If you recall, last time I went I took three of my students with me. This time I didn't have to keep an eye on any kids, so I was able to do whatever I wanted. Quite frankly, it was freeing. I was able to take in the entire experience and pay close attention to the game. I also got a good seat because I arrived at the ballpark an hour before game time. I was in the seats above the home dugout, which is where all the cheers are led from. It was fun being part of a big, mad mass of KIA Tiger rooters.
I think the baseball experience in Korea is reminiscent of the early days of MLB. The fans are really into the game, and they even sing songs and do special cheers for every starter (though they do seem to have some generic cheers that can be appropriated for more obscure players). Many of the cheer songs use the melodies to other songs, such as "Smoke on the Water," "Mamma Mia," "Pretty Woman," "Saturday Night" (at least I think that's what it was. The Bay City Rollers classic has a very popular melody) and "La Bamba." Their second baseman's cheer is even done over the main synth riff to Jang Yoon-Jeong's "사랑아," which I recognized instantly.
Here's a video so you can get a feel for it yourself:
If you have a sharp ear you might catch my comments, including an imitation of the umpire from Ken Griffey Junior Presents Major League Baseball: "Foul!" The Tigers' first baseman was actually a former Cub, Choe Hui-Seop (as I prefer to romanize it), better known as Hee Seop Choi to America. You can see him get an RBI groundout in the above video (he's #23).
Both starting pitchers were actually American. The Tigers' starter was Anthony Lerew, formerly of the Braves and Royals, while the Lotte Giants' starter was a former San Francisco Giant, Ryan Sadowski. Neither one was particularly good, though the same could be said for pretty much any pitcher in yesterday's game.
Check out the final scoreboard:
Perhaps it's difficult to read, but the Giants scored 11 runs on 16 hits, one error and 7 walks. The Tigers scored 7 runs on 11 hits, one error and 16 walks. Besides poor run prevention, the thing that killed the Tigers was stranded baserunners. How do you get on base 25 times and only score 7 runs?
Some memorable moments? There were several in this slugfest:
Tigers' starting right fielder Shin Jong-Gil misplaying the first batter of the game's drive into a leadoff triple. He would be removed after striking out in his first at-bat.
Choe Hui-Seop getting casually tagged out by the catcher when trying to score from second on a bases-loaded single.
Back-to-back homers from Giants Bak Jong-Yoon and Gang Min-Ho.
Two middle-aged men sitting near me starting chants when a certain Giant player came up to bat (I'm not sure if I was hearing them correctly, as my understanding and comprehension of Korean is obviously limited, but I believe these chants were insulting in nature), eventually stopping when another man came over and hit them with one of his Thunderstix. It was all in good fun, but it seemed like things were getting nasty when the Giant player got hit with a pitch during their chant.
A Tiger batter coming up with the bases loaded and hitting a long drive to the right field corner that just barely landed foul. Everyone around me was cheering as if it had been fair, but I was confused, because it looked foul to me the second it hit the ground. I was wondering if my eyes had deceived me until everyone settled down and realized it had been called foul.
Every time it seemed like the Tigers were getting close, the Giants would open up the gap again. During the seventh and eight innings, a lot of people left. Being a true baseball fan though, I stuck it out to the end, along with many other diehards, and we were nearly rewarded.
As you can see by the line score above, the Tigers lost by four, but they scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs they actually had the bases loaded, meaning a home run would tie it. The Tigers sent up pinch-hitter Jeong Sang-Gyo, who hit a deep warning-track drive that looked like it was going to go for a few seconds before landing in the left-fielder's glove. Ah well. It was fun while it lasted.
Earlier today I watched highlights of the game on TV. I kept going "yeah, I remember that," except I was seeing it from a different angle. I have to say that watching baseball on TV is much different than watching it live. On TV everything seems to happen so quickly, but at the ballpark every time the bat makes contact with the ball is a moment of tension. Will it fall for a hit? Will it get through the infield? You just don't know. It's more exciting that way.
Even though my team lost, it was one of the best days at the ballpark I've ever had. It was fun to have a baseball outing all to myself. Maybe if I get the chance I'll do it again sometime.
No comments:
Post a Comment