Overseas baseball is back!

[Awesome Fossum]

KBO Futures League moving to robot umpires:

South Korean baseball's minor league will start using "robot umpires" in August, a league official said Thursday.

The official with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said about 20 games in the Futures League will have the automated ball-strike system in place this season, and it will be used for the entire 2021 season.

The KBO's top league may follow suit as early as 2022.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200604001500315
CPBL Live: Lions 4, Guardians 5 in the bottom of the 7th:

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1mrGmQBbOeVGy

 

[nvalvo]

I'm reading on twitter that my Fubon Guardians have signed Manny Banuelos.

They're about to cubically transform the second-half CPBL standings.

 

[Awesome Fossum]

Amazingly, the Brothers are now 2.5 games up on the Monkeys for first place in the CPBL. Seemed like the Monkeys were going to run away with it.

NPB starts tomorrow! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's a way to watch in the US? Although like the KBO, the 4:00 AM start times are just a tad too early for me here in Texas.

 

[Granite Sox]

Difficult to picture the NPB without fans. Such an amazing part of the experience.

 

[Tokyo Sox]

NPB starts tomorrow! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there's a way to watch in the US?

The two leagues that make up NPB are the Central League and the Pacific League. They operate independently and currently I don't think you can get any CL games outside of Japan. The more forward-thinking PL however has a paid streaming service, about USD 13.50 per month for PL games. The announcing etc is all still in Japanese. Here is tutorial on how to sign up for PL TV:
https://jballallen.com/japanese-baseball-guide/pacific-league-tv/
And here's a decent little rundown of the league from a kid I follow on Twitter:
https://graveyardbaseball.blogspot.com/2020/06/2020-npb-fan-guide-part-ii-pacific.html

 

[Awesome Fossum]

In case you still need a KBO team to root against, the Kiwoom Heroes are signing former MLB All Star and 40-game domestic abuse suspension server Addison Russell.

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200620001700315
View: https://twitter.com/Jeeho_1/status/1274244341096001536

More on Addison Russell with #KBO club Kiwoom Heroes: GM Kim Chi-hyun told me he heard from agent Scott Boras that Russell served 40 games, not 80, because he was punished over a text, not physical act. "What he did was wrong, but not bad enough that he shouldn't play," Kim said.

On the Heroes' pursuit of Yasiel Puig, Kim said, "We felt we had a chance to sign him but he decided to give MLB another shot in 2020."

 

[oumbi]

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEvPgwij7ld/?igshid=1vfptfbujvrjd


Different places, different game.