Kyle in Korea

Korea is very passionate about sports and athletics. The first day we arrived in Korea was the day of Kim Yu-na’s last performance at the 2010 Olympics. We were in the waiting room of a bank watching on the big screen. Five minutes prior to the performance, the bank filled with dozens of people who just walked in off the street and cheered loudly as she won the gold in dominant fashion. It was one of Korea’s 14 medals (6 gold) in Vancouver, just behind Russia and ahead of China; two countries with obvious passions for sports.

Like America, Koreans are passionate about a wide variety of sports (I went to a well-attended bodybuilding competition this weekend), but I think the national sport is really baseball. At night in every restaurant is a TV in the corner playing the Daegu baseball game. Sometimes before or after class when students are wearing headphones, I will ask them what they are listening to. Often the response is K-pop or some music. But almost as often the student responds: the baseball game. On the bus and around town I have noticed a very popular cell phone game for young people about baseball. People in general light up when you mention baseball.

I have been to one game, in Daegu.  Ann and I went with a few friends on a Sunday. Tickets were only about $5, and you simply sat wherever you could find room, which was rapidly filling up when we arrived an hour early. In fact, finding room for 5 people was so difficult we could only find seats in right field with a limited view. No matter, because simply siting in the stands was entertaining. The opposing team also had a large fanbase in attendance and the two sides exchanged spirited chants and cheers throughout the game. We were hungry and thirsty so, from our seats, we called a local fried chicken place, who delivered us food and drinks to our seats. They were not vendors at the game, just a restaurant who had someone handing out fliers with a phone number on it to people waiting in line to buy tickets outside of the stadium. I, of course, LOVED this.

The game itself was tied 1-1 until the 6th inning when the visiting team exploded for 7 runs. Scoreboards in America typically list three numbers: Runs (R), Hits (H), and Errors (E). In Korea, there is a fourth category: B, which stands for walks. The field is, I think, entirely Field Turf, which produced very high hops on ground balls. The teams had only one Westerner, who happened to be the right fielder, Garcia. After our food and drinks arrived, we even heckled him good-naturedly a little in English. I “made him look” once when I shouted his shoe was untied. The level of play was maybe about college ball in the U.S., although they do use wood bats. I was told the best Korean players mostly play overseas in Japan and elsewhere, including America, where about a dozen Koreans are on major league rosters (mostly pitchers).

Here’s some people at the stadium about an hour before the game.

Here’s a picture of my four companions at the game. Starting with Ann, who is the closest, we have Hyun-joo, Mi-jin, and Mi-jin’s Canadian husband Chris (can’t you tell by the Bluejays hat?) Naturally, I wore my A’s shirt (not pictured). The A’s are a popular team here, or at least they sell a lot of merchandise. Yankees and Red Sox are the most popular, and then probably Cleveland because they have the Choo Choo Train, Shin-Soo Choo. After that, I think I see A’s gear the most.

Here’s the bleacher bums sitting behind us. Notice the pairs of blue inflatable Thunder Sticks. These are like the Korea vuvuzuela: omnipresent and a bit annoying, although fun. Also, I like the guy sitting ten rows deep in right field optimistically holding up a catcher’s mitt!