kia Tigers, baby! *Cheering sounds* Can they repeat their magical run from first place this year? I’m going to be realistic here and say quote “probably not” unquote. They’ve lost Socrates and his catchy theme song Narco to the Dominican Republic league, but his performance last season was a bit iffy so the team sought out other players. They brought in Patrick Wisdom, a former MLBer who last played for the Chicago Cubs a few years ago. The team also re-signed ace pitcher James Naile, so we’ll see if his nose has recovered enough for full-time pitching. Surprisingly, they kept Yang Hyeon-Jong, whom I thought would be hanging up the cleats after such a long career. I know I would’ve ended it on the high note of winning a Korean Series at his age. Anyway, looking at the stats of the pitchers KIA currently has, plus the few they’re getting back from the military team, I’m not convinced they have a chance of repeating as the #1 seed. Naile will probably repeat some of his pitching success but I don’t believe it for the rest of the staff. Their bullpen has some good arms like Jo Sang Woo and Choi Jin Min, so it’s possible they’ll remain in contention. On a side note, Kia has won the Korean Series 12 times and is undefeated. If they make it to the series, it’s practically a foregone conclusion, but if they’re stuck in the wildcard, then anything can happen. The experts believe they will win it again just because their hitting is so much better than everyone else’s. They’re the Yankees of Korean baseball. So many people love them and so many people love to hate them, although not as much as the actual Yankees. 


Baseball sound effect

Last year’s runner-up was the Samsung Lions. It’s been a while since they were good enough to make it to the series, so let’s find out if they are good enough to come back. So far, looking at the roster on MyKBOStats, they’ve brought in Ariel Jurado from Kiwoon and Choi Won-Tae from the Twins to bolster their pitching but the bullpen remains a problem. Of special note is Choi’s choice of theme song- the time is now by John Cena. Park Byung-Ho is still playing the infield even though he’s 39 I think but they still have Diaz under contract. This could be a good year for the Lions if their outfield continues to deliver and they fix their bullpen issues. Unfortunately, Coach Park is in the last year of his contract and two of their good players are starting the season with injuries. In MLB terms, I’d say they’re like the LA Dodgers, especially with their big backer in Samsung- though their salaries haven’t always matched up.


Baseball sound effect 

Naturally we can’t forget the LG Twins, especially since they won the series in 2023. They’ve kept infielder Austin Dean and pitcher Eliezer Hernandez, and brought in Jang Hyeunsik from Kia. But they had to give up Kang Hyojong as compensation. If Ko Woo-seok returns to Korea, then they’d also automatically get him back. So LG remains a strong contender, but they still have skill gaps between the backups and starters. I suspect they’ll make a trade at some point in the middle of the season to get a more talented backup in their bullpen or infield. In MLB terms, they’re like the Braves or the Red Sox.


Baseball sound effect

Next up are the Doosan Bears. The Bears used to be a good team but lately they’ve been struggling to be relevant. I was mad at them for being the first team to lose in the wildcard card. Longtime infielder Kim Jae-Ho retired, and they released a bunch of pitchers along with all of their foreign players. Joining the team are pitchers Cole Irvine of Orioles fame and Zach Logue with a u and e of the Dodgers, and outfielder Jake Cave of the Rockies. They couldn’t get Hatch because of health issues, so Logue was a make-up for that miss. Fortunately, they got Shin Min Cheol back from the Army team to bolster their infield as well as a free-agent signing. But they’ve overhauled their coaching offices and appointed Japanese coach Koji Goto, who’s been there a long time. So it’s not a complete clean out but things had to change in GM Lee Seung Yeop’s mind. Let’s see how well they actually perform with this shuffling. I think they’re going to have some growing pains. Because they’re occasionally good, I’d say they’re most like the San Francisco Giants or Philadelphia Phillies.  


Baseball sound effect

Let’s talk about last year’s surprise, the KT Whiz. They beat out the SSG Landers to get into the playoffs then shocked the nation by beating Doosan to advance in the playoffs. Can they do it again this year? They kept pitcher Cuevas and outfielder Rojas, and brought in pitcher Emmanuel de Jesus from Kiwoon. It should be noted that on his jersey he has H E Y S U S so if you type J E S U S you’ll get the wrong person. Anyway,  they lost a few players to the military and promoted Kim Taehan to head coach, which makes this another team going through a lot of changes. Their catcher Jang Sung Woo is also in a contract year so we should expect him to play well but left fielder Kim Minhyul’s hamstring is still bad so there will be some platooning at that position. I don’t see them making the playoffs this year but hey anything can happen. They’re the youngest team and so I think they are most like the Colorado Rockies. 


Baseball sound effect

Next up on our tour of the league is the SSG Landers. SSG means ShinSaegae the conglomerate that owns Emart. The Landers barely missed the playoffs and that’s got ‘em wanting more. Choo Shin Shoo retired and joined the front office. They’ll get back promising infielder Kim Geon Wong from the military and brought in Mitchell White of Giants and Brewers fame to boost their pitching staff. On Namu Wiki the fans say he resembles Park Chan Ho, since he’s Korean-American. I…don’t see it. These fans need stronger glasses *joke sting* Also they threw 3 billion won at pitcher Kim Gwang Hyun, which wasn’t a good idea so they better put all the insurance on his arm! Anyway, I think they can be a surprise team if their younger players develop and their older players can still perform. However, White and Jae Hoon are both coming out of spring training recovered from minor injuries and now home run king Choi Jeong is down, so if you’re a fan, you’re going to be watching them with baited breath. SSG is kinda like the Cubs or the Twins and not for good reasons.


Baseball sound effect

And now we come to the dreadful teams, but will they be dreadful this year? Let’s ask that question of the Lotte Giants. They are still in a quote “Dark Age” but at least they weren’t in last place. Their foreign players were really good and they decided to bring back pitcher Barnes and outfielder Reyes and sign Davidson from the Orioles. However they still have Jeon Jun Hoo at DH who is underperforming his expensive contract. We’ll have to see if their rebuild is going to improve things but I’m not giving them more than 6th place. They are struggling a lot these days so I’m thinking they’re like the Marlins or the Mariners. 


Baseball sound effect

There’s a surprise with the next entry in our discussion- the Hanwha Eagles. First, they’re opening a new stadium this season! It’s in the same area as the old one in Daejeon so you don’t have to change your map markers. I guess that’s more helpful to me than you since I’m the one who gets lost all the time *joke sting*. But anyway, they weren’t at the bottom of the standings last season, which feels like a first to me. This season they go in without catcher Kim Kangmin who retired last season. There’s a lot of controversy about how he wound up on the Eagles during the 24 draft that we could cover in the future if any viewers are curious about, but let’s just say for now it wasn’t his idea to leave SSG. For this year, they’ve renewed pitcher Weiss and brought in Ponce and outfielder Floral. They’ve also got a literal boatload of players coming back from the military, including a few Sangmu players. I think they released a bunch of players as a result of the roster changes. As far as this season goes, they’ve got a lot of issues with their cachers’ ages. Age is also a problem for the ace Ryu Hyun Jin- now there’s a name you probably haven’t heard in a long time. Their inflield’s alright at the very least. I think having all these young prospects gives Hanwha an option. Perhaps if they’re in the middle of the pack by mid-July, they’ll consider trading for a big name player from a struggling team that doesn’t think they’ll make the playoffs. The experts at the Donga Ilbo believe they can get in as they have a lot of motivation this year. Hanwha used to be good in the 90s so I believe they’re most like the LA Angels or Cleveland Guardians. 


Baseball sound effect

Oh, the Dinos- what can we say about the Dinos? They’ve collapsed since their surprise victory in 2020! Since then they’ve only made the playoffs once. They’ve replaced the coach, who ironically also gave a speech at my workplace. I think he got fired after the speech too. Coach Kang! If you can hear this, come work for us! Our baseball team is bad at best! Anyway, the new coach is planning an unconventional leadership method. According to ManiaReport, Coach Lee plans to fine himself 1 million won for each mistake he makes. Yeah he gonna be broke by the end of the month *joke sting*. Anyway, the Dinos are bringing in all new Foreign players, with infielder Davidson being their biggest signing. They’re getting back a bunch of young players from the draft including Park Seongjae and big name pitcher Koo Changmoo. Will NC improve this year or will they continue to rebuild from the bottom? I believe their success will be determined by their pitching staff. If they keep runs down, NC has a chance. NC is the second newest team in the league, so I liken them to the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals. 


Baseball sound effect

Finally we wrap up with covering the bottom dwelling Kiwoon Heroes, Kiwoon is also the team that plays in the dome, in case you didn’t know. Also they lost Kim Hye Sung to the LA Dodgers but they managed to replace him with Yasiel Puig who returns to the team after a year with Veracruz and the Tiburones. Joining him are Ruben Cardines and pitcher Kenny Rosenburg. With the Sang Woo trade they got a 26 1st round and 4th round and a billion from the Tigers. As far as the season goes, they’re in a decent position to rebound, with strong players at catcher and the return of Puig. I can see them making the playoffs this year as long as their 3rd baseman and their center fielder can perform well. Namu wiki called their 2nd basemen a Muju communist for some reason which is wild but I think that’s a translation error and that they’re going to platoon the 3rd and 2nd basemen positions. This is probably due to Oh Seon-Jin needing surgery and not because of North Korean spies in the outfield or whatever. 


A different baseball sound effect

Also of note, there will be a pitch clock this season. Pitchers must complete their pitches within 20 seconds when there are no runners on base, and within 25 seconds when there are runners on base. The batter must come to the plate within 33 seconds, and timeouts are limited to two per at-bat. If the rules are violated, the pitcher will be penalized with one ball, and the batter with one strike. The pitch clock reduced the average game time by 24 minutes in last year's pilot games. There were some exhibition games with the pitch clock this year, along with the robo umps. These new rules are to prepare players for the World Baseball Classic next year. I’ve always felt the games ran a little long but because of the 10 inning limit, they didn’t drag. There were a few times where umps got confused or weather got gnarly and they had to pause the game to sort out the matter, but incidents like that are few & far between. I believe the bulk of the dead time tends to come between innings and a pitch clock can’t help with that. Another source of dead time are the calls to the bullpen. One of my pet peeves is the lack of foreign closers. (smarmy voice) But they all have to be starting pitchers! It’s tradition *(end voice) Oye….


Interview with streamer Dread

Questions


Worst Persons:

There’s that music again, the worst persons in the sports world! The Nap award goes to…KCC coach for the 11 game losing streak that they just broke on Monday. Are you sure it was Burton’s fault because his team’s closer to the playoffs than yours is? I should be happy they won but at this point in the season, they should just tank and try to get a high draft pick. 

The Radon award goes to…Korea's speed skating team for zero medals in Beijing on Saturday. Fortunately, Choi Minjeong and Kim Gilli managed to win a few medals on Sunday. I have no idea what happened to Kim Gun Woo. It says he won Finals B but there were no other skaters. All that hype on the Korean Times, and y’all laid an egg. I should’ve told people to watch the women’s curling championships at Uijeongbu. 

Plutonium award goes to Me, for saying that ball hockey and field hockey were the same. My mistake was seeing the outdoor version called both terms on some websites. So a fan of the show kindly pointed out my mistake and I feel I should apologize. (record scratch) (Comedic voice) But I’m not! In both sports you hit the ball into the goal with a stick! It’s a distinction without a difference! Now I’m sure the CBHL will shake their sticks at me and it is their right to, but I’m not changing my mind! I’ll gladly own the worst person in sports title for it!


Game of the week!

Let’s see if I can get this right for a change. Tonight we’ve got 1st place SK vs 4th place Hyundai Moebius in men’s basketball at Jamsil. If Hyundai wants to prove to its fans it can hang with the likes of SK and LG, they need to win tonight. The playoffs are coming! My choice for Saturday is the Pro Wrestling Society promotion this weekend called Spring Slam in Dongdaemun Seoul. It’s not every Saturday that you get pro rassling, let me tell you. My pick for Sunday is the 3rd game of the KBO season. They all start at 2PM so pick whichever team you like and tune in on SOOP or your local channel. 


Ending

Thanks for tuning in today! We hoped you learned something new about Korean sports like I certainly did! Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in irreverent takes on Korean Sports. Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get. Don’t forget to rate our podcast 5 stars of course. But don’t do it if you don’t like us. You can email the show at hwatingsportspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment on our various podcast sites. Hate mail will be read aloud on special episodes and ruthlessly mocked. Fan mail will be mocked but in a more wholesome way. And speaking of fans, a shoutout to our listeners in Hamburg Germany! Home of the 50th ranked hamburger in the EU! That’s…both disappointing and impressive for the city that started the prototype of the hamburger! Our next episode will be on the 28th of March and we’re talking about combat sports! Throw some bows! Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! If you want to read our transcript, go to hwatingsportspodcast dot com. Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast dine at Gaucho’s Fiesta! Nestled deep in the mountains of 잊혀진 땅 Gangwon, it combines the completely resistable smoky sauce with the entire livestock product of Brazil and Argentina! You can order 15 versions of smoked steak with 15 different salt varieties and the chefs will argue with each other over which salt is best, right at your table! Also, the meat will come on long skewers shaped like arrows, which will be shot to your table, just like the cowboy movies of times long forgotten! Just remember to gas up or charge your car before your trip, for the roads leaving Gaucho’s have no refueling but plenty of hostile werewolves and chainsaw-wielding libertarians lurking at night! So stop by Gaucho’s and give your hypertension medicine the toughest workout it’ll ever receive! American Cardiologists approve! Until next time, Korean sports fans!


Notes

Something about why Korean baseball teams are not Korean named.

KBO games to hit the big screen for the next two seasons

DreadsROKTV Youtube