Recently called-up lefty Ni Fu-te made his MLB debut today in a mop-up role in a 7-1 loss to the Athletics. He fanned three, showing the stuff that makes him an intriguing pitcher, but also gave up a bomb to Ryan Sweeney. The final line: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 HR, 0 BB, [...]

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Jeremy Brahm, who I mentioned having had an interesting email exchange about KBO uniforms with, has finished the first in what will be a two part series for Uniwatch. Co-written with the site’s Phil Hecken, this initial piece is a comprehensive look at the current KBO uniforms, which includes home/away jerseys, as well as the [...]

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Another sign out of Taiwan this month, as the PIttsburgh Pirates inked small, speedy outfielder Chi Ping-hong out of Shiyuan High School to a minor league contract. Chi bats left-handed, stands at a fringy 5′7 (!) and weighs in at 145 pounds. He gets well above average run times and has a knack [...]

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The Korean media is reporting that CJ Nitkowski has been claimed by Doosan. Funny thing is, I don’t think CJ himself knows this yet. He’s currently on vacation in Japan and Twittered that he’s waiting to hear if he clears waivers, saying “if I clear I’ll stay in Japan for a while before I head [...]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966cDP4trsk

Not official yet, but sources indicate that pitcher Ni Fu-te will be called up to the Detroit Tigers from AAA Toledo early this week. Ni put up sharp numbers for the Mud Hens–he was 3-0 with a 2.65 E.R.A. with 32 K’s to 9 walks and a 1.15 WHIP in 34 innings pitched.
Ni, the [...]

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This reminds me of one of my all time favorite EWC posts about Jose Lima secretly perving out on some Kia cheerleaders as they dance atop the dugout. Karim Garcia isn’t being so discreet as he ogles at some ceremonial bat girls in Busan, but this is nearly as funny.

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Probably old dope for those of you in the states, and it’s hoops, not baseball, but this story hits home since a. it’s my hometown team and b. it involves the fine line of blogging vs. secrecy/insider sports information that I walk every day as both a journalist and MLB scout.  The always excellent TAN [...]

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On the heels of its now infamous losses to China in the Beijing Olympics and WBC, Taiwan’s international rep took another one on the chin this week when it learned it likely will no longer be invited to participate in the Asia Series. Despite putting up competitive teams, The CPBL winners’ presence in the [...]

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Gary, Indiana’s finest. Dead at 50. Thanks for the memories — for being The Beatles of the 80s, and for being one of the strangest, truly unique characters pop music has ever seen.

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Some nice props for all three. And some very extensive coverage by MLB.com.
On Tazawa:
Tazawa has had an impressive start to his first season of professional baseball. In 14 starts for Double-A Portland, Tazawa is 7-4 with a 2.92 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .225 against him.

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The Cubs continued their spending ways in Taiwan this week, signing Nan Ying high school second baseman Chen Pin-chie to a minor league deal. Pin Chie was the big ticket offensively this year in Taiwan, and reportedly received a signing bonus upwards of 300,000.
Taiwan Baseball has the lowdown and videos.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd3eu6R1oTs

Twins minor league outfielder Lin Wang-wei homered and drove in two runs Tuesday–his first home run as a pro–leading the GCL Twins to a win in their first game of the season against the GCL Rays. The 6-0 190 Outfielder struggled in 2007 and 2008 due to injury, but is healthy again and has [...]

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Jung Soo-keun made his first appearance for the Lotte Giants minor league team today. Here’s a very extensive photo reel of the big day. He walked once and stole a base. I’ve joked about Jung recently, but I actually don’t have a big problem with the KBO reinstating him. He’ll bring some excitment to the [...]

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I’ll admit I was quite smitten when I saw the publicity shots for the new Girls Generation album/single/whatev’. Again, G.G. aren’t meant to be a flock of hotties, rather, they’re meant to represent a panorama of cute Korean women — the kind of girls you or I could actually meet while walking down the street [...]

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I
I woke up a couple weeks ago and looked at myself in the mirror. There’s no denying it now. I’ve got….the scout’s body.
A good scout’s body is not an easy thing to cultivate. It’s a process of continuous refinement including constantly eating out, trips to Friday’s and Outback, living out of a [...]

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It’s a frequently used scouting quip — he’s got some sack, usually referring to pitchers who aren’t afraid of throwing inside or coming right at a hitter. The term is a bit intuitive, but whatever. These are woodblock prints created by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) of Tanuki (raccoon dogs) using their large scrota in all [...]

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Here’s some dudes at a recent KBO game. By the color of the seats I’m guessing this is Lotte, but I’m not sure. This was passed along from Dan.
The weather in Korea has turned hot and muggy. It’s chang-mal, which is the rainy season. I hope these guys got rained on. Just because.

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There was a ridiculous photo of me scouting on the front page of the Gwangju Ilbo yesterday. I’ve taken the liberty to cut out my boss and the crowd around us to protect the innocent.
The photographer keyed in on us for about 15 minutes, while I did my best to look professional and serious. Then, [...]

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The Boise Hawks class-A short season started today and Ha Jae-hoon (photo above), Lee Hak-ju and Jung Su-min all on the team. The fact they’re all starting in Boise and not at rookie-level or extended spring, is fairly remarkable given their ages and the fact that they were all playing high school baseball in Korea [...]

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And that’s a wrap. CJ Nitkowski, after being sent to the Korean minors for a third time, has left SK. He relayed the news on his blog in a post dated June 20. I’d attach some quotes, but he’s switched to a weird template that doesn’t allow copying and pasting.

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