KBO for everyone!

On July 13, 2019 (the day before my last birthday), I fulfilled the last step of a quest here in South Korea (or "Kwest" if you want  to play off the commonality of the country to stick a "K" in front of everything ... K water, K League, Korail, etc.), when I entered Changwon NC Park to watch the NC Dinos play the KT Wiz.

On that humid summer day, my solo challenge to visit all nine of the professional Korean baseball stadiums had been completed.  It took me just under five years to accomplish that.

Changwon Baseball Sculpture

Now I have another quest (Kwest), which is to complete this blog, by revisiting each stadium (and/or each team) in turn.

Why?

Let me offer five reasons.

First, and foremost, the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) has "made" it to the big time, this being defined by a giant uptick of viewership by baseball-starved fans from the United States, who are now being fed a steady diet of games, on their televisions, in the morning and the dead of night, from the Land of the Morning Calm.

Another of the odd twists and turns of our "new normal" during this period of history.  International sports in the time of Covid.

I thought I would throw in some more information, and feed the thirst by US baseball fans (and any baseball fan really) to know a little more about the game on this peninsula.

Secondly, I'm fired up.  To be honest, this whole idea was prompted when a friend of mine forwarded a preview of the season (via ESPN). 

It was well written, and informative, but it felt strange, like my backyard (as a Korean baseball-obsessed expat) had somehow been invaded, as if a giant corporate-backed spaceship had suddenly landed on my grass, and had shouted out, "let me tell you a little something about your game."

I mean, it IS nice for everyone to come join the fun ... but it's a strange thing as well.

Third, I think I could offer a unique perspective.  I've lived in Korea since 2014, and have immersed myself in the Korean baseball culture since then.  I'm a resident of Daejeon, smack dab in the middle of the country, and my local team is the Hanwha Eagles, who play in a bandbox of a stadium, before adoring fans, and haven't won a championship since the mid-90's.  We're due.

Also, as I've already mentioned, I've been to every stadium in this country, and can offer on-the-ground perspective, which is something that others cannot, fill in the nooks and crannies with my roving eye.  All the player numbers and general observations offered up by international publications are one part of the story.  I would like to offer mine, often seated in the upper decks, with my scorebook, watching the game unfold, the fans dance and sing, and the game wind on through history.


Fourth, I haven't thrown much of my writing out into the savage public wind via blog for a while, and it's high time I blogged something again.  If it's read and enjoyed, if it informs and enlightens, then it has fulfilled its purpose.

Fifth, and finally, it's nice to focus on something like this, the game of summer, during our most stressful time, when bad news crackles and flashes about the world like a raging storm.  If it offers me, or others, a temporary release from the angst of the waking day, then so much the better.  We need to communicate, and share, now more than ever.

But, a word of caution as I forge ahead ... like every other blog I've done, I'm planning to keep this very limited, to exactly nine more posts.

Nine stadiums.   Nine posts.  Nine innings and you have a game in the books.

I like that parallelism, that adherence to statistics ... the idea that a game is over when it's over.

First inning, top of the order: the Hanwha Eagles are coming up to bat.