Cultural Post 111 #2

[Seokjoon Han]

A very popular sport in South Korean culture and society is baseball. In fact, one of the oldest teams in the KBO League, the Lotte Giants, set a new record for achieving the highest attendance in all of South Korean sports history. This new astounding record was set during the 2009 KBO baseball season, and they drew approximately 1.38 million people to watch their games inside the Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium and the Ulsan Munsu Baseball Stadium. Let me remind you that the population of South Korea in 2009 was only 49.31 million people. Baseball is believed to have been introduced to South Korea in 1905 by American Christian missionaries. It’s actually also believed that the U.S marines played exhibitions against the Seoul Athletic club. It was the 1980s that initiated the prominence of baseball in the lives of South Koreans. In 1982, seven Korean teams were formed: the MBC Chungyong, Lotte Giants, Samsung Lions, OB Bears, Haitai Tigers, and Sammi Superstars. And eventually in 1994, one of South Korea’s own, Chan Ho Park( a pitcher), made his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was a huge deal not only for Korean Americans but also all asians as asians are underrepresented in major sports leagues in the U.S. Chan Ho Park’s success made way for more Korean baseball players to have a chance at a career in the MLB. Some of the Korean baseball players after Chan Ho Park are: Hee-seop Choi, Byung-hyun Kim, Bong Jung-keun, Shin-Soo Choo, Hyun-jin Ryu, and Jung-ho Kang. I actually remember when I was in middle school, I went to an Indians baseball game at Progressive Field and I was able to watch Shin-Soo Choo play! There was a scarcity of Korean athletes I could look up to so seeing a Korean play at the highest stage for baseball were a big deal and great encouragement. I remember even screaming out his name after the game hoping he would recognize me. Just like baseball in the United States, the game extends outside the professional leagues and into high school and college. Just like the MLB’s minor league, South Korea also has a farm league called the Korea Baseball Futures League. Baseball is significant to Korean history because the popularization of baseball allowed South Korea to get involved with international affairs like the Olympics, World baseball classic, and the Asian Games. In fact, South Korea has been very successful in these international baseball bouts. During the 2000s, South Korea has won second place twice in the World Baseball Classic. Not to mention, the South Korean Olympic baseball team also won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics which was hosted in Sydney, Australia. Even though South Korean baseball lacks the talent American baseball may have, people argue that South Korean baseball is more fun and exciting to watch because South Korean baseball requires more participation from the audience. There will usually be a hypeman in front of the spectators and music and chants and dances to keep the crowds entertained.

[Emma Hoholik]

Hi Seokjoon, I really liked your post on baseball. I think it is really amazing the universality of sports and their ability to connect people of different cultures and languages. It’s especially interesting to see baseball as a connection when there are players coming from all over like South Korean players, American players, Dominican players and more. It seems like sports such as baseball transcend the barriers of language to bring a form of entertainment for anyone across the world.