Take me out to the Ball Game!

Baseball is recognized as the all American sport. Turns out that this bat-and-ball sport is also heavily loved by Koreans. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is South Korea's professional baseball league. The teams are usually named after huge Korean companies that own them. Here in Daegu- it's the Samsung Lions that capture the fans.

I've never really been a huge fan of baseball, but for something to do I agreed to go to a Samsung Lions game a couple of weeks ago.

Standing amongst the large crowds gathered at the ticket gate, I was shocked to see the ticket price for the game. For a mere 6,000 won (that's approx $5.50 USD) you are given a ticket and the opportunity to pick a seat anywhere around the stadium. Back home, a ticket to any MLB game is roughly $50.00!  Having come with plenty of extra money, I was eager to get in and hit the snack stands selling typical baseball fare: beer and hot dogs.

Turns out, here in Korea the snack stands flank the outskirts of the stadium. There are no beer guys hollering out to the stands! Instead, vendors line the streets with their make shift coolers filled with ice, where you can choose soda, water, beer and of course, the Korean drink of choice: Soju.  You can purchase beer for about 2,000 won (that's $1.50).

As you walk the line, fried chicken fumes waft in the air. Food vendors sell fried chicken, ramen, roasted potatoes, chips, roasted larvae, fish sticks and fried squid. Yup, you read that correctly- the typical all American baseball staple is absent among the rows of vendors. Who goes to a ball game and chows down on fried squid?? Oh, right- the Koreans do!  As we settled on some fried chicken and Soju we made our way into the park to catch the game.

Watching the game proved to be more of a social gathering for the handful of foreigners nestled in our seats at right center field. As the Lions dominated the game, we cheered and clapped with the entire crowd. The cheers sounded vaguely familiar, although, they too of course were in enthusiasticaklly sung in Korean! It took awhile for us to catch the tune, but we mumbled along with the lot of them!

As the  fans cheered on we watched with enthusiasm and took some time outs to run back to the vendors to get a few more beers. The highlights of the game included watching the cheerleaders 4 Korean women dancing in skanky outfits (which they change every inning it seems) and holding our breath for a few of the home runs heading overhead.

From what I've heard it's become quite a tradition in America for people to head out to the ball game with their own glove, in hopes of catching themselves a souvenir.


The home run hits here in Korea appear to be few and far between, but nevertheless they do happen and as I was about to find out people go a little mad in an attempt to catch a ball off the bat of a pro.

Heading back up to the stands from the washroom, I caught a glimpse of the home run hit over my head. The ball landed with a thud about a meter away from me. Not being a huge baseball fan, it took a few moments to register that this was a game ball, and that I should really really want to pick this up, because that's what people do.

As I quickly snapped into action, my hands curled around the ball to pick it up. As I grasped the ball, a Korean man, lunged over me from behind and hip-checked me out of the way. He triumphantly grinned at me and sauntered off  showcasing the ball "he" just caught to the crowds. As I glared at him while he took his seat again, I did not move. I instead, decided to stand there with narrowed eyes and stared at him. I may have shouted some obscenities, but in the heat of the moment I do not recall my actions that followed.  In the end, I think my death stares worked, because he looked from me to the rest of my foreigner friends looking appalled in their seats (most of whom were of course men).  Instead of tossing the ball back to me, still planted where I "caught" the ball, he threw it over to one one of my male friends in the stands. Slightly annoyed, I didn't truly care that much- let's face it- even if he had thrown it back to me (it's rightful owner) I would have probably given it up to the highest bidder.  Either way, I took a photo opportunity to capture the moment of "catching" a ball off the bat of a Samsung Lions pro!