The Korea Haechi (Kansai Independent League) held a press conference on Friday in Osaka to introduce their team and their players to the media.  Manager Chul-Woo Park spoke at the press conference and told reporters that they joined the league in order to win and that the team will do it's best regardless of the opponent.

For more information about the team, check out the official Korea Haechi website.  On a side note, the site doesn't seem to like Firefox very much.

The Kansai Independent League held a press conference on Wednesday to announce that the first half of the season will begin on the 28th with 4 teams playing 36 games a piece with the final game on 6/27.

The League also announced that the official "nickname" for the league will be KANDOK, as in KANsai DOKuritsu.

The Korea Turtle Ships announced a name change during a Kansai Independent League meeting on Thursday.  Instead of being called the Korea Turtle Ships, the team will now be called the Korea Haechi.

The Haechi is currently the symbol of Seoul, Korea and is a creature that usually "appears in myths as a guardian against fire and disasters."

Also discussed during the meeting:

Games will begin in April 2010.

The league is looking into the possibility of all four teams playing 6 games over a span of 3 days in Korea.

There's also apparently a club in the States that's interested in the league.  The article doesn't really go into too much detail but does mention that the league is currently considering the option of having the US club participate in a Cup style, short series tournament.

The Kishu Rangers and the Korea Turtle Ships of the Kansai Independent League held tryouts at Wakayama Kimiidera Baseball Stadium on Saturday.

45 players between 18 and 45 showed up for the tryouts.  Of the 45, 2 were Koreans living in Japan; 19 were pitchers and 26 were position players.

The first round took place between 2pm and 4pm and consisted of 50m dashes, throwing, pitching, batting, and fielding tests.  The second round took place between 4pm and 6pm and consister of situational BP, pitching, and fielding.

7 pitchers and 6 position players made it to the second round.  Final results of the tryout will be announced on the 10th.

There was also a 3,000yen tryout fee.

The Kishu Rangers announced on Friday that Takeshi Kimura will be taking over as their new manager next year.  Kimura is also the Rangers' club rep.  His registered name will be Takeshi Ishii.

The Akashi Red Soldiers announced that Koichi Kitagawa will stay on as manager for another season.

The Red Soldiers 2009 record:

First Half

14-20-2 (4th place)

Second Half

18-16-2 (2nd place)

Overall

32-36-4 (3rd place)

The Kishu Rangers out of the Kansai Independent League announced on Wednesday that they will not be renewing manager Taira Fujita's contract for the 2010 season.

A replacement has not been named yet.

The Kansai Independent League held a press conference today to introduce the Korea Turtle Ships (コリア・タートルシップス) into their league.

Club rep Jin-Hee Kim (金珍希) said, "I wanted to give young Korean players a place to play.  I think they will be able to win over both Korean and Japan fans."

The new team will be an off-shoot from a Korea-based amateur baseball club.  While there's no word on which baseball stadium they will be using during the season, they will be calling Osaka their home.  The manger of the team will likely be someone with experience in the KBO and the team already has plans to sign three Korean players living in Japan.

According to recently published reports, the Kansai Independent League has found a forth team, located in the Osaka area, to join their league.

The Kansai Independent League will make an announcement regarding the new team on the 13th.

Fan Appreciation Day was rained out for the Kobe 9 Cruise, but many fans still showed up for their last chance to see Eri Yoshida.

Yoshida spent over an hour signing autographs and taking pictures with fans and said that she was glad to have another chance to meet her fans one last time.

Today marked Yoshida's final day in a Kobe 9 Cruise uniform.

"I haven't made any decisions yet," said Yoshida.  "I'm not sure if I'll go to any tryouts, but I will continue practicing.  I will record my first victory or save next year."