How’s Byung-Hyun Kim looking as a starter in the Golden Leagues? Stay tuned to find out…

In Indy Indulgence (I.I.), Kevin Lager whispers sweet nothings in to the ears of Independent Baseball Fans.  Sure, some people can get all the baseball they need from the rigid structure of “Bud” Selig’s heavily commercialized and painstakingly sanitised Major Leagues, but the most sinister of us also crave Indy Ball, where trades are weird, hecklers are louder than the PAs, the players exist in real life, and dammit – it just feels like home.

Byung-Hyun Kim is probably best remembered as the submarining closer who, as an Arizona Diamondback in the 2001 World Series, gave up a series of monumental home runs to a rag-tag (cough) bunch of scrappy (cough) Yankee underdogs (gag). Despite Kim’s pitching, the Big Dback Machine still won it all that year, and Kim’s bad week is more of a lighthearted side note than a Jim Joyce-esque level of f#ckupery.

Byung-Hyun Kim is now a starting pitcher for the Orange County Flyers of Golden League Baseball, which means I got to see him pitch live when he came to town to face the heroes of Foothills Stadium, the Calgary Vipers, during Championship Banner and Championship Rings night for the Vipes.

Here’s what I saw from Kim during his outing last night:

• He’s wearing #16, and his delivery is still as submariney as ever.
• Had a no-hitter through 3 innings of work (although he walked 3 and hit 1), and was given a 6-0 lead to play with.
• Earned an RBI in the 2nd when he drew (the most exciting play in baseball) a bases loaded walk. He promptly requested his jacket while on first, which earned him heckles from the Calgary crowd for the remainder of the evening. We understand that pitchers want to keep their arm warm, but we also like to make fun of people who think 61 degrees F (16 degrees C) is cold.
• Gave up 2 runs on separate wild pitches in the 4th inning, and 4 runs total that inning off three hits. Those two wild pitches were incredibly high. The Friendly Giant couldn’t have caught them.
• Vipers ace RF Jonny “Cowboy” Kaplan chases Kim in the 5th with an RBI single to right. It was the second run Kim allowed in the frame, and the first one earned.
• Kim walked towards the dugout after Kaplan’s hit, which made it look like he was pulling himself. Sure enough, out came the coach.
• Faced 24 batters over 4.1 innings.
• Threw 105 pitches (57 for strikes).
• Allowed 5 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), walked 4, fanned 3 and batted 0-0 with an RBI (his first of the season) and a run scored (also his first).
• His 10.39 ERA on the night inflated his season ERA to 5.27
• After being staked a 6-0 lead, settled for a no-decision. Vipers eventually won the wild affair 15-11 in just under four hours of thrilling ball.
• Apparently has a fan club.

More on that last point, yes, it would appear that Byung-Hyun Kim has a fan club in Calgary. There were about a dozen fans seated right behind the visitor’s dugout who would greet Kim with standing ovations of rhythmic clapping after each inning, including his disastrous 4th and when he got (self?) yanked in the 5th.