"We must surpass Japan's Miyazaki." An American independent league team goes undefeated in 12 games to win the title... The cold reality facing the KBO Fall League

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

"We need to surpass Japan's Miyazaki development league."

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) International Fall League has identified the challenge of elevating the tournament's level and competitiveness. KBO leadership also acknowledged the gap, expressing their intent to develop it into a higher-level international development league.

The "2026 Ulsan-KBO Fall League," which concluded on the 31st of last month, featured a total of 12 teams, including eight domestic teams and four overseas teams. The Long Beach Coast, an American independent league alliance team, won the championship with a record of 10 wins and 2 draws without suffering a single loss, while the Ulsan Whales, in their inaugural year, took second place.

The tournament started with nine teams in 2024, grew to 11 teams last year, and expanded to 12 teams this year. The initiative of players from various countries, including the United States, Japan, Australia, and China, competing in Korea is positive. However, as the number of participating teams has increased, there is a need for a cold assessment of whether the level of play has risen accordingly.

The tournament cited as a benchmark is the Phoenix League held in Miyazaki, Japan. Started in 2004 and now in its 23rd edition, it is Japan's representative fall development league. This year, it was conducted over 22 days, from October 7 to 28.

All 12 teams of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) participated, along with Orix Buffaloes Niigata and Hayate Shizuoka, two Japanese independent league all-star teams, and Korea's Hanwha Eagles and Doosan Bears, for a total of 18 teams competing. The tournament has accumulated scale and operational experience, with 156 games scheduled across six cities in Miyazaki Prefecture.

In contrast, the Ulsan-KBO Fall League, now in its third year, saw 12 domestic and international teams compete over 17 days. Participants included not only KBO club Futures teams but also Korean independent league all-stars, Japanese independent league select teams, Australia's Melbourne Aces, and China's Jiangsu Huzhou.

Consequently, there are inevitably differences in the players' ages, affiliated leagues, and skills. In fact, among domestic club coaches and scouts met during this tournament, assessments emerged that the overall level of participating players is still lacking when compared to Japan's Miyazaki development league.

Park Geun-chan (53), Secretary-General of the KBO, also agreed with these points in a meeting with StarNews at the Ulsan site on the 31st of last month. Secretary-General Park stated, "I think people may still feel that the level is inferior to Miyazaki. Don't players from Japan's 1.5-tier or 2nd-tier teams participate there?" and explained, "Since we have various teams participating together, such as domestic independent league all-stars and Japanese independent leagues, there is a difference." He further noted, "Australia is currently in a period of preparing for their season due to their domestic league schedule," pointing out that the conditions for each participating team are different.

Heo Goo-yeon (75), President of the KBO, also acknowledged the need for improvement. President Heo said, "Players at the level of Japan's 1.5-tier teams appear in Miyazaki, Japan. In particular, Japanese players have good fundamentals in defense and base running. The level of pitchers is also high," emphasizing, "Our tournament must quickly rise to that level. We need to ensure that better and stronger teams come."

Jang Won-jin (57), Manager of Ulsan, gave a similar assessment. Manager Jang said, "As the results show, the American team was definitely at a higher level. The tournament level improved with the participation of an American team this year, but the Japanese team seemed a bit weak, and Australia was the same. Other teams seem to have no significant difference compared to previous years."

Of course, Long Beach, participating for the first time this year, showed potential. Composed of players from the Pioneer Baseball League, a partner league of Major League Baseball (MLB), Long Beach reached the top spot with an undefeated record in 12 games despite playing together for the first time in Korea. It provided domestic players with the opportunity to experience pitch velocity and game styles that are difficult to encounter normally.

Don Wakamatsu (63), manager of Long Beach, emphasized, "The more competitive teams participate, the higher the overall level of the tournament rises. Teams that did not perform well this year will try to return stronger next year. Such competition has a positive impact on all teams."

The KBO is also considering ways to enhance the competitiveness of overseas invited teams. Secretary-General Park stated, "There are American teams that want to participate again next year. If additional American independent league teams participate, it will help raise the level," emphasizing, "We must surpass Miyazaki."

There is room for improvement not only in the level of play but also in operational methods. Manager Jang Won-jin proposed the need to move up the timing of the tournament's opening. He said, "This time, there was a gap between the end of the regular season and the start of the fall league. If we hold it a bit earlier after the season ends, I think we can play in good weather conditions."

The KBO Futures League regular season ended on September 20 this year, but the Fall League opened on October 15. Adjusting the schedule to maintain players' game sense and considering weather conditions is also a part worth reviewing.

Aggressive promotion of overseas participating teams and expanded game broadcasting were also cited as challenges. Manager Wakamatsu advised, "I had many conversations with President Heo Goo-yeon about expanding the tournament. In the future, not only more American teams but also countries like Italy and Mexico may be able to participate," adding, "If we can broadcast more games, more people will be able to see the players' skills and the heat of Korean baseball."

This year, 10 games held at Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium were live-streamed via the official KBO YouTube channel, and among them, five games were also broadcast on TV. It is necessary to expand broadcasting and promotion to raise the tournament's awareness and allow overseas players to introduce themselves to more scouts.

There were also voices from local fans hoping for the continued holding of the tournament. Wang Jun-seong (49), a resident of Nam-gu, Ulsan, said, "Ulsan is a city where baseball has been secondary to soccer. I hope that games where we can watch baseball directly like this continue to be held."

The KBO plans to promote the holding of the tournament in Ulsan next year as well and seek to expand overseas participating teams, including from the United States, and improve the level. Secretary-General Park stated, "Our goal is to further activate the international development league," explaining that by utilizing baseball stadium facilities in Ulsan and Busan Gijang, they can continuously operate a tournament with more than 10 participating teams.

Attention is now on whether the Ulsan-KBO Fall League, which has increased its number of participating teams to 12 in three years, can raise not only the number of teams but also the actual level of play and the effect of player development.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original