SK Wyverns play ball at Tan Ko

Months of traveling to Saipan’s northernmost diamond for weekend games at the Kan Pacific Baseball Field are soon to become distant memories for local hardballers as the Francisco M. Palacios Baseball Field project nears completion, but sluggers from San Antonio to San Roque will not be the first to take advantage of the newly sculpted ballpark.

The SK Wyverns of the Korean Major Leagues have that privilege, as they have opted to take leave of the cold and snow of Incheon, South Korea in favor of the sun and sand of Saipan for their spring training.

According to acting director of the division of sports and recreation Joe Lizama the Wyverns will be in town for more than a month to hone their skills and get in condition for the upcoming season of hardball.

Currently there are only six pitchers in town, but the rest of the team will arrive on Saipan on Friday, Jan. 20, and take the field the following day. While here, the team’s training schedule will have the players hopping as they will go through a rigorous four days on, one day-off slate for more than a month before they head back to the site of the 7th Infantry Division’s landing during that proved to be the turning point of the Korean Conflict.

While the finishing touches still have to be made to Tan Ko Field before anyone can avail of its infield, Lizama said that the FMP field will be ready in time for them as well as the 2006 season of the Saipan Major League Baseball Association.

The Wyverns squad is but one of the eight teams in the Korean professional league, and is coming to Saipan for the first time after enjoying a three-year spring training home on Guam.

Korean-born local business owner Chung Jae Dong is helping the team during its stay in Saipan, and said that team officials made the switch because of the CNMI’s weather and legendary hospitality.

“My friend has been working for the Wyverns for a long time and he asked me about the weather here. I gave him the information and he came out to visit twice already to see it for himself,” he said.

Chung said that the Wyverns want to make Saipan their training home for the next four to five years—with the team coming back to the Marianas twice annually.

While running laps around the track and field facility yesterday, the players said that they love the weather and that the sea is beautiful through their limited English. They will certainly benefit from the conditions of Saipan, but the local facility will benefit from their presence as well.

“They are donating nets for the backstop, nets for all of the practice stops, and tin for the bullpen,” said Lizama.