Dolan creates a Korean pipeline to Cleveland.
The Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan and Kia Motors have agreed in principal to a 250 Million cash and stock swap deal. The Tigers gain a 35 percent share of the Indians for 180 Million in cash and a 70 Million common stock. The Indians gain a 51 percent controlling interest in the Kia Tigers.
The Kia Tigers play in Moodeung Stadium. They are charter (1982) members of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and are the most successful team in KBO history. They claimed nine of the first sixteen KBO titles with pennants in '83, '86-'89, '91, '93 and '96-'97. Based in Gwangju, they were formerly known as the Haitai Tigers.
When asked if the Kia Tiger's are in for a name change, Mark Shapiro was evasive, “We have not yet considered any name changes. Obviously all the stakeholders and our marketing initiatives would have to be aligned before we made a name change.”
The Tigers supplied three players to the 2008 Gold medal winning South Korean Olympic squad: Han Ki-Joo (3 G, 1-0; 19.29 ERA, 2.1 IP), Yoon Suk-Min (5 G, 2-0, 1 SV, 2.34 ERA, 6 Ks, 7.2 IP ) and center fielder Lee Yong-Kyu. (.481). Baseball is hotter than ever in South Korea right now and Shin-Soo Choo is the best Korean in Major League Baseball.
“This is an exciting time for Korean baseball and the people of Gwanguju,” said Shin-Soo Choo the Tribe's lone South Korean player.
Cleveland is the first MLB team to invest in a KBO franchise. In a related deal, SportsTime Ohio is partnering with Direct TV and Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) to create Korean sports programming here in the USA. KBS is working with the SportsTime Ohio to broadcast Indians games in SouthKorea.
It is speculated that with the new cash, Cleveland will become very active in the free agent market this offseason. Cleveland is also said to be discussing opportunities with MLB to schedule half of the Indians April home games in South Korea. The west coast teams, Seattle, Anaheim, Arizona and Oakland are the most likely opponents for such games.
Jim Bertsch a lifetime Tribe fan who is a syndicated writer for Bleacher Report said, “Its about time the Indians took the initiative. New York, Boston, Los Angeles and a few other major league teams have been taking the cream off the top of the MLB talent pool for years. It is obvious that we needed to expand our fan base beyond the shores of Lake Erie.”
This is a big win for South Korea, because they now have a MLB team willing to showcase their top talent. Their winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal certainly indicates a wealth of undiscovered talent in South Korea. With their strong showing on the international level, the South Korean baseball program is at a world class level.
Bertsch commented, “It is reminiscent of Bill Veeck and Larry Doby.” Bill knew that talent doesn't have a race or a color. If you can PLAY, then we need you on our team. Larry Dolan has been taking heat for creating a fiscally responsible baseball franchise. Unfortunately for Cleveland, being fiscally responsible means being anti-competitive. This moves Cleveland back into the competitive picture in multiple ways.”
With the Cavaliers in China and the Indians in South Korea, Cleveland is leading the charge for creating international leagues in basketball and baseball. Give Credit to Dan Gilbert and Larry Dolan for being the innovators who are ushering us into a new era of international professional sports.
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