Baseball's Back!

 First things first: 

My grades are now official. I have a 3.84 CGPA. Whatever that means. It's an A. I think it's about 92 cuz I got 94 in one class and 90 in the other. Second term starts in three days. I think it might even be better now that I'm familiar with the process. 

As for the present, I have been reacquainting myself with Korean baseball after a two-season Covid hiatus. There are a lot of players on the Kia Tigers that I don't know. I don't know their names or their songs or their cheers. So I thought I'd better get out to see them on the two-week break between my school sessions. Also, I have this relative in Korea named Michelle who got here back in March or April when I was just starting my school, so I hadn't yet met her. We agreed to go to a ballgame together on Saturday. I got to Gwangju Friday night on the last train. About 10 minutes after midnight and there were no taxis picking people up at the train station in Gwangju. I stood in the taxi line-up of 8 people for about half an hour feeding the Chollanam-do mosquitos, who had clearly missed dining on my succulent blood. Ethnic eating for them. ONE whole person caught a taxi in that time. So I just started walking in the direction of Moodeung Stadium. Actually it's called Champions Field now. The street signs still call it Moodeung, and so do I. I passed by a seedy, sketchy, sleazy looking neighbourhood with lots of little drinking places and singing and dancing and shenaniganning places as well. I looked into a couple of the "love hotels" there with names like "Butterfly," "Paradise," "V," "Harem," and my all-time favourite - are you ready for this? - "Banana and Donut." Ha ha ha! Some of them weren't even lit up. I talked to one clerk whose English was really good and he said I could get a room for 70,000 won. I think he assumed I'd be bringing a girl, well, not necessarily a girl, but a guest, plus it was Friday night/Saturday morning so the rate was a bit high. I thanked him and told him I'd come back if I couldn't find anything better.

I know what these hotels are mostly used for, but I've found when travelling around Korea, they are clean, convenient places to stay for reasonable prices. I was pretty sure I could get something cheaper even on the weekend. I came out of the neighbourhood and onto the main road and saw another hotel neon sign from there. I was walking toward it when I saw an available taxi coming toward me. I ran out to the middle of the road and flagged it down. I told the driver I wanted to go to the Prince Hotel in Unnam Dong. It's the area where I used to live. He said there is no more Prince Hotel, but he knew the area I meant. As we drove, I saw the stadium so I asked if he knew any hotels near it, he pulled over a minute later and told me there were lots of hotels and most of them were new. I had walked to Mudeung Stadium and back easily 40 or 50 times and I never noticed this neighbourhood. So I thanked the driver and paid him less than 5 bucks! What a deal! I walked into the So Poong Boutique Hotel, the nearest one, and they gave me a price of 95,000 won for two nights. That's 100 bucks for the weekend. A 10-15-minute walk from the stadium. SOLD! The savings on taxi fare and not having to catch one after the games (which is impossible) made this deal even better! 

Next day I went on a walk around the area and some of it is still the same, like the market area, but most is different. There are lots of new apartment complexes that I don't remember being there before. Anyway, I made my way over to the stadium and along the way I noticed a lot of other changes. Gwangju has been changing while I've been away! Even the stadium is set up different. We don't go in the main gate then walk 10 minutes to get in any more, we go right in gate 7 and - we're IN! So that's better. I asked a fan with a Tiger jersey on when tickets went on sale and he said 2 o'clock. It was around 1. So I wandered around to see if the old batting cages and souvenir/Tiger gear shops were still where they used to be. They weren't. But I found a new right in front of the stadium and browsed. It was a hot, sunny day so I also went to the 7/11 and got a beverage. I also asked Michelle if I should buy tickets and she said yes. So I went back at 2, but the ticket windows were still closed. I waited 15 mins or so, then went back to my hotel to put on my Tiger gear and get ready for the game. My friend Sam Shik wanted to meet up for a coffee before the game, but by the time I went back to the stadium and got the tickets, there wasn't enough time. I got the tickets and went to the seats. They were not very good.

Right beside home plate, but 15 stories up. But the tickets were only 9 bucks each so it was worth it. 

Eventually Michelle and her friend Joey showed up. Michelle is my first cousin once removed. Daughter of a cousin. First family I've seen in many years though, so it was nice. Here's a pic of us getting pizza after the game. Tigers won. Highlight of the game was Choi Hyung Woo, a big, slow homerun hitter, bunting for a base hit. The other team, the Kiwoon Heroes, were shifting way right because he's a pull hitter. The third baseman was practically on second base, so he bunted and it worked! Then next at bat he got a homer. Michelle says she had a good time so that's good. I hope she catches a few more games while she's here. It's my favourite thing about Korea. Tigers won 5-2. 

Michelle and me. Pic taken by Joey. 

Next day I did laundry in the morning. Right beside Dominos Pizza where we got our pies the night before. It was expensive but it's so nice to have clothes that have been dried in a dryer! They're rare in Korea. Then a bit after 11, I walked to the bus station, U-Square, to meet Amber. We had coffee together and walked back to the So Poong to get her a room. But on the way, we took advantage of the 4 tallboy for 10,000 won deal at a conweenie with picnic tables out front. You can't drink the beers inside, but we had a couple pre-game bevvies outside on the picnic tables. For some reason there were better seats available for Sunday's game. Here's where we sat:

Ground level just beside first base. We got there early and "warmed up" with the players. 

Sunday's game was a banger! I said to Amber early on that I thought the two pitchers would give up lots of runs, which I like. I predicted the final score to be 10-9 and she told me to bite my tongue. But I said 10-9 for the Tigers of course! 

Now, you will notice my number 7 Kia Tigers jersey. That's Lee Jong Beom. Amber has number 3 Kim Seon Bin, who still plays. He's her crush. Has been for ages. I like Jong Beom because he was a magnificent player in his prime! I mean he put up numbers that are eye-popping! Hit for average and power, won gold gloves and ran like the wind. Stole loads of bases. His nickname was Son of the Wind. I caught the end of his career and he was good then, but I wish I could have seen him as a Haitai Tiger. Look at these stats! He batted .393 in 1994 while hitting 19 homers, 77 RBI's and stealing 84 bases! '97 he hit 30 homers and stole 64 bases. Elite level numbers. Anyways, there's a pic of him on a bus stop in front of the stadium with the face missing. While I was there alone I took this pic:

But when Amber and I went to the game, I got her to take these:

I think this pic of Jong Beom was taken after he stole his 500th base or got his 1700th hit or something. Whatever it was, it was spectacular. 

I think if I were to play ball now, I could still hit, but running like the wind is not in my skill set. I might steal a base or two if the other team wasn't paying attention, but that'd be it. Other than that, we're pretty much the same Jong Beom and I. lol

Look how well his body matches my head!

I like this one because it looks like I'm flipping my lid. I'm so surprised my helmet is coming off. 

Anyhoo, Jong Beom's son is now playing in the KBO and he's on the Kiwoom Heroes. That's who was playing the Tigers. His name is Lee Jung Hoo and he's about the best player in the whole league right now. He's having a year like his dad had in his prime except he steals fewer bases and gets more RBI's. Here are his career stats. He added to them significantly on Sunday too. It's hard for me to cheer against Jung Hoo, but man, he single-handedly whooped us! He got two 3-run homeruns! He went 4/5 and got 7 RBI's! Even at that, the Tigers made a game of it. Bottom of the 9th inning when it was 10-5 the Tigers started hitting. It was super exciting! I thought they were going to complete the 5-run comeback or even WIN the thing, but with two men on base, the potential winning run at the plate, the batter hit into a game-ending double play. 

At any rate, I'm happy to be a fan again. Here's proof: