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2 <!DOCTYPE message PUBLIC
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5 <heading>FEV!PREVIEW-KOR-TPE
</heading>
7 <schedule_id>3</schedule_id>
8 <category>Previews
</category>
11 WBC Game Preview from The Sports Network
14 <hteam>Chinese Taipei
</hteam>
15 <visitorprob record=
"0-0" ERA=
"0.00">Korea - Chan Ho Park
</visitorprob>
16 <homeprob record=
"0-0" ERA=
"0.00">Chinese Taipei - Lin Ying-jei
</homeprob>
20 (Sports Network) - The much ballyhooed World Baseball Classic gets underway
21 today with the first of six games in Pool A, as Korea and Chinese Taipei open
22 the tournament at the Tokyo Dome.
26 Korea enters the tournament as one of the favorites in its pool thanks to a
27 roster that includes several Major League ballplayers, most notably
28 righthander Chan Ho Park.
32 Park, probably the most famous pitcher in Korean history, has spent
12 years
33 in the majors and posted a combined
12-
8 mark last year with a
5.74 earned run
34 average with the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres.
38 The
32-year-old hurler joins two other big league pitchers on Korea's staff,
39 as Jae-Weong Seo and Sun Woo (Sunny) Kim join Park in the rotation.
43 Byung-Hyun Kim, who made a career-high
22 starts for the Rockies last season,
44 will likley handle the closing duties and has previous international
45 experience with Korea's Junior National team (
1996) and the National Team
50 New York Mets' reliever Dae-Sung Koo will also see time.
54 Korea's offense will be led by first baseman Heep Seop Choi, who has belted
40
55 home runs during his four MLB seasons. Also, Seung-Yeop Lee, who will split
56 time with Choi at first and at designated hitter. hit
56 home runs in his last
57 Korea Baseball Organization season, is coming off a solid
2005 season in Japan
62 Centerfielder Yong-Taik Park will set the table, as well as provide some power
63 from the top of the lineup for the Korean squad. Last year he led the KBO with
64 90 runs scored and
43 stolen bases.
68 Chinese Taipei, meanwhile, is considered a longshot to make it to Round
2,
69 especially since two of its top players opted to skip the event.
73 New York Yankees righthander Chien-Ming Wang, who is returning from a shoulder
74 injury, decided to pull out and concentrate on the start of the MLB regular
75 season, while first baseman Chen Chin-feng, who likely would have been the
76 most productive hitter in the lineup, will miss the event because of a nagging
81 With Chin-Feng sidelined, Chinese Taipei's power will come from Chia-Hsien
82 Hsieh, who belted
23 home runs and drove in
74 runs for the Macoto Cobras last
83 season with the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Infielder Tai-Shan
84 Chang, who has
154 home runs in a
10-year professional career, could also
89 Southpaw Lin Ying-jei is expected to get the starting assignment in the
90 opener. Last year with the Cobras, Ying-Jei posted a
12-
10 mark with a
2.33
91 ERA in
212 innings. He also fanned
174 batters.
96 <time_stamp>March
1,
2006, at
12:
42 PM ET
</time_stamp>