Seoul Men

Once again, South Korea is stepping up in the baseball world. There is a professional baseball league in South Korea, mostly about AA level, but getting better every year. There have been Koreans make it to the majors, and now, to be fair to them, we are sending former major leaguers back to them.

This has been going on for years in Japan, and now South Korea is getting in on the action also. So I just want to briefly take a look at some of the former major leaguers making the move. Of course, this means no more sightings, but we have to deal with, don't we.

So, in no particular order, are the players:

Matt Watson

LH-hitting OF'er

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+

2 Seasons 34 71 4 13 5 0 0 7 0 0 3 9 .183 .216 .254 24

now playing for the Doosan Bears


Victor Diaz

RH-hitting OF'er

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+

4 Seasons 147 446 62 114 25 3 24 73 6 2 32 135 .256 .309 .487 106

now playing for the Hanwha Eagles


Brad Thomas

LH Starter/Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP


3 Yr WL .000 0 3 11 5 0 0 1 0 23.7 33 7 18 8 1 9.89 46 2.155

now playing for the Hanwha Eagles


Aquilino Lopez

RH Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

5 Yr WL% .500 6 6 159 0 0 0 69 15 207.3 199 23 82 167 4 3.78 122 1.355

now playing for the Kia Tigers


Chris Oxspring

LH Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

2005 28 SDP NL 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 12.0 9 2 6 11 0 3.75 103 1.250

now playing for the Life’s Good Twins


Roberto Petagine

LH-hitting 1B

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+

7 Seasons 242 366 48 83 17 1 12 54 1 2 63 103 .227 .345 .377 92

now playing for the Life’s Good Twins


Karim Garcia

LH-hitting OF'er

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS+

10 Seasons 488 1463 180 352 44 13 66 212 10 13 81 330 .241 .279 .424 82

now playing for the Lotte Giants


Jon Adkins

RH Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

6 Yr WL% .500 5 5 119 0 0 0 40 0 138.7 155 18 54 81 10 4.54 98 1.507

now playing for the Lotte Giants


Runelvys Hernandez

RH Starter

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

5 Yr WL% .410 25 36 82 82 1 1 0 0 454.7 515 61 188 246 1 5.50 85 1.546

now playing for the Samsung Lions


Francisco Cruceta

RH Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

3 Yr WL .000 0 4 19 3 0 0 9 0 26.0 33 5 20 22 1 7.96 55 2.038

now playing for the Samsung Lions


Mike Johnson

RH Reliever/Starter

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

5 Yr WL% .333 7 14 81 32 0 0 10 2 218.0 254 47 103 147 6 0 6.85 66 1.638

now playing for the Sun Kyung Wyvrens


C.J. Nitkowski

LH Reliever

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H HR BB SO IBB ERA ERA+ WHIP

10 Yr WL% .360 18 32 336 44 0 0 55 3 479.0 519 57 263 347 21 5.37 86 1.633

now playing for the Sun Kyung Wyvrens


Doug Clark

LH-hitting OF'er

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+

2 Seasons 14 11 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 .091 .167 .091 -30

now playing for the Woori Heroes


Cliff Brumbaugh

RH-hitting OF'er

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+

2001 27 TOT 21 46 6 10 2 0 1 4 0 1 3 14 .217 .265 .326 43

now playing for the Woori Heroes


Some of the better known ones. C.J. Nitkowski, Karim Garcia, Runelvys Hernadez and Roberto Petagine.


So that's it. 14 former major leaguers playing in South Korea. I lived there for a year, and had a great time. The guys we have going over there should enjoy themselves. Say hello to Itaewon for me.