Play Ball!
May 5, 2020 7:33 PM Subscribe
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), "the wildest, most outlandish baseball league in the world," opened its season today. In addition to the baseball, it is known for bat flips, breakdancing dinosaur mascots (Dandy and Seri of the NC Dinos), and passionate fans (Lotte Giants fans singing "Busan Seagull" and "Come Back to Busan Port"). Sadly games will be played in empty stadiums due to COVID-19.
KBO games can be viewed through their Twitch channels, and via ESPN in the U.S. ESPN and KBO agreed on a broadcast deal only the day before the start of the season. Negotiations had not started well when ESPN originally tried to acquire broadcast rights for free.
Bat flips, cheerleaders and bowing after a beanball — what you need to know about the KBO
So You Want to Get Into the KBO
Info to help you choose your team (Twitter thread)
KBO games can be viewed through their Twitch channels, and via ESPN in the U.S. ESPN and KBO agreed on a broadcast deal only the day before the start of the season. Negotiations had not started well when ESPN originally tried to acquire broadcast rights for free.
Bat flips, cheerleaders and bowing after a beanball — what you need to know about the KBO
So You Want to Get Into the KBO
Info to help you choose your team (Twitter thread)
Ok, and I just followed some of the other links found out Matt Williams is the manager of the Kia Tigers. When I followed MLB in the early 90s, he was one of my favorites. I hate to be a bandwagon fan of the most successful team, but I guess I am a Tigers fan now.
posted by CostcoCultist at 8:33 PM on May 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by CostcoCultist at 8:33 PM on May 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Empty stadiums, yes, but the Wyverns have cardboard cutouts of masked fans in the bleachers and it's spooky as hell.
posted by escabeche at 9:17 PM on May 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by escabeche at 9:17 PM on May 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
I caught a smidgen of this on Twitter when some Koreans (of all stripes, Koreans in Korea, Korean immigrants to the U.S. and Korean American diaspora) were flabbergasted at LA Dodgers Mookie Betts bilingual tweet:
Welcome back, KBO. We’re all watching!posted by spamandkimchi at 11:12 PM on May 5, 2020 [4 favorites]
KBO가 돌아왔다. 우리 모두 시청하겠습니다!
Stay tuned for more to come!
앞으로도 많은 관심을 부탁 드립니다!
#KBO #Baseball #야구 #OpeningDay #개막전 #Hwaiting
Go LG Twins!
Being a Minnesota Twins fan made this decision easy.
posted by chris24 at 4:47 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Being a Minnesota Twins fan made this decision easy.
posted by chris24 at 4:47 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Listening to Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez call a baseball game yesterday was extremely comforting.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:36 AM on May 6, 2020
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:36 AM on May 6, 2020
I think I'm going to follow the NC Dinos this year, mainly because that's where Eric Thames played and I can pretend they're a sister team to the Toronto Raptors.
Now to figure out if their games are being broadcast in Canada
posted by thecjm at 6:41 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
Now to figure out if their games are being broadcast in Canada
posted by thecjm at 6:41 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
> LA Dodgers Mookie Betts bilingual tweet
The YouTube comments for the video linked in the tweet are full of Koreans marveling at his excellent pronunciation of Korean players' names.
posted by needled at 7:00 AM on May 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
The YouTube comments for the video linked in the tweet are full of Koreans marveling at his excellent pronunciation of Korean players' names.
posted by needled at 7:00 AM on May 6, 2020 [2 favorites]
Thank you for posting this!
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:12 AM on May 6, 2020
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:12 AM on May 6, 2020
I am HERE for the bat flipping.
ACT LIKE YOU’RE GODDAMN ENJOYING BEING PAID TO PLAY A GAME FOR THE CROWD AND YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING LAID TONIGHT!
This mid-20th-century stoic, aww-shucks-I’m-just-glad-to-be-here, don’t do an endzone dance, don’t-flip-your-bat-when-you-*SMACK*-a-dinger-up-to-the-cheap-seats-bullshit is to sports what slut-shaming is to sex; a hangover from our Puritan founding we’re still trying to scrape from our hull like so many barnacles.
Take me out to Korea
Take me out to the screen
Make me tteokbokki, get soju & beer
No bow for beanball, & benches will clear
And it’s root, root, root for the Wyverns
‘Cause they named their team for a DRAGON!
And it’s ONE!
TWO!
세 번의 파업!
At the K.B.O.!
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:01 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
ACT LIKE YOU’RE GODDAMN ENJOYING BEING PAID TO PLAY A GAME FOR THE CROWD AND YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING LAID TONIGHT!
This mid-20th-century stoic, aww-shucks-I’m-just-glad-to-be-here, don’t do an endzone dance, don’t-flip-your-bat-when-you-*SMACK*-a-dinger-up-to-the-cheap-seats-bullshit is to sports what slut-shaming is to sex; a hangover from our Puritan founding we’re still trying to scrape from our hull like so many barnacles.
Take me out to Korea
Take me out to the screen
Make me tteokbokki, get soju & beer
No bow for beanball, & benches will clear
And it’s root, root, root for the Wyverns
‘Cause they named their team for a DRAGON!
And it’s ONE!
TWO!
세 번의 파업!
At the K.B.O.!
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:01 AM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
This mid-20th-century stoic, aww-shucks-I’m-just-glad-to-be-here, don’t do an endzone dance, don’t-flip-your-bat-when-you-*SMACK*-a-dinger-up-to-the-cheap-seats-bullshit is to sports what slut-shaming is to sex
I'm sure it's a weird coincidence that it's usually a white player/coach/announcer scolding a brown player for this, too.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on May 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'm sure it's a weird coincidence that it's usually a white player/coach/announcer scolding a brown player for this, too.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on May 6, 2020 [4 favorites]
When I first visited my brother, his team was the Heroes, because he lived pretty close to their stadium. Now our team is the Tigers, because his father-in-law (I assume there's a single Korean word for my younger brother's wife's father) played for them back when they were Haitai — though as part of the Silver League, which I think is like a practice team? I know it had both people who did regular jobs at Haitai and people that were pro KBO players from the Haitai Tigers on it, and that they played teams from other KBO-sponsor companies, but trying to suss out the intricacies of mid-'80s Korean baseball structure without speaking the language has been beyond me.
posted by klangklangston at 9:01 PM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by klangklangston at 9:01 PM on May 6, 2020 [1 favorite]
In other news, the K League kicked off on Friday. Ahead of this all 1100 players and staff were tested and cleared for Covid-19.
posted by needled at 8:14 AM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by needled at 8:14 AM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
anem0ne, Ravech and Eduardo Perez are pretty name brand as far as ESPN baseball personalities go. You are definitely right that they could do better about pronouncing the names, for sure.
And yeah, more than anything they treat the games like pleasant background noise for an ongoing conversation about when MLB might start up. 100% agree with you there.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:27 PM on May 11, 2020
And yeah, more than anything they treat the games like pleasant background noise for an ongoing conversation about when MLB might start up. 100% agree with you there.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:27 PM on May 11, 2020
Me, a week ago: Korean baseball? I guess. Better than nothing.
Me, now: NC DINOS 4-EVER.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:28 PM on May 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Me, now: NC DINOS 4-EVER.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:28 PM on May 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
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The dancing skills of those Dinos is off the charts!
posted by CostcoCultist at 8:18 PM on May 5, 2020