Brothers in the big League; Jamsil stadium’s residents
Copy Intro from previous episode
Opening joke
SA: Today on the show, Mr. J joins us again!
JT: *cheering sounds* Thank you thank you, I’m here all weekend but actually i am not going to tigers game tonight!
SA: We’ve got a special for you listeners! Two baseball teams for the price of 1!
JT: We coulda gone with 4 for 10 like 7-11 had in the old days, but Mr. S would’ve passed out by the end of the first round! Lightweight ass *joke sting*
SA: Well that’s my fault for buying all those strong ass Japanese sour beers. 10 percent! That catches up to ya real quick.
JT: So crack open a beer or two as we talk about the LG Twins!
SA: And their roommates the Doosan Bears, who used to be owned by a beer company!
JT: Free beer for all fans woooooo, and Finally we’ll talk about the history and future of Jamsil stadium!
SA: You might need an extra beer with that segment too *beer can opening sound*
LG Twins History and 2 retired players
JT: The first team up is LG, but it wasn’t owned by them at the start. Who was their first owner?
SA: The MBC TV network. At the time they were owned slash under the kinda illegal control of KBS because it was stolen by Park Chun Hee during the 62 coup, then the shares got transferred to KBS in 1981 by Chun Dong Hwan. It’s a whole confusing mess,
JT: JT: How dare you mister S May 18th just passed and you bring up Chun Doo won especially after the Starbucks tank tumbler fiasco this week
SA: but the key takeaway here is when MBC brought in reporter Lee Jin-hee to run it, he wanted a baseball team to compete against KBS. MBC started the Blue Dragons in 1982 as a way to promote the network and get exclusive airing rights, according to what I read on Namu Wiki.
JT: So kinda like Ted Turner, but also if he was governor of Georgia at the same time.
SA: It’s more like the governor stealing TBS from Ted, then making Chris Berman the CEO and he didn’t like ABC so he started the Atlanta Braves.
JT: Wow, this Minneosta Government \opening up a learning center baseball team. It could be in another episode of Business Wars.
SA: Yeah, Ken Burns would need a 10 part special on the KBO. Anyway, the Blue Dragons had a “one weird trick” in their favor.
JT: What’s that?
SA: They were the only pro sports team in Seoul.
JT: What about the football league? They didn’t have a team in Seoul?
SA: The Gong Gong Elephants and the league wasn’t established until 1983. And the league wasn’t popular at all so the Dragons had the whole city and fans to themselves.
JT: Aren’t they also the team that never moved into Seoul or left Seoul?
SA: Correct you are Mr. J!
JT: So in 82 they hired their first players, right? Names like Baek Incheon and Kim In-sik.
SA: Correct! Baek’s story is a bit interesting because he was not born on the peninsula. He came from Wuxi, China. He moved to Korea as a kid, learned Japanese and Korean, then played high school baseball. After graduating, he played with nonghyup’s corporate team and got scouted by the Toei Flyers while in Taiwan for the Asia championships.
JT: I heard he wanted to go sooner but nationalist feelings kept him out.
SA: It took some help from the central government who wanted to improve relations with Japan, but as a stipulation he had to return at some point to do military training. So he joined the Flyers in Japan in 1962 and played in the NPB for almost 20 years. Where he also fought an umpire over bad calls and you can see a picture of it online.
JT: And there’s more to the story, ain’t there?
SA: Oh yeah, remember that military service part? Well, it turns out he was recruited into the K-CIA for his training. The Japanese government found out and the Diet members wanted to kick him out. The Korean embassy told the media he wasn’t a spy and the embassy job was a fake one. But yeah….
JT: He was a spy, wasn’t he?
SA: *laughing* Oh hell yea! So were other famous celebrities, according to leaks from former KCIA employees. I keep telling y’all early KBO history is hella wild.
JT: So when did he start playing in Korea?
SA: In 1982 when the league opened up. At the time he was 41, and the Dragons didn’t have a head coach. So he became a player manager like Frank Robinson and Pete Rose. He hit .412 in 72 games the first season which is better than Ted Williams.
JT: How much of that was due to fewer games and bad record-keeping?
SA: He was also the manager so he didn’t have time to play every game. Sure the fewer games helped, but I don’t think it was a deciding factor. It’s more likely everyone he played against just weren’t that experienced.
JT: It’s true that he led them to a winning record. But the leadership cut him off the next season. Why?
SA: So Coach Baek had a lot of experience playing pro ball in Japan and brought the small-ball philosophy with him. And the front office did not have the experience. They used to complain about him a lot and shit on his suggestions. Quote "Why is the director useless for the club?" unquote.
JT: I’m not sure whose fault it was to draft two players who couldn’t even play that year because of the World Baseball Championship. It’s like in college football when a team redshirts some freshmen position players then ooops!
SA: Ooops our first string and second string are out with injuries! What do we do now???? So, the Dragons underperformed based on the supposed strength of their roster. Big surprise there. Coach Baek resigned but stayed with the team as a player. The Dragons played well under Yoo Baek-man and later Kim Dong Yeop but Baek struggled with injuries-
JT: And his affair getting leaked to the press.
SA: And he was traded to Sammi Superstars which had Wonder Woman as their mascot because nobody cared about copyright back then. Anyway the Dragons played well in 83, won the second half title then went to the Korean series against Haitai. We talked a little about it in the last episode, but there was also drama on the Dragons side.
JT: In relation to the coach?
SA: No, it was because manager Kim Dong-yeop promised the players a bonus of 5 million won per person for winning the second half title, but the front office thought that amount was for a Korean Series victory and only paid 1 million won for the title. So the players felt lied to. And then the Dragons wanted to practice at Konkuk’s field but MBC President Lee Woong-hee told the team quote It would not be good for others to ride back and forth in downtown Seoul on a bus with the baseball team's mark clearly drawn on it when we don't know if His Excellency, who went to Burma, is alive or dead, so rest quietly. unquote.
JT: So basically, the Dragons went into the series with at least 1 hand tied being their back and not exactly motivated to win. No wonder they lost in 5 games even though they had the better pitching.
SA: And that’s pretty much the highlight for the Dragons, such as it was. All those incidents and slights made the players mad and Coach Dong-yeop was replaced by the Dong-a university coach, which didn’t help. The team was bad after that even though they constantly drafted well. They never made the playoffs after that.
JT: And then to add insult to injury, they had to start sharing the stadium with the Bears in 1985. At least they can say they are the true Seoul team. The fans are quite adamant about it.
SA: They had to have something to be proud of. Anyway, MBC was running out of money by 89 and put the team up for sale. The Lucky Goldstar group had a sports management corporation at the time and swooped in to get the team.
JT: Why did they change the name to Twins? Blue Dragons is a pretty fire name.
SA: I’ve heard two conflicting reasons why. From friend of the show Coffee Jo-ah, he heard it was because the two ownership families Goo and Huh combined to make Lucky Goldstar and ran it together like twins so the team became the Twins. But I’ve also read on Namu they named the team after the company’s twin towers on Yeoido.
JT: It’s probably a combination of both stories.
SA: So LG kept Coach Baek, and they went into the season with some hope compared to last year. However that hope quickly faded when several players were out with injuries and 2 good players due to car accidents.
JT: When did anti-lock brakes and airbags become a thing?
SA: The 80s but I don’t know when Korean cars got them. On a side note you can buy Kias and Hyundais in Latin America that don’t have airbags. They’re not required there.
JT: I’d rather not have a radio than an airbag but that’s just me.
SA: Anyway, LG got off to a terrible start and things got so bad 100 fans protested in front of the stadium and called for Coach Baek’s dismissal. After that protest, the team improved and they caught up with Haitai.
JT: And that led to the August 26 stadium brawl between 1000 Haitai fans! There’s a picture of one fan beating the shit out of another with a metal folding chair like he’s in a TLC match!
SA: Tables, Ladders, CHAIRS!
JT: Oh my! WWE had to get its material from somewhere.
SA: Never thought that somewhere would be the KBO! Anyway, LG got a little lucky and took first place in September, then faced Samsung in the Korean Series. Samsung went through the utter gauntlet of Binggrae and Haitai to get there so their tanks were pretty low by then. LG swept all 4 games for their first ever championship.
JT: And of course, they went into a slump for 3 seasons afterward.
SA: I wouldn’t say a complete slump though. In 93 under Lee Kwang-hwan they made the playoffs but lost in a dramatic playoff series against Samsung. But that set the stage for 94 in which they won the regular season championship then won the Korean Series resoundingly against the Dolphins.
JT: The 90s were kind of their high point. They made the playoffs fairly often and won twice.
SA: Yeah, they kept running into the juggernaut that was the Tigers. They had a chance against the Hyundai Unicorns but even that was fleeting when they got drubbed twice by them in the 6 game series.
JT: And then they went into the doldrums but in the early 2000s they were good. What happened?
SA: In 2000 they won the regular season championship but were in 4th place. Yes I know how it sounds but hear me out.
JT: Oh this is gonna be good…
SA: So the league was split in 2 with 4 teams in the Magic League with LG and 4 in the Dream league. Because the two leagues were still playing each other regularly, there was no point in splitting the league up and fans got annoyed. Anyway, LG had to play Doosan in the first round because Doosan was second place in the Dream league. A dream matchup, right *joke sting*. They got whooped in 6 games. We shouldn’t be surprised since Doosan actually had a better record than LG that season.
JT: They went to the Korean series again in 2002. Did they finally close it out?
SA: Hahaha no *joke sting*. They got beat by Samsung. And that was the start of their dark age. They didn’t even make the playoffs again until 2013.
JT: But lately they’ve been much better. They won in 2023, made the playoffs in 24, then won it all again last year.
SA: Only took them 29 years to figure out how to win consistently. Makes me think of the Minnesota Twins. They haven’t had much luck since the 90s either.
JT: LG’s been good ever since they brought Yeom Gyeong-yeop from the TV circuit. When he got hired as manager I heard there were so many complaints the Twins turned off the comments box. *Laughing* They were a bit tired of the funeral jokes especially so soon after the Itaewon Halloween disaster. LG Twins fans can be a bit dramatic at times.
SA: That’s when they got Austin Dean and Park Dong Won. Two players we can talk about in the next segment.
LG’s 2026 team
Let’s cover catcher Park Dong Won and how he got Kia’s GM fired, as well as Austin Dean, LG’s closer pitcher Yoo Young-chan underwent elbow surgery and is out. Fourth batter Moon Bo-gyeong collapsed from an ankle injury on Children’s Day and will be out for 4 to 5 weeks. Mun Seong-ju, a 0.366 batting average contact hitter, is also injured. Top batter Park Dong-won (0.229), Oh Ji-hwan (0.250), and Shin Min-jae (0.230) are struggling.
One foreign pitcher has a 6.00s ERA due to injury and poor performance. Yeom had said “May is also about enduring. We’ll have our full strength in June.”
JT: The first player I wanna talk about is catcher Park Dong Won. Dong Won joined the team after a year at Kia and the circumstances behind the deal were wild.
SA: This mess involves the Kia Tigers. Apparently he was caught on tape trying to extort 200 million won from Park during free agency negotiations between him and the Twins. He tried to pass it off as a joke, but the KBO felt it was bribery and Kia fired him, then the police pressed charges. It should be noted that the GM was found innocent in court of breach of trust charges “we know how the Korea justice system works”, though he hasn’t worked in baseball again.
JT: Probably because he was banned by the league. What was the exact reason the court gave for the verdict?
SA: It’s a bit complicated but it stems from corporate rules and whether or not the request actually constituted a bribe. There was a case involving a coffee sponsor that bribed Jang as well but the rules regarding that are also messy. But anyway we’re going off-track.
JT: Right, let’s talk about the team. They’re in 3rd place at the time of recording but have been off in the games I have been watching. Doing a win one lose one routine and it hasn't looked easy, almost blew a 5-1 lead compliments of former KIA pitcher Jang Hyun SIk giving up a grand slam to Choi Ji Hoon of SSG in bottom of the 8th but went on to win in the ninth, Also got blown out Tuesday by KIA thanks to 3 homerun effort by Kim Ho Ryong and LG starting pitcher Tolhurst being ejected in the first after giving up a dinger to Park Sang June and then throwing a fastball to KIA all star Kim Do Young and it hit the brim of his helmet. It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the reigning Champs but lets talk about some of their issues and players.
SA: Unfortunately for LG, they got some health issues holding them back. First off they lost their closer Yoo Young-chan for the year with elbow surgery. Moon Bo-gyeong is out until June with an ankle injury. One of the better hitters Mun Seong-ju is injured.
JT: Everyone’s falling apart like most of my LG products Mr. S.
SA: Jang Hyun-sik, their big-money reliever, and Ham Deok-ju, another big-money free agent reliever, got sent down due to poor performance.
JT: (Gonna riff here) As mentioned earlier Jang Hyun-Sik stealing Churinos’ win, who would have thought throwing 3 changeups down the middle in a row would lead to a grand slam? Former starter Son Ju Young has been stepping in as the closer recently (talk about pitching and confidence)
SA: Despite the team’s lack of pitching confidence, they have the most recorded saves and the third lowest number of given up jacks and their walks per 9 is the best in the league.
JT: Tuesday giving up 6 jacks to KIA didn’t help that, how about their overall hitting?
SA: They’re really lacking power at the plate outside of Dean and Moon Bo Gyeong and their speed is down according to the stats at Statiz. Hong Chang-ki has a 0.100 batting average and a couple of their hitters are barely above the Mendoza line.
JT: They used to be so aggressive on the paths though, but I supposed you have to be on base to show your speed and need to run in better situations when on base..
SA: They’re getting caught a lot. Should start calling them the LG whims cause they are stealing without a good plan. *Joke sting*.
Doosan Bears History and 2 retired players
SA: And now it’s time to cover the LG Twins neighbor, the Doosan Bears.
JT: How much of their history involves lemon soju, bulgogi and dictatorships? Because that seems to be the bulk of KBO history.
SA: The Bears history starts off more like Business Wars, but yes the dictatorship played a big role in why the OB Bears started in Daejeon and not Seoul even though the company was based in Seoul.
JT: This was before the KTX so it’s not like how things are now where you’re only an hour or less between cities and get around them fairly quickly.
SA: Yea like I explained earlier, MBC had the dibs on the Seoul slot because they were effectively owned by the government at that point. The OB company had made noises about starting a team and even founded the Bears before the Dragons got set up. In fact, it’s rumored that MBC had spies slash agents in OB who ratted out their plan and thusly MBC sucked up to the dictator to get the Seoul slot.
JT: Back then there could only be 1 team in each region, so OB was given the Daejeon slot.
SA: We’re back on Business Wars!. Other companies wanted to run a team but Dong-ah construction decided to focus on the 88 Olympics because their chairman was president of the table tennis association.
JT: Talk about Ping Pong Diplomacy for all the wrong reasons! I suppose it’s a good thing he focused on the Olympics but he could’ve handled both at the same time. There’s not much of a table tennis league, whereas there are 5 baseball leagues now. Clear winner here, dawg.
SA: Right you are Mr. J! Also Binggarae wanted a team in Daejeon but their chairman died in 81 without a will so they were effectively porked.
JT: You know what they say when there is no will there is no way, They didn’t have 1-800-make-a-will back then. *Joke sting*
SA: Anyway, OB started in Daejeon and I guess they weren’t too bothered by it because they won the 1st championship in 82, thanks to a 9th inning grand slam by outfielder Kim Yu- dong!
JT: That’s one helluva way to take home a championship!
SA: They didn’t have a great season after that, but in 1984 they had a better season. However, and this is going to sound completely ridiculous, they did not make the playoffs even though they have the best overall record in both halves of the season.
JT: Wait…what?
SA: Ok, so there was this weird situation in 1984 involving first half champion Samsung. We’re gonna talk about this more in the Samsung episode but fundamentally speaking Samsung was trying to help Lotte get the second half crown because they thought it was a better matchup. However, OB was the leading team for a bit of the time and Samsung was scared of OB.
JT: So in late September, that’s when Samsung played terribly against Lotte to improve their chances of winning the title?
SA: Correct! But Haitai didn’t want Lotte to get 1st place because they were a rival snack company so they played terribly to give OB a chance. But Lotte had the inside track and it didn’t help OB.
JT: OK so this would be like number 1 seed Boston losing to Tampa so it would get the playoff spot instead of New York, but then Baltimore loses to New York on purpose because their team owner doesn’t like Boston’s ownership group?
SA: Yeah pretty much.
JT: I wonder how each losing team manager practiced their post games apology in the mirror
SA: If my twelve year old niece was pitching that game, she’d had thrown a no hitter. However, I think many OB fans would agree with that sentiment. Anyway after a 3 year fight, the KBO relented and in 1985 let OB move to Dondaemun stadium in Seoul. This led to the creation of the Binggarae Eagles which I already talked about. But playing full-time at Dongdaemun led to a fight with the amateur organization.
JT: Right, because where were they going to play their marquee games at? It’s not like they have fields all over the city.
SA: However the team promised they would return to Dongdaemun by 1988.
JT: I take it LG was a bit upset about that?
SA: Fun fact…yes. And so was Doosan because the amateur org wouldn’t let them move back to Dongdaemun. LG got annoyed and threatened to leave Jamsil, even planning to build a dome stadium in the Seoul Forest area.
JT: Why didn’t that happen?
SA: LG didn’t have the money for it at first but almost got it going. Then the currency crisis hit and well you know what happened.
JT: Probably an important history lesson… that might repeat itself soon.
SA: Then the team began to struggle though they had some playoff appearances under Coach Kim Seong-geun. The team owner was a bit friendly with the coach and wanted to keep him on as a coach for life, but the rest of the team didn’t like that. Coach Kim wound up leaving in 1988 but Coach Lee took over and that’s when things got really bad for OB. They rotated constantly through coaches and didn’t make the playoffs again until 1993.
JT: But they were heavily favored to win it all in 94 so what happened?
SA: They didn’t play well even though they had some great players and hovered around the middle of the standings. Stress began to build and when they lost to the Raiders in Gunsan on September 4th, coach Dong-gyun Yoon threatened to hit players, and when they refused to be spanked-
JT: Like any normal grown ass man would unless they’re into that kind of stuff-
SA: -the coach told them that any player not accepting the beating can leave them and go back to Seoul. In later interview it is said he meant this as a joke, but he was holding a bat at the time and smiling like a serial killer so yeah *joke sting* no wonder 20 players left the team. The players went up to Seoul by train then met with reporters the next day and their top pitcher Park Chul-soo offered to retire if the coach retired too. That was the Bears Mutiny.
JT: Gotta love these names, huh? Not loving the amount of abuse in early KBO history, but not hating it.
SA: *strong voice* Things were WILD in the ole days! *end strong voice*
JT: Let’s explain to the fans why this crap kept happening in the old days briefly. Coaches like Yoon came from the Japanese style of top-down almost nit-picky management with a flair of military discipline and hazing. But most players like Park came from the western MLB style of player autonomy and self-control.
SA: Yea you really didn’t see it calm down until Son of the Wind Lee Jeon Beom stopped hitting teammates back in the 90s. I think with democracy some of the militarism in sports calmed down too but it took some time. Anyway, with Yoon gone and some of their players on other teams, the baseball world thought OB was rebuilding the following season. But they had other plans. Under new coach Kim In-sik they won the regular season title and then the championship in a 7 game thriller against Lotte. Both teams were well balanced and Doosan had to come from behind to win it all, though not in Game 7.
JT: This was also when the LG curse started. Any team that beats LG in the playoffs goes on to lose in the Korean Series.
SA: Unfortunately for Doosan, this was their high point in the 90s as the team was mostly broke at this time and had to sell off players. They didn’t make the playoffs again until 1999 and that was the same year the ownership changed the name to Doosan.
JT: So Doosan sold it or changed it?
SA: Just changed. At the time OB beer was owned by Doosan, but they decided to change the team to better reflect the company’s construction focus. OB they sold off in 2003. But the new name didn’t hamstring the team and they went to the playoffs but lost to Hanwha. This didn’t hamper them so much and they went to the championship in 2000, then won it in 2001. The Bears struggled after that but after Coach Kim left in 2003, they returned to the playoffs and even the Korean series multiple times in the 00s.
JT: They were kinda like the Buffalo Bills or Cleveland Cavs. Almost always the bridesmaid but only a few times the bride.
SA: They finally won it again in 2015 under Coach 김태형 who led them through the entire playoff ladder to beat Samsung! Back then Dustin Nippert was one of their best pitchers.
JT: That was their Hustle Doo era. I don’t think anyone told them what Doo means in English.
SA: Nippert was out most of the season to injury but he hustled and pitched gems in the playoffs and championship rounds. Doosan returned to the Korean series again in 2016 and won, this time against NC, thus cementing the time as the Doosan Dynasty.
JT: Then they ran into KIA and got smooshed in 2017, then won the title in 18 but lost to the Wyverns in the series, and won it for the last time in 2019. I’d say that’s a pretty good run.
SA: Unfortunately, the team’s success did not help the ownership’s bottom lines and they came close to selling the team. SK sold the Wyverns to SSG but SSG almost bought the Bears from Doosan. The owner in 2021 said he would refuse to sell even if he died.
JT: That’s some dedication for ya.
SA: Doosan got a boost in profit after COVID and greater interest in nuclear power plant construction, and they kept the team. Though they might change their mind after this next segment.
The Crime Bears
JT: Here we go. We’re gonna talk about a culture joke involving the Doosan Bears.
SA: Yeah, on several online communities they’re called the Crime Bears because quite a few players have been accused of serious crimes. Someone made a lineup diagram of all the criminals.
JT: It can’t be that bad! Every team has their bad apples.
SA: There are enough to field a full team with bullpen!
JT: Oh… oh boy. Let’s cue up the baseball sounds!
SA: *baseball hit sound* At catcher, Park Yu-yeon! At first base, Kang Hyeok! Crime…Drunk Driving.
JT: As a team formerly owned by OB what do you expect?
SA: *baseball glove sound* At second base, Lee Jong Min. Crime…Drunk Driving and Death of a police officer.
JT: For which he only got under 2 years in the clink!
SA: *Baseball hit sound* At shortstop, So Sang-young. Crime…. Assaulting teammates with baseball bats.
JT: That’s not the way you prevent errors, my guy, but did it work? haha
SA: *baseball glove sound* At third base, Kim Dong-gyu. Crime…adultery.
JT: Seems a bit minor but at least it wasn't a minor.. What about his backup?
SA: Lee Won Seok. Crime…national traitor for rooting for Argentina in the 2010 World Cup. *joke sting*
JT: Truly a horrific crime in Korea. He wasn’t beheaded in the town square? *joke sting*
SA: *Baseball hit sound* In left field, Yoo Seong Gyun. Crime…rape.
JT: The more serious crimes have arrived.
SA: *baseball glove sound* In center field, Jeong Soo-geun. Crimes… public nudity in Australia after winning the bronze medal. And assaulting a pitcher during the spring training camp in Hawaii.
JT: If he was in Florida public nudity would be totally natural, but no wonder teams stopped going to Hawaii for spring training. Can’t stay outta trouble!
SA: *baseball glove sound* In right field, Kim Jae-hwan. Crime… drug abuse.
JT: Add my least favorite KBO player Oh Jae-Won on the list for that too.
SA: *baseball hit sound* At DH Choi Joo-Hwan. Crime…Instagram trash talking and ball-hogging when he requested a fan return his 1000th hit ball but accidentally doxxed her.
JT: The bear street bullies, Outfield really living up to the reputation.
SA: And now we go to the pitchers. First up is Mike Palmer and DH Troy Neil for brawling in Itaewon when a woman touched Palmer’s ass and his wife threw a drink at her, a brawl started then Troy hit someone with a pool stick.
JT: They didn't try to say they were just US military? It used to work in the old days. Then you're running over the border to North Korea.
SA: *laughing* Yeah that trick stopped working in 2010. But on a side note Neil liked his jail slippers so much he took them home. Then we got Kim Myeong Jae. Crime…drunk driving and breaking his spine.
JT: Gotta lay off the booze, boys! It’s a career killer!
SA: *Baseball glove sound* Finally we got Park Myung-hwan for military draft exemption fraud. Finally for the bullpen we’ve got Lee Yong-chan for drunk driving and hit-n-run, as well as steroid abuse. And off the bench we’ve got Jeong Hyeon-uk for illegal gambling.
JT: Here’s hoping the current Doosan team has stayed out of trouble or should I say the bears staying in the woods.
Bears’ 2026 team
SA: Time to talk about the current team, which has a new head coach. This year’s coach is Kim Won-hyung who coached the Landers to the title in 2022. Unfortunately that magic has not transferred yet. And why is that?
JT: (Perhaps start with introducing the pitching staff) mostly young pitching staff anchored by Gwak Bin but most of their Korean pitchers are on the good side of twenty.
SA: They’ve got Zach Logue, Gwak Been, Choi Seung-yong, Wes Benjamin (who won last night) and Tamura Ichiro. Closer Lee Byeong-heon has 4 blown saves. Choi Ju-hyeong is performing well with no runs given up in 5 appearances.
JT: (talk about specific pitchers)Gwak Bin power pitcher
SA:He had some injuries right?
JT Tommy john surgery out of high school missing first two seasons in 19/20
SA: He missed part of 2025 when partially tearing oblique in spring training. How about his pitching?
JT: A power pitcher standing at 6’2 or 187 cm with a quick fastball hitting the 150 kms
SA: what was his best season
JT 2023 2.90 ERA with a 12-7 record
SA: The papa bear of the pitching staff, though Choi Min-Seok has best ERA in the league at 2.17
I haven’t seen Zack Logue pitch yet but looking at his stats, he’s been giving up a lot of homeruns compared to this time last year but his walks and hits are down. Kim taek yeon their 24 ROY has been out with a shoulder strain (talk about pitching mechanics and the need for rest) and Kris Flexen their 1 million dollar pitcher has shoulder problems. Both should be back in June.
JT: offensive side of the ball two big signings to start the season Daz Cameron and former Kia shortstop Park Chan Ho. However Cameron has been living up to the contract, Chan Ho defensively solid (talk about the hitters like Daz Cameron and Park Jun Soon, they’re the only ones doing anything on the basepaths)
SA: Last week, KIA played Doosan and Park Chan Ho was handing out rice cake before the game to thank KIA fans. Of course he wanted to play well and got frustrated when just missing a tough ball against his former team that was between him and the left fielder.
JT: Ya I am sure he was disappointed to drop that ball, but more importantly 2 games against his former team. Last year he was my favorite KIA player because of his defense (some riffing here) but I wouldn’t have given him the big bucks Doosan game. However Cameron’s a different story.
SA: Cameron’s not as good so far when compared in stats to Austin Dean but he is a bit better than Samsung’s Lew Diaz. That’s good company to be in. I compared Park Jun Soon with Cameron and Kim Do-Yeong of Kia. While Park’s not being scored as often as the others, he is not far behind in hitter quality to Cameron and quite a bit better than Do-yeong.
JT: That’s an almost blasphemous thing to say Mr. S!
SA: The KIA fans will have to relax. It’s Doosan; unless they got a late summer rally in them, I wouldn’t be worried about Park and Cameron.
JT: They’re only a game behind KIA right now.
SA: Still a lot of baseball left to go.
Jamsil stadium history and replacement (we’ll decide if it really needs a dome)
SA: I’ve probably mentioned it twice now-
JT: Try 30 times.
SA: -yeah OK 30 times now. But yes, Jamsil is going away. So let’s talk about the history of the stadium.
JT: It has a wild history, no doubt.
SA: Yes indeed. This stadium has its roots in the Park Chung Hee years. The president ordered Seoul Mayor Koo Ja-chun to build a sports complex in the Jamsil area in the late 70s. At this point in time he was a dictator so I don’t think Koo had the opportunity to say no.
JT: The country was going for the Olympics bid as well so they needed a place to play everything. They couldn’t put it in Yongsan after all.
SA: Yeah imagine if they had. The foot racers would get all confused by the gunshots from the range!
JT: Like, BANG! Huh, is that our gun or their gun?
SA: Screw it, I’m just gonna start running! Don’t give me a penalty; I heard a gun. *Joke sting*
JT: Anyway, the city had money problems in the 70s, so the baseball stadium was put lower on the priority list for the complex. It’s not like they had to rush since the Olympics were in 88 and baseball was not in the olympics at that time. But when LA took it up in 84, that lit the fire under Seoul’s belly to get it done.
SA: It took Hyundai Construction 2 years and 3 months to get it done and it opened to the public in 1982. Guess who played there first?
JT: The Bears?
SA:No, they were in Dongdaemun I think. The first games were a high school baseball tournament with the best 4 teams from around the country.
JT: I would have loved to see the faces on those kids as they entered the stadium.
SA: Because both teams play there now, Jamsil hosts the Children’s Day series in which LG and Doosan play each other. Because Doosan has been better for longer, LG fans have said that taking kids to the game is akin to child abuse.
JT: Gotta love the dramatics. Way to teach the kids proper sportsmanship.
SA: Speaking of which, both teams tend to interfere with each other during warmups and training periods. I remember reading something about team trucks being parked by the batter’s box for some reason.
JT: And now both teams will need to decide some things on the new stadium!
SA: After this season they will be playing in the nearby Olympic Stadium, which has some interesting dimensions. Here Mr. J I’ll send you a picture.
JT: (Talk about the picture in the Chosun)
SA: (Talk about food options) They should set up Doosan Pizza and LG Pizza places inside and have the fans vote for the best one.
JT: And Gom beer as the only option the first season.
SA: Whomever wins the Jamsil series gets to choose the beer company the next season.
JT: Gotta have something to play for!
worst persons
Bulhwa
SA: The bulhwa or Flouride award goes to… NC Dinos first baseman Seo Ho-cheol for an egregious error in the 8th inning of a game against the Lions on May 9th. After Kim Jin-ho entered the game with a 2-2, he gave up a walk and a single then was replaced by Bae Jae-whan. With 2 runners on and an out, the stage was set-
JT: For disaster! Lions hitter Koo Ja-wook hit a dribbler to first base and Seo was all set up for it, probably with thoughts of being the hero playing through his head. Then the ball squirted right under him! I haven’t seen a ball misplayed this bad in pro baseball since Bill Buckner!
SA: He’s gonna have nightmares about that!
JT: This led to Choi Hyoung-woo scoring, then next hitter Byeong-woo sent a liner deep to right-center which scored 2 runs. A simple error blew open the game and 5-2 Lions.
SA: He couldn’t even make it up in the next inning, when he struck out with a runner in scoring position, which made the game 5 to 4 Lions.
JT: Hurting the team in the top and bottom of the inning. Way to earn that fluoride award, buddy. If we find a clip of the error, it will be in the description.
SA: Add catcher Heo In Seo to the award for missing the return throw to the pitcher Hernandez and Kiwoon scoring because the ball squirted into the outfield.
JT: I was wondering why there are clips of Hernandez yelling in the dugout.
Radon
SA: Next up we’ve got the Radon award, which goes to… The joint cheering fan section and the KFA for making things difficult for Suwon Women’s FC against North Korean fake team Naegohyang! According to reports in the Chosun Daily, this is the first time a North Korean team has come to the country this decade.
JT: They don’t stop by that often. Kinda like a neighbor that borrows your riding lawnmower and forgets to return it *joke sting*.
SA: A bunch of unification NGOs and public groups bought up 3000 seats and got 300 million in funds from the Ministry of Unification for cheering supplies, with the purpose of cheering for both teams.
JT: They do realize this is a real match and not a friendly, right?
SA: Considering how tough the North Korean fans were against South Korea last time, you’d figure the fans here wouldn’t want to turn the other cheek. I know we wouldn’t.
JT: There are real stakes in this match. Whomever wins goes onto the final to play the winner of Japan and Australia’s team and there’s a million dollar prize on the line.
SA: There’s always this pull in South Korea towards gestures of unification even when the North ain’t so interested in it. Especially these days. Remember the fiasco with the 2018 joint women’s ice hockey team?
JT: Yeah they stapled on a bunch of North Korean players and told the team “well you ain’t gonna win anyway, so we might as well make this a joint team.” They didn’t ask the men’s team to do this, now did they?
SA: Devaluing a women’s team and cheering against them in their own stands because you want to suck up to the North will get you a Radon Award every time.
Plutonium
JT: And our final failure today is the Plutonium award, which goes to… the taekwondo gym director in Incheon that was arrested for assaulting and attempting to poison her employee’s husband with drugs according to reports in Chosun Daily. Wait a minute… her?
SA: Yeah I thought Upstage AI misgendered people again, but no the Korean side says her.
JT: This is going in an unexpected direction. So in the report, the gym director assaulted her employee’s husband at their home in Bucheon on the 9th with some kinda weapon, then during the investigation they found incriminating text messages between the gym director and the employee. The gym director reportedly stated that they crushed 60 tablets of benzodiazepine-based drugs into powder and put them in the husband’s drinks since he likes to drink alone.
SA: That’s what the Gangbuk Motel Serial killer did last year. One of the few in Korea that weren’t a taxi driver *joke sting*
JT: Everyone’s leveling up their game. Bucheon police might need to hire Dexter *joke sting*.
Anyway the police found tainted alcohol in the husband’s fridge and arrested both the gym director and employee and charged them with attempted murder. The motive remains unknown as of this writing but both suspects apparently stated they have depression and panic attacks.
SA: I can think of better ways to deal with that than attempted murder.
JT: And that’s why, once again, a coach is our Plutonium award winner for Worst Person in the Korean Sports World!
SA: Let’s hope they don’t go 3 for 3 next episode!
GOTW
Steve’s 1st: Softbank Hawks vs Ulsan May 23rd. Steve’s 2nd: Two k-League derby's with Paju vs Gimpo Monday 430PM and Seoul E-Land vs Seongnam Sunday at 7pm.
Justin’s 1st: I will be going to the game tonight so I suggest SSG vs Kia because every other game is top vs bottom or middle vs bottom. Or 2026 Asia Motorsport Carnival in yeongam on the 24th.
SA: The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks minor league team is back in Korea this season and the weekend matchup is against a surprise team.
JT: Yeah they’re playing against Ulsan on the 23rd to the 25th. We saw them play in Gwangju last year and they were an interesting team to watch. Check them out this week if you’ve got time.
SA: What’s on your radar this week?
JT:Unfortunately my NHL Stanley Cups Dreams have been crushed by a game 7 overtime loss, but If you are an MMA fan, keep an eye out just past the weekend. The Road to the UFC Season 5 tournament kicks off next Thursday, May 28, in Macau. Four rising South Korean fighters—Park Bo-hyun, Shin Yu-min, Song Young-jae, and Im Kwan-woo—will be competing for guaranteed UFC contracts.
SA:Here is hoping they Tae Kwan Do it! *Joke sting*
JT; What’s your next pick? Soccer, right?
SA: K1 is down for international friendlies and world cup so we won’t see them again until July. In the meantime, K2 is still running and we’ve got derbys! Paju vs Gimpo Monday 430PM and Seoul E-Land vs Seongnam Sunday at 7pm. If you’re in the Seoul area, you’ve got some fun with cheap tickets!
JT: And finally in the Mokpo area, we’ve got the 2026 Motorsport Carnival at the Yeongam racetrack on the 24th!
SA: It’s part of the Super Race Championship circuit and they’ve allowed Toyotas this year!
JT: About time. What’s the other special part?
SA: They require pit stops for the Gazoo 6000 class race.
JT: What in the world’s a Gazoo?
SA: That race has stock cars based off the Toyota GR Supra. It’s the one with the really low fender, wide body and a rear spoiler.
JT: They should make a special race for taxi drivers. At the start of each race, each driver is told there’s a Nordic passenger waiting at the finish line who needs to go from the airport to Chosun University and he doesn’t know how much things cost.
SA: *laughing* We can call it the Taxi sucker 5000! *joke sting*
Copy Plug for SIM Company from last week’s episode
Ending
Copy ending from previous episode
SA: A shoutout to our listeners in Burlington Vermont! Home of the Vermont Lake Monsters, a college summer baseball team!
JT: Any player that strikes out more than 4 times a game is ritualistically fed to the lake monster! Yeah it’s a custom in that part of New England *joke sting*. Stephen King got a LOT of material out of that lake monster.
SA: We will return on the 5th and I’ll be covering South Korea’s World Cup soccer team! Here’s hoping the high altitude doesn’t leave them breathless, Korean Sports fans!
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast get T-shirts from Joseon X-File T-shirts in always sunny Gwangyang! Did you lose your shirt in a bad future market bed? Get a cheap new one at Joseon X-File! They’ve got the most incoherent Konglish shirts out guaranteed to turn heads and cause traffic accidents! (increase speed) Joseon X-File is not responsible for public shame! Wear at your own social risk!
Notes
Violence at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in 2016
Doosan Bears' Crime problems (so much so that it is possible to create a lineup with only actual criminals, not jokes like a meme.)
Taekwondo Gym Director, Employee Arrested for Drug-Laced Murder Attempt
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uIoaDa1bHFk
Jamsil Dome Stadium Construction Begins: 30,000-Seat Venue Set for 2032 Completion