Exploring Korean baseball online

Previous posts on a recent baseball visit to Korea included planning and logistics in addition to reviews of stadiums.  Here I provide resources for your own online exploration of Korea baseball.

The Korean Baseball Organization website features schedules, standings, rosters, stats, and links to each of the league's ten team websites.  

Jamsil, Gochoek, and Munhak: Seoul's baseball stadiums

From top: Jamsil, Gocheok, Munhak

Having just returned from a long weekend in Seoul featuring three baseball games at three stadiums, I provide here a brief review of those venues.  A post outlining planning and travel considerations can be found here.

Three days, three stadiums, three games, six teams: a baseball weekend in Seoul

Thinking of visiting Korea for baseball?  Read on.

The goal was as many games as possible in as many stadiums as possible within a three-day weekend.

Book Review: Reaves, J. (2002). Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia.

Reaves, J. (2002). Taking in a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

Although a bit old by now, this is still the only English book-length treatment of the history of baseball in Asia.  A number of anthologies, such as Baseball Without Borders or Diamonds Around the Globe, cover the development of baseball within the national borders of single countries, including most of those reviewed here, but none of them cover Asia as a region.  Unfortunately, Reaves does not either.  It seems he tires, but for whatever reason – demands of the publisher, requirements of his thesis adviser, or difficulty in conceptualizing the approach – he falls back on a country-by-country review. The manuscript began life as a PhD thesis in Philosophy, a field not known for engaging with sport. Those disinterested in or averse to discussions on the nature of existence, knowledge, or ethics need not worry; there is nothing of this in Reaves’ book (suggesting the University of Hong Kong has a rather broad conception of philosophy).

Korean baseball rocked by game-fixing scandal

Korean baseball was last week stung by a police investigation into gambling and game-fixing that has resulted in 19 indictments, including seven current or former pitchers. as well as two executives of the KBO's NC Dinos, a team that appeared in this year's Korea Series.

Of the infringements cited is the case of a pitcher in 2014 taking money to deliberately walk batters.  According to police, the deception was discovered by team management but covered up so that the player could later be traded.   NC Dino management denies a cover-up, saying their own investigation produced no irrefutable evidence.  It has nevertheless suspended the two indicted officials pending court proceedings.  KBO management is likewise waiting on court outcomes before announcing penalties, which could include lifetime bans.

Korea KBO Series 2016

More fall championship baseball is available from the Korean Baseball Organization, which last week completed its annual best-of-seven series, this year between the NC Dinos and Doosan Bears.  If you have a suitable broadband connection, all games are available as VOD through afreeca.tv.  No registration or fees are currently required.  From my location streaming was choppy and sometimes stopped altogether.  An alternative for those with similar issues, or who don’t care about watching complete games, are condensed versions of about 10 minutes each from SpoTV available on Youtube and linked below.

Of this years's three Asian series, Japan’s was most suspenseful, going a full seven games.  Taiwan’s series ran six games and included a surprising come-from-behind victor, while the Korean series lacked much contention or drama.

For a text summary of the Korean series, see here.  For Youtube links, click Read More.