Me and some friends decided to check out yagu (baseball) Korean-style. Korean baseball isn't Major League quality. Aaron considers their level similar to the American AAA.
Baseball in Korea, like everywhere else, is based on corporate sponsorship. However, unlike in the West, with baseball teams' names being some animal/character/icon + city name, Korean teams are named after their companies that host them. Like, the Kia Tigers, Samsung Lions, or the Lotte Giants. My personal favourite is the Hyundai Unicorns. I've just never seen unicorns as logoical emblems for a masculine sport. The FEARSOME UNICORNS! :P
On Saturday afternoon, we watched a game between the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins. Both teams' home stadium was Jamsil Stadium, so the statium was packed. Getting tickets took over an hour, and that's after going to the short line. It was way cheap though, only 6,000 won (about $6).
The group decided to follow Doosan. I was considering following LG just to be contrary, but in the end, I didn't really root for anyone. Just clapped and cheered as things headed our way. We sat in the outfield on the Doosan side, the visitors side.Korean baseball is a little boring for non-baseball enthusiasts. The games take FOREVER. Ours was over 4 hours long! There was only so much slow, careful, good baseball I could pay attention to. We were too far outfield for me to see well, and my attention constantly wandered. I took in the huge number of clapping sticks, those plastic blow up things (do they have a more technical term?), the pre-teen dancing girls/cheerleaders, and the huge number of very strange baseball chants. I heard Abba, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and It's a Small World After All.
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