Korean Baseball - It’s Faaaaantastic

[scottz]

Earlier this week, I got to see my first baseball game of 2019. Due to the timing of the start of the season coinciding with a family vacation, that game was in Seoul, South Korea.

 

I was hoping to see an LG Twins game, one of three teams that call Seoul home (along with the Kiwoom Heroes and Doosan Bears). But this game had the visiting NC Dinos from Changwon (near Busan) playing the Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. Jamsil was built in the early 80s and hosted baseball events at the 1988 Olympics. The playing field is symmetrical: 100 meters (328 feet) down the lines, 120 meters to the gaps (394 feet) and 125 meters to dead center (410 feet).

 

My wife, kids and I sat in the 6th row down the first baseline, a little more than halfway between first base and the right field foul pole. In the row directly in front of us? A Twins fan from Plymouth, Minnesota who was in town on business. Small world. Go Twins! The seats were narrower than at Target Field and with less leg room. Not impossible, but at 6 foot 1, it was noticeable.

 

One of the first things That caught my attention was the safety netting that extended to the foul pole, and was a solid 30 feet high for the entire length. In addition, during the game any foul ball that rose above the net was met with a chorus of whistles, blown by every attendant standing at the bottom of every section along the baselines, both upper and lower decks. It gets your attention to incoming foul balls.

 

So many things are the same - the (Korean) national anthem, a kid announcing the home team batters for a half inning, even the Kiss Cam, though there was no major smooching. There was a crowd-pleasing “Doota Time” dance cam as well - the final fan dancer getting the most screen time and love from the crowd. Well deserved. He went nuts.

 

The uniforms were familiar, too. The Bears home whites had a little early 1980s Montreal Expos look about them. The Dinos road navy and gold unis were styled a little like the recent Padres. Both were good looks.

 

What was not familiar was the crowd participation. At first, I just thought the Dinos fans travelled well because in the top of the first, the 2+ full sections of Dino fans along the third baseline were raucous. Full throated synchronized cheers and chants, music, and seemingly a guy with a microphone and PA system of his own leading them. It looked like they may have had 2 women dancing to the music. By the time the Dinos plated their third run of the inning against the Bears’ soft tossing lefty (120 kmh fastball, 98 kmh curve - do the math), the guy from Plymouth described the third baseline as a party. This, I thought, was a dedicated group. Think Blue Jay fans coming from Canada, but cheering the entire first half inning. Without stopping.

 

As it turns out, this is completely normal. In the home team half, the Bears crowd went crazy. A fully uniformed guy with a whistle, 4 woman dance team, and mascot appeared on a platform at the top of the lower deck. Party time occurred again, but this time for the Bears. Two quick outs? Doesn’t matter. The third batter drew a walk and went to second on a wild pitch - it was near pandemonium. Another batter walked. By the time the very popular DH (batting 5th) came to the plate, I recognized that each batter had their own cheer and everybody knew the words for every batter. The DH had some version of “Doctor, Doctor/Bad Case of Loving You” but all in Korean. I sang in English because I wanted to join in.

 

This occurred the whole game. Top of the inning, Dinos fans sing and cheer constantly. Bottom of the inning, Bears fans go at it. It was fantastic. I have no idea what was being said most times, but many of the cheers are still in my head. It was so fun. It may have ruined American baseball for my kids.

 

There was a pitching change in the 6th - the crowd cheered and sang the whole time from when the manager came out, through his warm ups, and to the first pitch by the new pitcher. The WHOLE time. After a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th cut the Dinos lead to 4-3, the celebration song had several verses and lasted four pitches into the next batter. I loved it.

 

The baseball wasn’t top quality, but it sure wasn’t bad. I think the fastest pitch I saw all game was 145 kmh (90 mph), though most (excluding the Bears starter) sat around 140 (87). There were a couple of balls smoked to the left-center gap, but at 394 feet, they found gloves including one really nice running catch by the Dinos left fielder. There was an always exciting triple for the home team, a clear disagreement with a third strike that led to a (surprising) round of boos from the crowd (followed immediately by polite applause), and an 11-12 pitch at bat.

 

During that sequence around the 5th pitch, the directed cheer was to implore the batter to “hit it over the fence”. After 2 consecutive foul balls (and whistles), the cheer director said something that made the crowd laugh, and the cheer changed slightly with the crowd now pointing their thundersticks to the outfield at the end of the cheer. My interpretation was that the newly modified cheer was “hit it over the fence. THAT fence.” 4 more foul balls and whistles only led to more laughing and louder cheering. I swear at one point it looked like the batter acknowledged the cheer.

 

In the end, the Dinos added a 9th inning insurance run and held on for a 5-3 victory. The Dinos lined up along the third baseline and bowed to their fans.

 

16,081 fans attended the game in a stadium that holds 25,500. It sounded like more. A lot more. If you find yourself in Korea during baseball season, sneak in a game. It was a great experience for any baseball fan.

 

https://mykbostats.com/games/6661-NC-vs-Doosan-20190407

 

http://eng.koreabaseball.com/Teams/TeamInformation.aspx

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Thanks for the report! I was just thinking about a trip over there, sounds like quite the experience.