Baseball in Korea is WILD! The baseball is good, if you can focus on it! The crowd is the real spectators event… at least for a first time foreigner.
In Busan, the Lotte Giants are as essential to life as food and oxygen. Life, clothing, ALL conversations circulates around it; with everyone, from student to old men, getting involved. My taxi driver the other day did not understand a single word of English, but when I pointed to the radio and said "Lotte Giants" I got a high-five!
What makes it so special? That I can't answer, because (1) I don't speak Korean and (2) I don't have an overwhelming interest in baseball (the last few Indians games I went to back home I took a book), but I will guess that baseball in Busan is special because it's incredibly fun!
You become one body of support cheering on your home team! Pushing them to "hit, hit, hit", but you aren't cheering for just the team, you are cheering for every individual player, with his own unique and personalized chant! The stadium begins to vibrates and you can no longer look at the field, but your attention is drawn up into the stands!
Should you forget one of the players chants, or don't know it yet… don't worry, there is an MC all mic-ed up, whistle in hand, ready to provide the words, beat, and even bring out the "cheerleaders" to dance in between each inning. There is also a Mini Cooper that drives pitchers in from the bull pin. Why American baseball wastes time having them run in from center field, is now very far beyond me!
But to be serious for a minute, let's talk about the most important element of Busan baseball - the orange plastic bag. Instead of doing a 7th inning stretch, thousands of your standard grocery store bags are brought out, thrown out, passed out, all kinds of out, so that everyone in the stadium can wear it on their heads. Again, you might ask why, and I'm not even going to try and guess, I just followed suit, tied it to my ears, and put up a peace sign. I was nearly Korean!
For no won at all, I sat a few rows away from the field and enjoyed an amazing Korean pastime.
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