Samsung Fighting!

My former Korean professional baseball squad based in Daegu, the Samsung Lions, is off to a really great start this year.  They weren't expected to do much any time soon.  Just my luck that they'd turn the corner once I left that country.

That is all.

Since Nobody Asked I Went Ahead And Ranked All 10 Korean Baseball Organization Uniforms

Korean Baseball Team Uniforms Ranked:

1) Kia Tigers (Gwangju)
2) Kiwoom Heores (Seoul)
3) Lotte Giants (Busan)
4) Samsung Lions (Daegu)
5) Doosan Bears (Seoul)
6) LG Twins (Seoul)
7) SK Wyverns (Incheon)
8) Hanhwa Eagles (Daejeon)
9) NC Dinos (Changwon)
10) KT Wiz (Suwon)

— Your Little Ray of Sunshine James (@wetcasements) May 7, 2020

A Little Bright Spot

Obviously, I wish the circumstances were different.  But I can never shut up about the glories of Korean baseball and now apparently ESPN has cut a deal to bring Korean ballgames to the US.

As of today, the Korean games are being played without an audience which, admittedly, kind of defeats the purpose.  Then again, with Korean public schools opening up again next week it might not be long before limited numbers of fans are allowed to attend games.

May the cheerleaders, outrageous bat flipping, and beer drinking contests get here sooner rather than later!

No Joy In (Rainy) Daegu

I made it to my final Samsung Lions ball game of the season last Friday night.  With a rain delay adding insult to injury, we lost 3-0 to the SK Wyverns from Incheon.  SK are actually the best team in the league right now, so they'll be moving on to a traditional four team semi-final / final playoff series.

As you can see from my not-so-great picture, it was pretty damn empty.  The ultras behind the Samsung dugout were there though, and they were singing and dancing through.

See you next spring, Lions.

Update:  The KBO actually does a five-team format, with four and five doing a one game wildcard.  Overthinking it, if you ask me.

"the cadence of games"

Emma Baccellieri on the unexpected joys of late season "meaningless baseball":

"The Tigers won, 5-2. It mattered as much as a game between baseball’s two worst teams can matter in September—which is to say, not at all, in any technical sense, unless you’re particularly concerned about the potential draft order for next year. But this technical sense is the objective, macro, big-picture sense. This technical sense may be why professional baseball exists as an enormously profitable business, but it is not why baseball exists. And, of course, there is no one clear answer to that second question—but whatever there is, it’s probably closer to the texture of a game between two terrible teams on September 16 than it is to anything else.

When I miss baseball in the winter, I do not miss the postseason. I do not miss the highlights, I do not miss the debates over who will deserve the Cy Young, I do not miss anything that seems as if it is meant to be remembered. I miss the cadence of games. I miss MLB’s copyright disclaimer on broadcasts. I miss background noise. I miss the Orioles versus the Tigers on September 16."

The Orioles have been terrible for about two decades now, but I still follow them somewhat closely.  If it was possible to listen to them on a Korean radio, as dreadful as they are, I would.

So when I moved to Daegu ten years ago (!) I was excited to have a local team, the Samsung Lions, who were actually quite good.   (They won four consecutive championships between 2011 and 2014).

Of course, they've fallen into mediocrity right on cue.  (Currently in eighth place out of ten squads.)

Still, I love that expression "cadence of games."  Walking home at night through the streets and alleys of Daegu, the fried chicken joints will be playing the Samsung game if it's on.  I check the scores in the morning.  I go to about three or four games a season, but it's those late season "meaningless" ones that somehow charm me much more than they should.  Honestly, I think it has a lot to do with weather -- fall has always been my favorite season, and there is something about days growing shorter rather than longer that makes me want to check out at least one more home game before the season ends.

This Is Some Bullshit, South Korea

Koreans are, for lack a a better word, great big fucking babies when it comes to a little rain.  So I took the one hour subway ride out of town to the ball park yesterday, got to the stadium for the five p.m. start, and while it was overcast it was not raining.

Too bad White Devil, game cancelled because rain is not water from clouds, but actually toxic radioactive dragon piss.

What bullshit.

Anyhow, I went back into town and drowned my sorrows with fried chicken and beer and this really excellent Kim Stanley Robinson novel.

Sports fandom, much like life, is highly overrated.

"these guys can play"

I'm obviously a big fan of Korean baseball, and I've always been fascinated by the lives of the (by rule) three foreigners, almost always American or arriving via MLB, every Korean squad is allowed to carry.  So here's a great interview with a few of them:

"How competitive do you feel the KBO is compared to what you faced in the States?

Lindblom: These guys can play. There are some really good ballplayers here. I think one of the common misconceptions when new foreign-born players who show up is that they feel that they can dominate the league. You see with a lot of guys that that doesn’t happen. It’s been a learning process for myself too. Hitters can hit. You put the majority of these guys in a Triple-A lineup and they can hold their own. There are a few guys you can put in a major league lineup and they would hold their own. There are some different areas where it’s not as developed, maybe like defense isn’t as important as it is in the States, but the players are really good.

Romak: It’s the hardest question to answer. These leagues are so different. It’s an unfair comparison because there’s one night you can face a 19-year old kid who, in the States, because of his age, he might be in A-ball. But here, he’s in the country’s version of major leagues. He has good stuff but he’s really young. The next night, you could face a veteran guy whose talent might be MLB-level. When KIA was really strong [back in their championship 2017 season], facing their lineup – that’s better than a Triple-A lineup, for sure. One night, it looks Triple-A. The next night, it looks Double-A. It’s just a very different league. That being said, there are tons of talented guys here."

I've always described an average KBO squad (Korean Baseball Organization) as somewhere between American AA and AAA farm clubs, with the top two or three at AAA level with a few MLB caliber prospects.  There are also some very interesting insights into the family lives of these guys as well, so read the whole thing.

The Best Time of Year

I made it to my first Samsung ballgame of the new season last Saturday.  Alas, we lost to the dastardly kt Whiz of Suwon on a grand slam.  Still, the weather was perfect and this is one of the best things about Daegu in spring and summer.

I'm more of a beer-drinking contest guy myself, but Kiss Time is also fun.