LG Twins pitcher arrested on charge of throwing games

Prosecutors on Tuesday arrested Seoul LG Twins pitcher Kim Seong-hyun on the charge of rigging games. Kim is the first pro baseball player to be arrested for the offense.

An arrest warrant for Kim was issued by a court Monday. Kim is suspected of conspiring with a player-turned-broker who attended the same high school to rig games by intentionally walking batters in the first inning in return for bribes. After joining the Seoul Nexen Heroes in February 2010, the pitcher moved to LG in July last year.

Prior to Kim’s arrest, the broker confessed to prosecutors that four games early last season were fixed and that Kim and a teammate were paid a combined 12 million won (10,700 U.S. dollars), or 3 million won (2,700 dollars) per game. Prosecutors also obtained evidence of money transfers among players before and after the rigged games.

inho@donga.com