A League of Their Own

     The 2012 baseball season opened up here in Korea this last weekend and Ami and I went to game two of the series between the Doosan Bears and the Nexen Heroes yesterday. It was a wild one that saw 40 hits and 24 runs in an eight and a half inning game. The defense was a bit shoddy at times and obviously the pitching wasn't quite on, but lots of offense makes for exciting baseball and the crowd was a bit nuts.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Hereos	2	2	1	0	4	0	1	1	0	11	18	1
Bears	0	2	2	1	0	0	3	5	--	13	22	1

     As you can see from the line score, it was a bit of a crazy game. In the middle of the seventh, down by 5, Ami asked me if I wanted to leave (we were about three hours in at that point) and I told her no. An inning and a half later, I turned to her and said, "You see? Never leave a baseball game."

     The game ended up being about four hours fifteen minutes long, but in the end was well worth the time investment. For a while there, I was thinking that the Doosan Bears were the Korean version of the old Bad News Bears--a show I remember enjoying when I was young--but they ended up winning me over with their scrappy play and unwillingness to give up. I do, however, imagine I'm in for a long season with them. Unless they can learn how to play some defense, there's gonna be a few heartbreakers this summer.

     The stadium itself wasn't bad, though it seemed old in comparison to AT&T park, but I guess that's inevitable. It was built for the 1988 summer Olympics, holds just over 30,000, and has a nice big screen tv just behind center field--an obvious upgrade since the Games. Straight down the baselines the wall is at 100m (328ft) and at 125m (410ft) to dead center. The grass on the field could use some work, but as we just finished the cold winter, I can't blame the groundskeepers for neglect. Oh, and beer is just $2.50--gotta love that.

     I've been to numerous ballgames in America and one in Japan and I gotta say that baseball in Korea is a bit different from the perspective of being a fan. In America the crowd is usually a pretty relaxed one with a few cheering loudly, a few more yelling in the tense moments, some joining in when the house p.a. system induces them with clapping or singing activities, and most actually watching the game. In Japan, those in all but the outfield seats cheer when appropriate, yell for their favorite players, and clap along with the p.a. system songs when they play certain little ditties--very similar to their American counterparts. But unlike Americans, those in the outfield--home team fans on one side and visiting team fans on the other--sing songs, chant, play drums and/or trumpets and generally create a rather party-like atmosphere that sounds pretty similar to a European soccer match. Each player has a song and those seated in the outfield sing that song while that player is at bat. The funny thing, to me, is that there seems to be an unofficial agreement that when your team is in the field, you allow the other group to sing and carry on while theirs is at bat. 

     Korea, however, takes the Japanese outfield ruckus mentality and steps it up about five notches--and it's not limited to the outfield. We were sitting on the third base side just past the base and across the aisle to my left and taking up a whole section of seats were Nexen Heroes fans. And stationed just in front of them was a platform, built into the stadium, where the cheerleaders and two large speakers performed during the game. That's right, I said "cheerleaders". 

     In the top half of the innings, when Nexen was batting, one lone male cheerleader would get up on the stage and talk to the audience for about a minute and then lead the crowd in cheer. Some of it was songs with the speakers blaring; some of it was songs they would all sing in unison to the beating of a drum; and some of it was just chants. It was relentlessly continuous for the top half of the innings. And it was loud. There were also four girls, thin and long-legged, that would get up on the stage between innings and at various other points, it seemed, who would dance in that pop-music video fashion--all in unison with legs kicking, hands whirling around, and big smiles flashing between all the hair that was long and flying this way and that. At some point, I asked Ami, whom I knew would have no idea, if the cheerleaders and all that came with them were brought here by the away team. She said, yes, and I imagine she's right. And I then tried to imagine the Dodgers showing up in San Francisco with this entourage in tow and what the home team and fans would do to them. It was a little surreal at that point. 

     As I looked around the stadium, I noticed that on the first base side, the same thing was going on but for the home team. Cheerleaders, music, dancing, chanting. It was all a bit weird. Of course, as this was the Bears' home, the fans that were cheering for them started with us and wrapped all the way around behind home plate and then out to left field. From where we were, the music was almost inaudible, but the fans clapped their air-filled noise makers in unison and chanted and the whole place rocked and I thought, "This would never and could never happen in America". And I'll be honest and say that there were moments I wished they would all shutup so that I could enjoy the game. But there were also moments where I reminded myself where I was and sipped from my $2.50 beer and checked out the legs on the cheerleaders.

Walking across the bridge towards the stadium. The one to the left was a soccer stadium. We are headed to the one on the right.

A look at right field before the game. My apartment lies about a mile behind the red and blue signs.

I might sit in the outfield next time. Might be quieter.

The cheerleaders I mentioned. Strange, aye?

This is the closer for Doosan, Scott Proctor. Used to play in the majors. They also have a starting pitcher, Dustin Nippert. He used to play in the majors as well.

The male cheerleader. There were moments I wanted to shove the whistle down his throat, but I admit he was good at what he was doing and I have to admire his endurance.

Top of the ninth, three outs away from a come behind win. DAAA' BEARS!

                      

The video above shows the Nexen fans with cheerleaders. The one below looks across the stadium to show the majority of Doosan fans.