Daejeon

On This Is Why We Have Drills

Deajeon Baseball Stadium, 2012

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Doosan Bears vs. Hanwha Eagles
Deajeon Baseball Stadium
Korea Professional Baseball
Deajeon, South Korea
5:00 PM


Outside of the Game:
And thus began my routine of waking up early to drag all of my crap around to a new hotel and go to a game and come back to pack to get ready to get up early the next day and do it all again.

I had a relatively early train this day, and I wasn't entirely sure how long it would take to get back to Seoul station from my hotel, so I tried to give myself extra leeway, yet I managed to utterly unanticipated the amount of time and effort it would take me to make two subway transfers with all my crap. I managed to miss my train. But that ended up being for the best, and I quickly got a ticket for the next train out and was able to go grab some breakfast and catch my breath.

On the entranceway to the departing train tracks, there is a sign informing that ticketed passengers only are allowed in this area, but it is okay, they trust us. That is really nearly verbatim what the sign said. Oh you wacky, South Koreans. You can't just go around treating people like adults. Where will that get you?

It was a short train ride down to Deajeon, most of which I spent unconscious. It was a short subway ride to my hotel, which I took grumbling all the way while dragging my bag with me. The Deajeon subway system is not nearly on the scale of Seoul system, and instead of RFID smart cards for single trips, they use RFID chips that are about the size of a casino token. You get one when you pay, and then you deposit it in the turnstile at the end of the trip. Altogether a pretty nifty way of handling things, though frequent users seemed to prefer a traditional smart card that you can reload or get unlimited passes.

I dragged my bag around the street looking for my hotel for a little while, as the hotel was located in the restaurant section of town among an infinite amount of little streets. I eventually found it, and they were good enough to let me check in early. I spent some time getting everything ready for tomorrow, as this would only be one-day stay, and I was off early again tomorrow morning. Since it was a slightly earlier game today and I had learned yesterday to get there as early as three hours before the game, I didn't have a lot of time before I had to set off again.

On the way out after dropping everything off at the hotel, I asked one of the staff about directions to the stadium. He turned out to be an Eagles fan and was surprised at two things. He was firstly surprised that I was going to a game. He was additionally surprised that I thought walking the 20 minutes to the stadium was something I was going to do. He very patiently gave me directions, and even wrote down the name of the stadium in Korean (so I could ask people as I went). But even with that, he gave me the second, "Well, good luck, round eye" I had received so far in the trip.

After a few turns from the hotel, the walk to the stadium was a fairly straightforward run. It was all one long street, so I was in no particular danger of getting lost, though I was in very real danger of being baked to death. It was after the worst part of the day, sun-wise, but it was still hot, and while the direction I had to walk for the stadium wasn't complicated, it also didn't have any shops on it for most of the duration. I nearly passed up one in the early going, but had the prescience to grab a bottle of water.

I have a fairly simple and easy-to-follow flow chart on water consumption during the day for these trips: Are you drinking water?
- Yes? Good. ^
- No? Drink water. ^^

But my problem was that for the rest of the walk out there, there were just no stores I could find along the way. I figured that once I got the stadium area that there would be shops to service the sporting fans, but whether it was because it was Saturday or because it was so early before the game, none of the stores were opened. And boy, it was hot, and boy, I was not following my simple and easy-to-follow flowchart.

After a little walking, I found a coffee shop that had just opened. I bought a cookie and they sold me a bottle of water that they had in a cooler for sale to fans later. I stayed inside re-hydrating in the AC out of the heat for as long as I could before it got awkward. I then went to check on the stadium, and the ticket windows were still far from opening, so I went into a sporting goods store down the street to get stay out of the heat for a while.

Eventually, the ticket booths were primed to open, so I headed back to buy my ticket and start taking my pictures.

The way back to the hotel was a little tricky. (Spoiler alert, for anyone who cares.) It was still coming down in buckets, but I was already decked out in my clear raincoat (though I had left my umbrella back at the hotel, for some reason). I managed to get turned around and walked the wrong way down the main street for a while before I realized my error and set back off in the right direction.

Televised StarCraft

Walking into the hotel bedraggled and soaked, I probably validated every misgiving the hotel clerk had about me earlier in the day. Utterly exhausted, I went back to the room to take a hot shower and soak, hung up the rain slicker and the rest of my clothes to dry for the night, and then went straight to bed. Turning on the TV, I found out there was an entire channel dedicated to competitive video games. (South Korea has a professional video game league.) And even though I couldn't understand nearly any of it, I had to stay up to watch a Starcraft match televised, because how couldn't you, really?


The Stadium and Fans:

Center field to home plate, Daejeon Baseball Stadium

In most of the smaller cities with teams, the baseball stadiums were also correspondingly smaller than in the big cities. And many of them, as can be the case in Asia, were wedged into tiny spaces in larger athletic complexes. Daejeon Baseball Stadium was the first of these that I encountered, and it fit the bill to a tee. It was about the size of an American AA park, with one row of seats that went around the entire stadium, with a second level of seats between first and third. The premium seats behind home plate were closed off from everything, but a walkway went around the entire rest of the stadium, including the bleachers area. You can even walk behind the batter's eye and main scoreboard. There's a special Eagles fan club area in center field, presumably for members of the club.

The stadium itself was really wedged in there, and there was the tiniest of walkways that went around it in many places. And it was right up against the surrounding buildings, to the point where you could probably easily hand someone in the stadium something from the window of the building next door. I have to wonder if they ever get any noise complaints.

As with the other stadiums in Korea, you could bring your own food in, but there was a limited selection of concessions in the front and the outfield. I decided to chance it and eat inside the park. At the very front of the stadium, they had a number of concessions that included an Austrian hot dog place, which made it pretty much a gimmie for me. I bought an Austrian hot dog at a Korean park, and then promptly got a mustard stain on my shirt at a ballgame half way around the world.

Similar to Japanese teams, they do an elaborate pre-game show for the fans outside the stadium. It is run by the team MC, the cheerleaders, and the mascots. It involves dancing by the cheerleaders, and the MC and mascots leading fans in several silly games. One of them this day was a water balloon toss, which is always good for some laughs.

Pre-game dancing

Though the Bears did have some fans in attendance, it was a Eagles crowd for the most part. They were passionate and loud for most of the game, as per normal. But what really struck me was how prepared they all were when it started to rain. Anyone who's been to an American game when there's the briefest of showers knows that it is usually the cue for nearly half of the crowd to head for cover. When it started raining enough to be noticed, most of the fans just pulled out rain slickers the same way I did and continued to watch the game. Nearly no one left their seats. Even when the big downpour started, most people did not leave their seats until the umpires suspended play. The way the stadium was constructed, there was precious little places under cover from rain, so the crowd pretty much smushed in and huddled up until the rain let up.

Hiding from the rain

And when it did, the same number of seats were filled as when the rain started. It didn't seem to occur to anyone to go home. Play resumed, and the crowd leaped on right at it.


At the Game with Oogie:

Scoring in the rain

Without my Korean friend from the day before, I was on my own to get tickets for the first time. There were actually a couple of Caucasian girls two lines over from me, so I felt a little less nervous about it. Working out how I was going to ask for a ticket gave me something to do for the time I was waiting on line for a ticket. I considered the many options available to me. These eventually ranged from being a complete American about it and just holding up one finger and hoping for the best (or someone who spoke a little English), to trying out what limited Korean I had available to try and say something such as "first-base seat." As the ticket gates finally opened, I opted for something awkwardly in the middle, which was a hand-drawn infield and stadium, with seats drawn behind first base. Although this ultimately worked, it was helped by a seat map she had behind her so I could point to the appropriate section and hold up one finger for the number of tickets, and she held up fingers for how much (in thousand won) the ticket cost, and I was the proud owner of a Korean baseball ticket.

And a real hot dog

It is important to note how stupidly cheap these tickets were. The most expensive seat I had in the whole of my trip was about 18,000 won (~$15), and I was exclusively sitting between home and first for the whole trip. I can see how baseball stays so popular in Korea: It is extremely affordable. Because, remember, these were the (relatively) expensive seats (though the home plate seats at most of the stadiums were between $25-$55 dollars), and decent tickets could be had for a couple of bucks, and bad ones for next to nothing.

I was sitting again on the home-team first-base side of the field, right between first base and home. It was another packed house, and it was families everywhere, perhaps because it was a weekend. I experienced people trying out their English on me for the first time. In Japan, it is pretty obvious you're a foreigner, but socially, the country is more conservative, and people don't want to risk embarrassing themselves by making a mistake when speaking with strangers.

Boy, is that not the case in Korea. People are more than happy to use you as an opportunity to practice their English, and they are not shy about it. Not to say Koreans were obnoxious or anything, but they were not afraid to come right up to you. Which is disconcerting for me, because I know for a fact that I don't know anybody in the country, so I'm not expecting anyone to be talking to me, and it is disorienting after just getting used to hearing everything in a foreign language to suddenly get dealt some English.

Which is why it must have looked like I was ignoring one of the people sitting next to me when they kept saying "Hello" to me. I just wasn't expecting it. Eventually, I realized what was going on, and said, "Hello" back. "Nice to meet you." "It is nice to meet you, too." "Goodbye." "Goodbye. Anyeonghi haseyo." (Which was kind of weird, because Korean has a goodbye to a person staying and a goodbye person leaving, but I wasn't quite sure what to whip out when both of us were staying.) I had dozens of those conversations, or something very similar, all throughout my stay.


The Game:

First pitch, Bears vs. Eagles

This was a quick-moving little game that would have ended even faster without all the rain delays. Both sides had first-inning threats that went nowhere. The visiting Bears started the game with a single and a stolen base, but except for a one-out walk, they left the runner is scoring position. Thr Eagles did them one better with a leadoff double moved over to third on a fielder's choice, followed by a walk, who both got stranded with a shallow pop-out and a strikeout. The Bears went in order in the second, but the Eagles had a leadoff single moved over on a groundout. At this point, the misty rain that had been falling turned into a downpour, and everyone flocked to the minimal cover available as gameplay was halted. The rain delay only lasted about fifteen minutes before they started the process to play again in the now-lessened rain, where the Eagles had two quick outs to finally end the inning.

Again in the third, the Bears went in order, and the Eagles did them one better by striking out looking for their entire side. Keeping to form, the Bears went in order again in the fourth, but the Eagles finally broke through. A one-out walk was followed by a single, and a two-out walk loaded the bases before another single brought in two runs and left it first and third, with the Eagles up, 2-0. A bizarre steal attempt ended the threat.

Breaking the streak, the Bears managed a single and a stolen base in the top of the fifth with nothing to show for it, while the Eagles answered with a hit batsman and a stolen base. The Bears kept this party going with a bunt single and a stolen base in the sixth, erasing everyone with a double play. The Eagles did slightly better in their half of the inning, with a single and error on the third baseman putting two runners on with two outs, but a weak fly out to center ended the inning.

The anemic Bears managed a single and a walk in the seventh with nothing to show for it, but the Eagles jumped all over a new Bears pitcher in the bottom of the inning. Back-to-back walks resulted in another pitcher being brought in to promptly give up a double to clear the bases. He almost got out of it, but gave up another two-out double to make the score 5-3 before a pop to left ended the scoring.

The Bears got a single in the eighth before the Eagles tagged on another run with a one-out walk, a double, a ground-out put the score at 6-0. The rain began to fall again in earnest in the top of the ninth, but the umpire crew seemed determine to finish up the game. The compliant Bears went in order to seal the 6-0 Eagles victory. A soggy on-field celebration followed.


The Scorecard:

Bears vs. Eagles, 06/23/12. Eagles win, 6-0.

Besides the rain, most of the game was pretty straightforward. There was another strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play in the top of the sixth, and the Eagles all struck out looking in the bottom of the third, but the only really weird play was in the bottom of the fourth. With first and third and two outs, something happened. The runner on first took off to second, drawing a throw, but when the runner at third made a break for home, he got caught in a run-down, leading to a run-of-the-mill 1-4-2-5-3 caught stealing put-out.


The Accommodations:

Dealim Tourist Hotel

I think I splurged a little when I booked this hotel, but I can't really remember all that much since it was months ago. It was definitely a business hotel, despite the inaccurate name of "Dealim Tourist Hotel." Perhaps it meant it in the "American Tourister" usage of the word.

At any rate, the place was aspiring to higher pretensions than the name would suggest to the average American. It had its own restaurant and a lavish Western-style foyer. They checked me in as early as I had shown up, and my room was a combination of Western size in Korean style. There was the traditional entry room where you have to ditch the dog wrappers, and then there was huge room with traditional wood flooring and low beds. The bathroom was a larger version of the PLEX bathroom, with a full-sized tub and free-standing sink instead of the abbreviated versions in my previous hotel. For some reason I had two beds, but that was no doubt due to my not paying attention when booking the room. There was also a larger version of the communications/beauty stand from the PLEX hotel, with a tremendous thin-panel TV on one side, a full PC DVD station in the middle, and the beauty/toiletry station on the other end.

Outside of my necessary soak in the tub after the game to keep all the parts moving, and the pit stop once I checked in to get everything ready for the next day, I didn't spend a ton of time in the room, but I enjoyed what time I did spend.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2012 Korea