Korean pro baseball team holds training on Saipan

Division of Sports and Recreation director Joe Lizama announced yesterday that the two ballfields at the Oleai Sports Complex will be closed for local tournaments to give way to the spring training camp of a professional baseball team from Korea.

The LG Twins will be conducting their month-long training at the Miguel “Tan Ge” Basa Pangelinan Ballfield and the Francisco “Tan Ko” Palacios Ballfield for the third straight year, according to Lizama.

He added the Twins will begin their training session this Friday and preparations for the camp had started Tuesday.

“They have staff preparing the grounds and batting cages and the Division of Sports and Recreation staff will assist them,” Lizama said.

The division said added LG Twins are shouldering all the expenses for the preparations of the two ballfields.

Lizama did not know how many players/coaches/staff from LG Twins are coming in for the training camp, but said the team is bringing in their catchers and pitchers on Saipan.

In the LG Twins website, the team has listed 18 pitchers and four catchers. In the same website, the LG Twins announced they are bringing in around 60 people for the training camp, which will conclude on Feb. 14.

With the LG Twins using the ballfields for a month, Lizama is calling on the cooperation of the public, especially baseball players.

“These guys will be practicing almost everyday and you are going to see those baseballs flying so for people coming to the complex and watching the LG Twins train, be extra cautious,” Lizama said.

The LG Twins, managed by Kim Jae-bak, are among the eight teams participating in the 2009 season of the Korean Baseball Organazation.

They are based in Seoul and are formerly known as the MBC Blue Dragons. In 1990, the team changed its name when it was acquired by the LG Group. That same year, the LG Twins won the championship and claimed their second title in 1994.

But the team is now on a 14-year title drought and had its worst finish in the history of the franchise last year placing last with a 46-80 record in the 2008 season.

The LG Twins are hoping to redeem themselves in the 2009 season, which will begin in March. Joining them in the opening of the new season are the No. 1 ranked SK, Doosan, Lotte, Samsung, Hanwha, KIA, and Heroes.

Besides the LG Twins, the CNMI through the Marianas Visitors Authority is hoping to encourage Japanese teams and other Korean squads to conduct training camps here.

To attract baseball teams, the two ballfields will undergo repairs and renovations this year.

The U.S. Insular Affairs Office had approved last year a grant request for the two ballfields with the project estimated to cost $145,000.