The fact that Karim Garcia broke a bat over his leg during tonight’s Lotte/Hanwha game isnt’ really the item here. A bat over the leg is always mildly amusing, and probably worth an appearance Sportcenter’s Top 10, but what I really liked was the reaction by the Korean announcers, who really ate it up. In fact, before the inning was over the producers had found clips from each of the five other times Garcia had broken a bat over his leg during the season.

You might remember Garcia was the top vote getter for this year’s KBO all-star game with over a million votes. I think his hot blooded machismo appeals to Koreans. I can’t imagine a Korean breaking a bat over their leg during a game, but I bet 80% of the players think about doing it. Garcia does it. Maybe that’s why fans love him.

Later in the game Karim had a two run single to break a 2-2 tie. Lotte went on to win the game 7-3  . Lotte made another move today, signing David Cortes  (very impressed his Wiki page is already updated with the Lotte signing), who had  a flippin’ amazing run with the Diablos Rojos del México (Mexico City Red Devils), who just last week won the Mexican League championship. Through 44 1/3 innings Cortes allowed just two runs, good for a 0.20 ERA. He also saved 25 games. Nice to see a player that posts such amazing numbers get some automatic gratification.

I did a little research on the Mexican League, which I don’t ordinarily follow, but Mexico will have another  entry in next year’s WBC so it’ll behoove us to take a closer look at some point. Also pitching for the champion Diablos is Elmer Dessens, who won 10 games against two losses with an ERA a touch over four.

The Mexican team was an extremely veteran squad in 2006 and you may remember they actually finished at the top of pool B, besting the United States (despite losing to the Americans 0-2) via tiebreaker due to the American team’s 8-6 loss to Canada.  Mexico later beat the U.S. 2-1 in Round 2, but lost to both Korea and Japan. Vinny Castilla was the captain. Can’t imagine he’ll be back. Garcia was on the team as were Dessens, Cortes, Jorge De La Rosa, Oscar Villareal, Dennys Reyes, and Adrián González, who I suspect will lead the team next year. You can see the rest of the roster here. It’s not too bad. Nearly all the guys have MLB experience.

There was a story that Garica’s year  in Korea was drawing some MLB interest. Honestly, I like the guy, but seriously folks. I guess if a  team is looking for a 20-25 HR guy with an OBP in the low .300s, Karim might fit the bill.  Hey, wait a minute…did I just hear  someone say Cincinnati Reds? He  definitely won’t clog the bases like Adam Dunn did. He’s like Dunn without all those boring walks.  

Going into tonight’s game Garcia  has a .265/.334/.549 line with 26 HRs and 87 RBI. I like him right where he is  in  Busan.  He should stay there for another four years. He should be satisfied making  a cool 200-300K per, and drop a championship at the feet of the most deserving fans in Korea, just like Felix Jose did some 10 years ago. My guess is Garica hand-picked Cortes for this team. He obviously has a lot more sway than he’d have in other places.

One final note — while perusing through the Korean wire stories I came across this photo:

Just a warning…if I see anyone with one of these at an actual game you’re getting a  can of Hite  on your head. You’ve been warned.