Romak tops KBO All-Star vote

Canadian slugger Jamie Romak has topped the All-Star voting in Korean baseball.

Jamie Romak

The KBO on Monday announced the starting lineups for the annual All-Star Game. And Romak, a third-year first baseman for the SK Wyverns, led all players with 49.63 voting points.

Votes cast by fans (worth 70 percent) and players (30 percent) were converted into points. Romak had 565,614 votes from fans and 195 from his peers.

LG Twins outfielder Kim Hyun-soo led everyone in fan votes with 574,394 but garnered 189 votes from fellow players, which gave him 49.61 points.

Players from the Wyverns will be joined by those of the Doosan Bears, Samsung Lions and KT Wiz for the Dream All-Stars. Their opponents, the Nanum All-Stars, will feature players from the Twins, Kiwoom Heroes and NC Dinos.

Notably, not a single player from the Lotte Giants came first in either the fan vote or the player vote for any position on the Dream All-Stars. The Giants are fan favorites and normally play a prominent role in All-Star games.

For the Nanum All-Stars, neither the Hanwha Eagles or the Kia Tigers had a player top any category. The Eagles didn’t top either vote in any category, while the Tigers’ Choi Hyung-woo won the designated hitter player vote, but was beaten in the fan vote by the Twins’ Lee Hyung-jong.

The All-Star Game will be played at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, 400 kilometers (249 miles) southeast of Seoul. The new home of the Dinos opened this year.

Romak is tied with SK teammate Choi Jeong for the KBO lead with 20 home runs this year. Romak finished second in the KBO in that category last year with 43 home runs. And in 2017, after arriving in midseason, Romak belted out 31 home runs in just 102 games.

Romak will be one of six Wyverns in the starting lineup for the Dream team.

Choi will start at third base for the third consecutive year. Left-hander Kim Kwang-hyun was voted in as the starting pitcher, and setup man Kim Tae-hoon and closer Ha Jae-hoon also earned the All-Star spots. Outfielder Ko Jong-wook will be making his first All-Star Game start.

The Lions will have three players in the starting lineup, with catcher Kang Min-ho, second baseman Kim Sang-su and outfielder Koo Ja-wook.

Kim previously made three All-Star Game starts as shortstop, and this is his first selection in his new position.

The Bears will have shortstop Kim Jae-ho and designated hitter Jose Miguel Fernandez. Outfielder Kang Baek-ho was voted in as the lone starter from the Wiz, though he’s rehabbing a hand injury that will keep him sidelined until well into next month.

On the Nanum team, the Twins had the most representatives with seven: starter Tyler Wilson, middle reliever Jung Woo-young, closer Go Woo-suk, third baseman Kim Min-sung, outfielders Kim Hyun-soo and Lee Chun-woong and DH Lee Hyung-jong.

The Heroes will have first baseman Park Byung-ho, shortstop Kim Ha-seong and outfielder Lee Jung-hoo.

The Dinos catcher Yang Eui-ji had the most votes from peers with 221, and he’s one of two starters from his team, alongside second baseman Park Min-woo. Yang started the past three All-Star Games for the Dream team while he was still with the Bears.

In all, there were 11 first-time All-Stars in the two lineups.

The Dream team will be managed by SK skipper Youm Kyoung-youb, and the Eagles’ boss Han Yong-duk will manage the Nanum team.

Yonhap