Incheon

On the Very Definition of Insanity

Munhak Stadium, 2012

LG Twins vs. SK Wyverns

Munhak Stadium
Korea Professional Baseball
Incheon, South Korea
5:00 PM
Sunday, July 1, 2012


Outside of the Game:
Since the DMZ is closed on Mondays (and can one really close a demilitarized zone?), Sunday was the only day I had to go on a tour. The day before, I had picked a random tour company that had half-day tours and went with them mostly because they had at-hotel pickup instead of making me trek to some other location to start the tour.

Since I was switching out my hotel for the Seoul Guest House, I had to check out early and then leave my bag at the original hotel before swapping over to the guest house that evening. I grabbed some quick breakfast at the bakery in the hotel lobby, and waited for the tour bus, which showed up roughly on time.

We were in a small mini-van that was making a sweep of hotels to get us all to the main embarkation bus. This was the closest proximity I'd been with all English-speakers since I started the trip, and to be honest, it made me feel very claustrophobic. The people seemed nice enough and all, but just being around this many people who could understand me when I was speaking made me feel closed in.

We all got herded into the main bus at the meet-up point, and off we went for the short drive up to the DMZ proper. The not-so-little secret about the DMZ is its proximity to Seoul. Should a shooting war resume with North Korea, Seoul is a lost cause on the first day. It can be easily shelled from existing positions in North Korea, and even if it wasn't leveled by artillery fire, it would be over-run in a matter of hours. Knowing that you have several million crazed cousins less than an hour north of you that could wipe you from the face of the earth at any point may explain a lot of the drinking that goes on, at least in Seoul.

The end of it.

The first stop on the tour was "Freedom Bridge," which was the bridge where the last POWs were exchanged before the boarders were closed after the cease fire that remains in effect. There was an old train from the last rail exchange between north and south, and some vantage points where you can look into the DMZ itself. The barbed wire, mine warning stickers, and a lot of very serious-looking South Korean soldiers with very serious-looking assault weapons really sets a scene that seemed to be lost on most of the tourists happily snapping pictures in a war zone. Also incongruous was the small fair-sized amusement park that was just beyond the parking lot. Because when I think of family fun, I think of the active warzone between two bitter rivals.

They're pretty serious about it.

The next stop was the 3rd infiltration tunnel, which is fairly self-explanatory. Over the years, the North Koreans have dug approximately 20-30 incursion tunnels into the DMZ to facilitate sneak attacks on the South. This is the third one they found, and they only have physically located a handful of the twenty or so they think exist based on the testimony of defectors from the North. This one has an amusing progeny in the art of fallback positions. When discovered, the North originally claimed that it was an incursion tunnel from the South to the North. When South Korean engineers pointed out the impossibility of the drainage situation if the tunnel was from the South, the North Koreans than painted the walls with coal dust and said they were just mining. Presumably, in for a penny, in for a pound.

They don't have possession issues.

They don't allow any photographs in the tunnel itself, and getting down to it involves an extensive walk down a huge ramp they built in for tourists, and then a hard-hatted duck walk through the tunnel. Given the contortions, and the humid air, and the extensive walking, there are warnings left and right about being prepared for this endeavor that were ignored by most of the tourists until they are halfway down the incursion tunnel and are slowly having heart attacks. There are several convenient places up at the top for you to collapse in a heap after you turn in your safety helmet. You also got a pretty good look at some of the heavily subsidized and protected farming villages in South Korea's part of the DMZ. Though literally the most dangerous place in the country, the farmland there is so rich that they went to the time and expense of de-mining the area and letting farmers live and work there tax-free, with a government stipend, and with a constant military guard. The pay is good, I suppose.

Usually the highlight of the tour is Dora Observatory, which is about as close as most civilians get to North Korea, and gives a good vantage out into the DMZ. Except when it has been raining all night and there is a fog out so thick you can barely see two feet in front of you, let alone into the valley below you. Even though the visibility was next to nothing, the soldiers were still stringent about enforcing a yellow "picture line" beyond which you aren't allowed to take photographs, presumably because you'd get picked off by North Korean snipers. Even though the visibility was non-existent, we got to sit through a little model and video show about what we would be seeing if there wasn't an impenetrable  fog, but I get the feeling it wasn't quite the same.

A little foggy

The last stop in the DMZ for the tour was Unification Station, a train station that the South Korean government optimistically built before the end of the Sunshine Policy to link up South Korea with the North and the rest of Asia. It currently sits as a symbol of... something or other.

While there were a few additional stops back in Seoul, the tour was supposed to be over at 1 PM, and it was already 1:30 PM before we even got to the first stop back in the capital. I still had to retrieve my luggage from my last hotel and get to my new guest house before heading off to get in my make-up game. I promptly ditched the tour and got back to the Sutton to grab my bag, and then, thankfully for the last time, dragged all of my crap across town. The trip itself wasn't very far, but the stairs and lack of escalators made it feel a whole lot longer.

By the time I got to the Seoul Guest House, I was drenched in sweat, and I had to grab a quick shower before I set off for the game. The guest house was only one subway stop away from my last hotel, so getting back out to Incheon was as straightforward as before, if still time consuming. I'm pretty sure I napped on the long stretch of nothing on the 1 Line on the way out. I actually made pretty good time, and got to the game with an hour before the start of the contest. A quick ticket purchase later, and I was in.

As I had to navigate back to the guest house in the dark, the game thankfully didn't go on for too long, and I managed to get out of the subway at a little before 10. In walking my way back to the guest house, I ran into the proprietor and his dog sitting out of the street socializing with other locals. He helpfully pointed me in the right direction, and I pretty much collapsed into sleep as soon as I got back to the room.


The Stadium and Fans:

Center field to home plate, Munhak Stadium

This was second repeat stop at a stadium for the trip, so there wasn't anything particularly new to find. It did seem as though the Green fair outside the stadium was an ongoing thing, as it was there before the game this night as well. In keeping with the Green theme, the bullpen car (which I got to see this time) was a tiny little electric number that made a golf car look manly in comparison. I also found out that the elevating boat in the stage gets used again during a late-inning event, but beside that, it was mostly the same. The crowd was much healthier this time out without the threat of rain, and again the cross-town Twins had a full contingent in place on the visiting side.

Hydraulic cheering

At the Game with Oogie:

Pressure

Although my ticket agent wasn't fluent in English this time, I knew exactly what to say to get nearly the same seat as I had two days before, located right by the main home team stage. This time around it was more twenty-somethings than families, but it was more filled up and everyone was out to have a good time, as was par for the course at Korean games.

Before I went in this time, I saw someone in a sweatshirt from my college having some food. I assumed that he had done a study abroad there, but in talking to him, I managed to get across that he never went to the school, he was just wearing the shirt. And that was profoundly weirder than if it had been a small world moment.


The Game:

First pitch, Twins vs. Wyverns

And for my last game in Korea, we got some divine justice of a sort. For making me trek the hour and half out to watch another game because of the only rain-out in the history of my trips in five countries, the Wyverns reaped the wind.

This was the match-up of the two-letters, as the LG Twins took on the SK Wyverns. The Twins went down in order in the first, while the Wyverns made a show of it. Two one-out singles and an error on the pick-up made it second and third. But a come-backer to the pitcher with the runner from third going on contact led to a rundown and second out, before a foul pop-up to third ended the inning with no score.

The Twins again went in order in the second, and the Wyverns only managed a lead-off walk, eventually erased in a double play in their half of the inning. The Twins finally broke through with a hit in the third, but nothing more came of it, while the Wyverns got two, two-out singles in the bottom of the third which they couldn't get across.

In the fourth, the Twins scattered two hits and the Wyverns only got one, moving the game along pretty briskly. Things would get longer in the fifth. The Twins got a lead-off walk that was bunted over to second. This was followed by a hit batsman, and then a grounder to first that couldn't quite make it into a 3-6-3 double play, leaving it first and third with two outs. The next Twins batter dumped one over the right-field wall, bringing in three runs with the homer to make it 3-0 Twins. The Wyverns scattered a hit and a walk in their half, to no effect.

Back-to-back one-out doubles in the top of the sixth brought another run across for the Twins, but two more outs quickly followed, leaving the score 4-0 Twins. The Wyverns squandered a lead-off single that went to scoring position on a wild pitch when the next three went in order. In the seventh, the Twins got a one-out single, and then after a fly to short, they got back-to-back singles to bring in another run, making it 5-0 Twins. The Wyverns started the bottom of the seventh with a hit batsman and a bunt single to make it first and second with no out, but a double-play and another fly out to short ended the threat.

The Twins went in order in the eighth, but the Wyverns finally came slightly alive. They started the inning with back-to-back home runs before going in order, making it a more respectable 5-2 Twins lead. In the ninth, the Twins got a hit batsman and a walk, but couldn't bring them around. The Wyverns decided to give it one more try in the last of the ninth. Two singles led off the inning, followed by a walk to load the bases. But the next batter grounded to the first baseman, who came home for the force out, leaving the bases loaded with one out. But the Twins pitcher knuckled down and got as strikeout and fly out to right to end the game, and my baseball in Korea, with a 5-2 Twins win.


The Scorecard:

Twins vs. Wyverns, 07/01/12. Twins win, 5-2.

For my last game in Korea, they decided to work in some power. The three home runs were easily the most I saw on the trip, and the two back-to-back were obviously the only of those that I saw in Korea. It was also the game with the most extra-base hits as the three home runs were paired up with two doubles.

Other notables were a runner trying to score from third on contact in the first that got into a nifty little 1-2-5-3t run-down, and the "tour of the outfield" in the bottom of the sixth, where all the outs were on fly-outs to each of the outfielders, F-8, F-9, F-7. There were also three hit batsmen, in a game that was a little ugly.


The Accommodations:

Seoul Guest House

When I had my days off in Japan for the last two years, I stayed at a traditional Japanese guest house, or ryokan, in Kyoto. It was a fun experience, and I wished I had more time to stay at that particular place. Korean has their own version of the traditional guest house, called a hanok. They are more one-floor affairs, with guest rooms all located around a central courtyard and common room. For most of the guest houses, you have your own small room with sliding doors, and you share all the other facilities (bathrooms, laundry, toilets, etc.). Most of them now have an option to rent rooms with a private bathroom, of which I decided to avail myself.

The main area of Seoul that still has these original hanoks is located between the two main castle complexes in the government area of town. There had been a "modernization" campaign that had resulted in many being torn down before someone recognized the value of the establishments. Most of them now exclusively reside in the castle area, which was one of the few to remain untouched from the original purging. Many of the largest or most well-established even have English Web sites, but reservations can still be problematic. Requests for reservations are mostly just emails to the proprietors that are answered (or not) with no regularity and sometimes with some language issues thrown in. It took me two or three tries to get a reservation set up at one, and the Seoul Guest House turned out to be the right bet.

Even though the Website offered pretty comprehensive directions, I managed to get myself tripped up on the way there by going the longest and most complicated route possible that completely comes at the well-placed signs in the wrong way. When I eventually got to the guest house, I had to walk up a small path to the entrance proper, which led to the courtyard, where I was greeted by the shaggy behemoth that was the proprietor's dog. His owner soon popped his head out to assure me that the wooly mammoth in front of me was in fact very friendly. It responded well to scratches behind the ear, and I would later find out it was a purebred Korean breed of some sort. As with all dogs in Korea, he was also very personable.

Ssari

The owner quickly gave me the lay of the land, showing me to my advanced room, with its own bath and toilet. All the doors were sliding, so upon leaving your room, you padlocked it up with the provided device. On the other side of my room was the laundry/communal toilet, which was right next to the rabbit hutch, where a rather bored-looking coney eyed me with clear derision.

The main sleeping room came with a double futon, a lacquer clothing cabinet, refrigerator, TV, and air conditioning unit. It took me a little while to figure out how everything worked, but it was a fun sort of poking around. I was a little worried at how the bathroom/toilet would work, as it was a toilet, sink and a wall-hanging showerhead with a drain in the floor. It turned out to be very convenient, as you could shower yourself up and then go straight to the sink to finish your gussying, and then head right back out to your room to get dressed.

In the morning, with the sunlight filtering in through the thin paper door shades after a surprisingly good night's sleep on the futon, the effect was quite excellent.

On Wrapping This Bad Boy Up with Style

Gyeongbokgung

Monday, July 2, 2012
Seoul, South Korea


Outside of the Game:
This was my first day baseball-free since Jeju. After the rain make-up the night before, I had no baseball on the schedule. And this lack of focus tends to make these days a little on the non-productive side. It certainly started out that way, as I whittled away a good portion of the morning in my room enjoying the first good night's sleep in a while, coupled with the lack of any direct necessity of purpose.

I eventually roused myself out of stupor to head out to the Seoul morning. After grabbing some breakfast at a local restaurant, I headed towards the main Gyeongbokgung castle complex, which was right down the street from where I was staying. The Koreans have the good sense to not just close down every tourist attraction on the same day (usually Monday), and instead stagger it so about half are closed on Monday and half on Tuesday, which I thought was rather forward-thinking of them.

Changing of the guards

I got to the castle right when they were doing the changing of the guard ceremony, which happens on the hour. The spectacle had attracted a large crowd of tourists, as the changing happens both in the front gate of the castle, as well as the inside of the massive courtyard. The ceremony for the sake of ceremony had its appropriate amount of pomp, but frankly the tourists seemed to enjoy it a lot more than I did, as I ducked out half way through to go into the castle itself.

This castle, the traditional seat of power and sovereignty for the Korean kingdom, had a long and sad history with the Japanese. Along with "and then Henry VIII tore it down" in England, "and then the prisoners were kept here by the British" in Ireland, and "and then the American bombed it" in Japan, we can add "and then it was destroyed by Japan during the occupation" in Korea as the most common phrases you will hear in relation to historical locations. During an earlier occupation, the Japanese burned the original castle to the ground. The Koreans then nearly bankrupted themselves in the 19th century rebuilding it, only to have the Japanese dismantle it again during their next occupation (under the pretense of needing the space for an exposition), and then, by the way, since the area had been cleared for the exposition, they were just going to put their colonial management building right here.

Not one if anything to give up on the rebuilding project, the Koreans have relatively recently torn down the old colonial building and have been restoring the location to its previous palace existence. The complex was extensive, including two museums on the grounds in addition to the palace and related buildings. One was a museum about the palace itself (which was closed Mondays) and one was a cultural arts museum (that was not). In the course of visiting the castle, I popped into the open museum, which details the development and explanation of the major elements is Korean culture and design. It was actually more interesting that it sounds, and they had an outdoor exhibit that recreated a Korean neighborhood from right around mid-century, including a comic book store. Go team old nerd.

50s comic book store

After walking around the castle and museum into the early afternoon, I walked back to the guest house to clean up, and I grabbed some pork cutlets at another local restaurant before heading out again.

On the agenda was visiting the largest Buddhist temple complex is Seoul, Jogyesa. I had originally looked into doing a short temple stay program as part of this trip. These are one-, two-, or half-day events where you actually stay at Buddhist temple and go through part of a monk's daily routine, as well as get an overview on Buddhism and do arts and crafts and whatnot. I couldn't make the logistics of any of the longer one- or two-day programs work out, and then, not knowing if I was going to need the day to go to a rain make-up game, I couldn't even commit to one of the half-day programs, since they all ended too late in the afternoon for me to be able to get to a game if necessary. Insert your own joke here about letting baseball trump spiritual enlightenment. The thought had occurred to me.

I still made my visit to the Jogyesa temple and paid my respects. It really can't hurt to cover your bases, and the temple itself was gorgeous. They even had a 500 year-old tree on the premises that had been brought over from China several hundred years ago. It's this kind of thing that puts events in perspective for me. As America was just being discovered by Europeans, this tree was already a going concern. I try and remember that when people are arguing about short-minded ridiculousness on the television.

Old tree is old

After the temple, I went to the nearby Postal Memorial Hall, which detailed the rise of the modern postal system in Korea. I know how exciting that must sound, but I found it interesting, and when you go to Korea, you don't have to go there.

I went to Insadong next, a close-by shopping street that specializes in traditional cultural merchandise and the like. Now, those who know me know my intense aversion to all things shopping and shopping-related. But I did have to pick up some gifts for friends and people at work, plus there were numerous entertainers on the street, so it was an interesting enough place to be.

Insadong

Plus there was a huge geek store smack dab in the middle of it. A gentleman has taken a rather extensive personal toy and pop culture items and turned it into an entire floor of display and commerce. He charges about $1.50 to get in (presumably to keep dangerous and dirty kids away from his toys), but it was well worth the price, as the store was a treasure of Asian animation, comics, and action figures. The only real challenge was figuring out what was for sale and what was for display only. I eventually walked out of there with some postcards and a 70s cardboard Korean baseball game.

Nerd store

And that was not all. Because at one end of the street was a batting cage. At first, it was difficult to figure out what the second-story building was. There was a mural of a Pittsburgh Pirate player on a wall next to some other more traditional sporting pictures from Korea. I was trying to work out what the heck it was when I heard the familiar "ping" of aluminum bat to ball. I remembered reading in some guide book about the existence of a batting cage around there, so I found the way up, and indeed, there a batting cage was. For about 50 cents you got twelve wacks at the balls in the cages of various speeds. Not being too great at metric conversion, but knowing how batting cages work, I started at the one second from the right, which should be the second-fastest. I handled that one fairly easily, so I headed over to the fastest cage and started to burn through money at a disturbing pace. The only thing that probably stopped me was the necessity to break a large bill to continue, so I managed to break myself away.

Batting cages

Also helping was the idea that I was going to a Korean steak restaurant that I found near my guest house for dinner. Because, really, when you're talking about how you ended up a trip to Korea, and you can answer with, "Well, I went to the batting cages and then had a steak," that's not a bad damn answer -- no matter where the trip is, for that matter.

The restaurant turned out to be a relatively new basement place that seemed to be run by some guys just out of college. The steak was delivered to the table in a cast-iron skillet along with its accouterments. He turned the steak when it arrived, and 30 seconds later, I had perfect medium rare. The steak came with the sides in the skillet and a free desert. And it all cost about $11. Sometimes the cheapness of Korea was really startling.

Well-exercised and fed, I went back to the guest house to get my bags in proper packed state and to get to bed as early as possible for my excursion home the next day.


The Accommodations:
I was at the Seoul Guest House again. After spending a leisurely morning there, I stopped in during the day several times to get out of the heat, catch a nap, or drop off things. Having the shower room was extremely useful as it let me grab a quick wash to get the stink off and then send me back into the world.

On Going Home, For Some Reason

Incheon International Airport

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

New York, NY


Outside of the Game:
It seems somehow fitting that my last day in Korea would start so early. Because of my 10 AM flight, I had to grab the airport limousine bus at a little after six. I got to bed relatively early the night before, so I was functional, if not exactly happy. I made my final sweep of my room, dumped all my bags out onto the courtyard, locked up the room, and finding Ssari the dog looking at me half-interestedly from his spot by the door, I gave him a quick scratch and went on my way, dragging my luggage through the early-morning streets of Seoul.

I got to the stop a little early, which was good because the bus also arrived a little early and was gone long before its scheduled departure time. Most of the bus ride to the airport was a long nap, as my body decided to give up on all this consciousness thing, at least for a while.

Once I got to the airport, it was time for a proper British queue of a good half-hour to get checked in. Arriving as early as I did paid off again, as I was able to move to one of the last remaining exit isle seats for the flight back, ensuring that I at least would not be cramped beyond any recognition at the end of a half day in the air. I gave the airport a proper wander and bought some last gifts for people at work and some duty free soju for yours truly, then had breakfast at a buffet in one of the many service areas in the airport. I've got to say that having been around it twice now, Incheon airport gets top scores across the board. It's big, pleasant, spacious, and has a lot of amenities for travelers, such as free Internet areas, massage chairs, and kids play areas.

Even the security areas weren't oppressive. The line was quick-moving, and the security personnel were efficient and pleasant. Case in point: A Korean family was going through security ahead of me with their four- or five-year-old son, who decided to make a run for it at the metal detector while his parents were dealing with their bags on the conveyor belt. He joyously ran though, and when it made a beeping noise, he ran back through the other way to hear it again, where his parents quickly corralled him and started apologizing. Whereas at this point in the US, the entire family would be getting strip searched by an angry TSA agent, the security staff in Korea were just laughing and made the family go through the metal detectors properly. Imagine it: A measured and appropriate reaction to a minor incident of no great consequence. I once again wonder what has gone wrong with America that this sort of thing seems so surprising and out of the ordinary.

I killed some time at an Internet terminal until it was time to board the plane. We managed to do so in about ten minutes or so, and that included a separate bag pat down and picking up duty free items before boarding. I settled in to my exit row seat, agreed to help if the plane crashed, and stretched out my legs for the long haul. As an extra bonus, the only open seat on the plane was directly behind me, giving me some guilt-free reclining action.

Once we got to cruising altitude, I went onto the entertainment center, and lo and behold, Perfect Game was still in the rotation. I selected the movie and then fast-forwarded to point at which I stopped watching last time, right after the game in question had started. Both pitchers are perfect through three before the Tigers get on the board with a few solid singles, but the Giants pull ahead an inning later on a similar handful of hits and some aggressive baserunning that turn into two runs. As both pitchers start to get tired and affected by their various injuries, the opposing managers start ordering players to foul balls off and switching in batters and runners in an effort to tire the other pitcher out more quickly. Both teams sharing one bathroom (due to plumbing issues) leads to an ongoing sideshow of confrontations and fights for the duration of the game.

Then Baseball Movie Clichés 101 take over the game. Because of all the pinch hitting and running, the Tigers are forced to put the back-up catcher into the game. Seeing his father on TV wins back the respect of his son. It just so happens that he is the last batter up with two outs in the ninth inning. After spinning himself into the ground on his second strike, he looks at the picture of his family that he keeps in his batting helmet, and promptly hits a home run to tie the game. His joyous wife, apparently forgetting all the very real things wrong with their marriage, joyously gives out free beer to all her patrons.

Both pitchers continue going into extra innings, despite being on their last legs. Korean games back then were slated to end after fifteen innings, and the Giants pitcher doesn't realize this and goes back out to the mound, oblivious. This leads to an era of good feelings, as both teams and their fans cheer the opposing pitcher, leading to a handshake by both at the mound caught by the girl reporter. The only person angry was the Korean president, who apparently wanted a victor for PR purposes that weren't exactly clear.

So that's what happened there.

Most of the rest of the flight was an eleven-hour blur of napping, typing, eating, and watching movies. The flight home always seems to go faster than the flight out, mostly because I sleep a lot more due to utter exhaustion.

Eventually, I was ejected dejectedly into the New York morning. Due to the spiffy time difference, my flight left at 10:00 AM and landed at 10:30 AM, so I was just about as jet lagged as humanly possible. My entire body felt like an abused piñata. I surprisingly cleared customs nearly immediately despite acting like a drunk, drugged monkey. This yin was yanged when getting my main carry on, which I had to check again because of weight issues. It stands to reason that there always has to be a last bag to get delivered, and this day, I picked the short straw. Blurry and agitated, I waited and waiting for my bag to show up, with increasingly desperate thoughts about lost bag claims flowing through my head, when my bag triumphantly came into view right before they shut down the conveyors for the last time.

This is what I get for being the first person to check a bag for the flight, I guess. But that little bit of agitation was surely worth showing up early enough to get an exit row seat and have working legs at the end of a 13-hour flight.

It was all rosepetals after that, and it was just a matter of clearing customs, finding my father, and then collapsing awkwardly in his car for the ride back to my apartment.


The Accommodations:
Home, sweat home, and no, that was not a typo. My central air unit had flaked out while I was gone, and it was 90 or so in my apartment once I returned. It took most of the afternoon to get the temperature down to something resembling livable. The good news is that I was too jet-lagged to remember most of the day. Indeed, I have documentary and physical evidence that certain things happened that day (a receipt from the bank, groceries in my freezer) that I otherwise have no working memory of. I can assume, at least, there were no fatalities.

Afterward:

Korea loot

And so it goes.

This started with seeing a game a day in America, driving between cities each day. And then a plane flight or two were worked in. And then a flight every day. And then a game a day in foreign countries with trains each day. And then with planes worked in. Now, it is becoming pedestrian to knock off entire leagues with trains and planes in one vacation.

I'm not sure where this is going next. There are three more professional leagues in Asia, but my next target is going to be limited by where I can get English game schedules a) at all and b) early enough to let me plan this kind of trip. The goal is China, but we'll have to see the logistical  possibilities.

Conquered

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2012 Korea

Incheon [Rain Out]

On Being Worse Than Boston

Rainbow

Friday, June 29, 2012
LG Twins vs. SK Wyverns
Munhak Stadium
Korea Professional Baseball
Incheon, South Korea
6:30 PM


Outside of the Game:
I very excitedly got up and did not drag myself and all my possessions to a new train station and hotel this morning. I luxuriated in bed for a while, and then puttered around happily in my bathrobe for even more time before heading down to the buffet in the restaurant basement. Thus fortified, I decided to head out for a morning of sightseeing.

My hotel was literally in the middle of the palace district, so I just decided to pick a direction and start viewing. Jongmyo Shrine was my first stop, but apparently you could only visit by guided tour on any day but Saturday, and there were few English tours available. I got a ticket for the next tour, but I didn't imagine I was going to make it back in time, and I planned to come back the next day when it was free-range sightseeing.

So I headed slightly north to Changdeokgung, which did not require tours to visit. The castle complex was quite crowded in the early afternoon, and judging by the chatter, visitors from all over were present. I wandered around for a while, when I came to the entrance to Changgyeonggung, yet another castle complex. It was adjacent to Changdeokgung, but you needed a separate ticket to get in. There was also a "secret garden" tour for the Changdeokgung, but that one was by guided tour only as well (with even fewer tour times in English), so I just went with Changdeokgung. These grounds were a little less extensive than the other castle's, and it turns out that the Japanese turned this place into a zoo during one of their occupations, which the Koreans reverted to its original designation after their "guests" left, for some reason. It is odd, because once I knew that piece of information, it was almost impossible to see the grounds as anything but a zoo. It's weird how knowledge clutters perception sometimes. I kept expecting to see lions in a cage, and not the queen's quarters.

Changsdeokgung

I did, indeed, blow my tour time for Jongmyo, because I spent most of the afternoon walking around Changdeokgung and Changyeonggung, so I resolved to come back the next day. I took the short walk back to the hotel to swap out into my game bag and get on my way.

The trip out to Incheon would be the longest I would have to make from Seoul. It was about an hour and a half out to the stadium, but it was only one subway transfer, so it wasn't that bad. I had to swap from the Seoul subway system to the Incheon subway system, but it was all in one station, and I didn't even have to go through any gates. It was a Friday, and the subways were pretty crowded on the ride out. It was interesting as the crowds started to wane the further I got away from downtown Seoul, but then they surged back up again on the Incheon line going towards the game. I got to the stadium in good time with nothing of note.

So in doing all these baseball trips over however many years now, I had not had any sort of weather problems, per se. In fact, in even looking back to my entire extensive baseball-watching career, I think I have only experienced one complete rainout, at a minor-league game in upstate New York. Since the trips have officially started, the closest there has been was a rain-shortened game in Boston at Fenway Park that I just attributed to Boston being Boston.

But someone finally took the title away from them. To be fair, it was getting late in June at this point, and July is known as the rainy season in Korea for a reason. They get torrential rain, sometimes for days on end, and it just makes the decision to not have any domed stadiums a little more puzzling. Regardless, I had been living a charmed life up until this point, and it all eventually came due that evening in Incheon.

After the rain delays earlier in the trip, I wasn't even that particularly concerned when it started raining. The crowd all donned their rain gear and everyone was setting up for the long haul. Eventually the rain got so severe that they suspended play and put out the tarp two batters into the second inning, but that just got the crowd to retreat to the more-expansive covered areas at this stadium and grab some food at the concession stands.

It wasn't even that long into the rain delay before all the TVs in the hallways cut to the head umpire, who held up his fingers in an "X" indicating that the game was called. At this point, a lot of people started breaking for the exits to try and beat the crowd back to the subway. Nothing else to do for the evening, I went back out to the field. A lot of people were still in the stands and apparently not accepting the called game at face value. As a consolation prize, a number of Nexen Heroes players came out to slide from third to home on the rain-covered tarp. This was greeted with much good-will by the crowd, and then, in the most rowdy behavior I'd seen in the beer-soaked crowds of Korea, someone ran out on the field to get a slide in himself. He was quickly pursued by a couple of security personnel and taken off the field. Perhaps emboldened by their compatriot, a few more people decided to take their chance on the field, and eventually the field got covered in security and police trying to track them all down.

Order was restored and the wet crowd sadly headed for the gates, and on the long subway ride back to the hotel, all I could consider was the failure.


The Stadium and Fans:

Home plate to center field, Munhak Stadium

Despite the unfortunate weather situation, Munhak Stadium had a lot going for it. It was one of the only stadiums that would be perfectly at home in Japan and probably could pass muster in the MLB, as well. I got the impression it was one of the newer stadiums, or at least one of the most recently renovated, as the "Heroes" franchise had moved around in the near past.

Say what you want about the place, it had personality, and a little bit of whimsy. Even the subway stop had branding for the stadium, something that curiously was absent for all the other stadiums in Korea but was near-ubiquitous in Japan. Munhak is part of a larger athletic complex, but it stands alone and has its own identity. Parent company SK must be on something of a capital "G" Green kick, because there is a huge bike rack outside encouraging fans to ride to the park, and the day I went there was a big Green fair outside the main entrance. In addition, in dead center field along the main walkway, there is a small room built in that talks about energy efficiencies and other Green topics.

The outside of the stadium seemed to be more familiar to me as the outside of a ballpark. There were concessions and ticket booths at regular intervals... and a movie theater of some sort. The main entrance to the stadium was a sweeping ramp up to the second level done in astroturf, and clamoring all over the ramp itself were little super-deformed (giant heads, tiny bodies -- an animation style popular in Asia) player cartoons. The kids area also extended out to the exterior, with a kid-sized train running from inside the park to out and back again. There was even a practice field for fans just behind the main entrance ramp to the park.

Particularly noteworthy to me was a truck delivering Glenfiddich to the stadium that I saw during my walk-around. You get bonus points for having single malts at your stadium, because that's just common sense. Sadly, I was not able to locate the liquid in question, and I strongly suspect it was only available in the VIP areas behind home plate.

The stadium had two honest-to-goodness decks of seats from first to third, and a double-deck of bleachers in the outfield. One area of seats out in left field was a picnic field (also unique to Korea), and in right there was a section of seats with tables built in, mirroring similar sections behind first and third. In keeping with the whole "Green" corporate theme, the batters eye area out in center field was done up in shrubbery and trees.

Unlike most other stadiums in Korea, the interior walkways weren't just some cramped way to get from point A to point B, but were lined with concessions, shops, and other attractions. The SK Wyverns had the first full-on merchandizing team store that I saw, with the team name dropped on everything from pencils to phone covers, with an extensive selection of t-shirts (which surprisingly most other teams did not have available).

There also was a huge PowerPuff Girls-themed kids area called "Wyverns Land Kid's Zone." There was the aforementioned kiddie train in addition to a simply humungous baseball-themed bouncy castle and other play areas. For the older folks, there were hand-casts of players, areas with a history of the franchise and its achievements, and plenty of places to sit and eat from any of the varied concessions stands in the stadium.

Lost-looking mascots

Not quite done with the gimmicks yet, on the home stage on the first base side, there was an hydraulically raised boat built into the stage that the MC used to raise up to get the home crowd going at the start of the game. Even though the weather was looking awful, the stadium was pretty full nonetheless. As once again the home team was just from across town, there was a sizable LG Twins cheering section as well, along with their MC and cheer squad.

As with Korean baseball crowds, they came prepared for the weather, and were more than happy to sit out the rain, even when it got intense. They just retreated inside and got something to eat or drink, or took their kids to the play area to pass the time. They were suitably upset when the game was called.


At the Game with Oogie:

It will clear up any second...

One thing the place had going for it was that it was perhaps the first stadium in Korea that I went to that seemed to have a sufficient number of ticket windows ready to go. Although I was all prepared with my tried-and-true method of ordering tickets, I was immediately foiled by a college-aged woman at the counter who spoke fluent English, so getting the ticket was a non-issue, and for some reason, it made me feel a little sad.

I got a seat right by the home stage, and I feel it was not just because I was there early, but the foul weather that fulfilled its promise to ruin the evening had something to say about it. By game-time, my section was filled up, rain or no, with the usual mix of young people and families, drinking beer.


The Game:

First pitch, Twins vs. Wyverns

Not much to it. The Wyverns, despite a walk, had a no-hitter through two, while they had a single and a double to their credit. Of course, since the game was scratched, none of this "officially" happened.


The Scorecard:

Twins vs. Wyverns, 06/29/12. Rain-out.

Well, obviously not a lot to record here, except I had to record a game cancelled by rain for the first time ever on a scorecard. Curse you, Incheon. I filled it all out because I had nothing better to do on the long subway ride back to the hotel.


The Accommodations:
I was at the Hotel Sutton again, and deliriously happy at not having a train or plane to catch that morning.

Besides my dry cleaning waiting for me in my room when I got back from the game, dripping and disappointed, there wasn't a lot to mention. As I had some extra time because of the early end of the game, I took an extra special long soak in the tub and watched a bunch of television while I worked out what exactly I was going to do if the game the next day got rained out.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2012 Korea

Seoul

An Introduction:

After conquering Japan like a first-movie Godzilla, the next stop on the hit list was South Korea, home of an eight-team league with the second-largest following in Asia. Before we get started, I think it might be a good idea to give a brief primer on Korean baseball and how it differs from its Japanese counterpart, especially for those of who read about the Japan trips and know a little about Asian baseball:

1) There are eight teams in one division in the Korea (as opposed to twelve and two in Japan).
2) Similar to the Japanese, all the teams have corporate sponsors who own the teams (LG, Doosan, Sansung, etc.). Unlike the Japanese, the geographical locations of the teams are almost never associated with the team (e.g. "The Lotte Giants," and not "The Busan Giants"), and even the team name itself is generally subjugated to the corporate owner. (Fans cheer for "Lotte," not "The Giants.")
3) All the teams use the designated hitter (unlike only one division in Japan).
4) With the exception of a handful of national holidays, weekday games start at 6:30 PM and weekend games start at 5:00 PM. (And on the dot.)
5) All the teams play the South Korean National Anthem before the game. (There is a part of the South Korean National Anthem that sounds exactly like a part of the original Battlestar Galactica theme. It is important not to laugh.)
6) Similar to the Japanese, there is a home and visiting cheering sections. Unlike the Japanese, these sections aren't centered in the outfield bleachers, but instead are right behind the home dugout (the first base dugout for all but two of the teams). Most convert the area on top of the dugout, or an area near the dugout, into a stage, usually with speakers and drums. Most of the stadiums also have similar facilities on the visiting side for the opposing team.
7) Teams have an MC that is in charge of all the cheering. This is done with team-specific cheers, and often involves sing-alongs using American songs with Korean player names replacing parts of the lyrics. Since nearly all Korean names are three syllables long, anything with three beats of lyrics are fair game. For example, "Happy Together," such as "I can't see me lovin' nobody but you, Park Yun Min." "Surfin' USA" is another big one for some reason. The MC is generally in charge of all the cheering, and gives the crowd directions in the cheer before they start. Most of the cheers involve using thunder sticks. Unlike the Japanese (who favor solid, hollow sticks), the Koreans seem to prefer inflatable sticks, and they have less flag waving and fan participation instruments. The cheering itself is less rigidly executed than it is in Japan and is generally more passionate and enthusiastic. Cheering for each side is generally done during their time at bat, though a failure by the team at bat or a great play in the field may prompt the other team's fans to chime in.
8) Between each inning, the cheerleaders usually do a dance routine to entertain the crowd, though there are sometimes more American between-inning events, such as fan "skill" or dance contests, or (god help us all), the Kiss cam. I can't imagine any more solid differentiators between the Japanese and Korea game than that. A dance cam or, god forbid, a kiss cam in Japan would go over about as well as a "desecrate your parent's grave" event with the more serious and buttoned-up Japanese.
9) Dear lord is there drinking with a capital "D." Not an eye is blinked when fans bring in multiple cases of beer with them. Many fans are completely rocked by the later innings, but it never seemed to get ugly. You are also allowed to bring in your own food, so it was not unusual to see fans walking around with big boxes full of beer and food to last them through the game.
10) After the game, they do a hero interview the way the Japanese do. They build a small stage on the field, and then they do interviews and sometimes give prizes to MVP of the game (sometimes the best pitcher and hitter in the game), which is broadcast up on the scoreboard. After that, there is usually a prize giveaway of autographed merch from the MVPs that they throw into the crowd, and maybe some other stuff from the cheerleaders, MC, or mascots. Taking it to another extreme, sometimes the visiting team gets to do a hero interview if they win the game, which is taking good sportsmanship to a whole other level (and is unheard of in Japan).

Alright. On with it.

On Getting Things in the Wrong Order

JFK International Terminal

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Queens, NY


Outside of the Game:
This sad tale begins the day before, where at work, I decide to have a frozen yogurt. What could be so wrong with such a tasty and healthy treat? The end of my gastrointestinal system as I know it, apparently.

I had difficulties for the rest of the day. I had visited my doctor on Monday to get an allergy shot, but I had to go to the immediate care place again on Tuesday because I couldn't leave work to go to my primary care during the day, and I couldn't fly without getting this attended.

According to the doctor, there was something or other going around, and it resulted in a rather serious rebellion in a rather essential part of my body. After a test or two, it was discovered that my gut had left the building and the only recourse was to shut it down completely and reboot. So I was contrarily given a strong antibiotic and a strong pro-biotic, and then delivered orders to have them fight it out to the death inside my stomach. What could possibly go wrong? I may be the only person to get traveler's ailments before leaving for vacation.

Not having any breakfast for obvious reasons, I went off to the airport on the day of my flight. I had been assured by the good folks at Asiana airlines that I needed to be at the airport a minimum of three hours before departure, so we gave ourselves two hours to get to JFK from Hoboken, and it would turn out that we would only need one and a half of them to get there. There was some traffic, but nothing out of the ordinary, and we managed to cross our two rivers without much ado.

I was going out of terminal 4, which seems to be the "Miscellaneous Foreigners" airport, including Asiana. Because terrorists, I had to check in at the airport counter to get my boarding pass. I managed to change my seat to an exit row, but they informed me that my carry-on bag was too heavy to carry on and had to be checked. This led to two things. The first was a quick strip-down of said carry-on for anything that I needed to live. The second was knowing exactly how much minimum weight I was going to be dragging around for the rest of the trip (14 KG, for the curious). I checked the bag, and then spent an hour going through security.

To be fair, this was the first time that I could legitimately say that the problems rested more with the passengers than the TSA. There was an El Al flight leaving before mine, and let's just say there were a bunch of folks with entitlement issues who, nearly to a person, believed that the rules surely didn't apply to them. This led to the line taking much longer to clear than it should have.

Once through security, I had a good two hours to kill and not a lot of terminal to murder it with. I had the complete lay of the land in under a half hour, and then, after chancing a plain toasted bagel, I went off and played video game for most of the rest of the time. (There was a Galaga machine and a NASCAR racing thing, and let's just say it was a long two hours.)

I was eventually a little concerned by the lack of plane, but about an hour before we were supposed to leave, a plane landed and unloaded its passengers, and magically, a full crew showed up out of nowhere. After an announcement in Korean that I surely did not understand, the entire flight crew rose up in a way to put drill teams to shame and boarded the plane en mass. I ceased worrying about the flight at that point. Clearly, this was an organization that had their business together.

We boarded the plane on-time and without incident. In the exit row with me was a 20-something Korean guy and some manner of bigwig doctor. The crew was fawning all over him, and he was getting first-class treatment even though he was back with the herd.

The guy next to me made some small-talk, and I had to explain why I was going to Korea. He asked if I was a baseball scout and predictably looked at me as though I was a crazy person when he found out I wasn't. As any good nerd should, I came up with a socially acceptable explanation for his question a good hour or so later: I'm a writer. It is technically not a lie. Look at me right now: I am writing. I think that might go over as a less crazy explanation of why I am doing what I am doing that "baseball fan with more money than common sense, and deep, deep boundary issues." Despite my clear sanity issues, he was nice enough to help me make heads or tails out of the entertainment system, which did make a bunch more sense once he helped me set them to display in English.

By my closest approximations, the flight took just about forever. I managed to keep more or less to the awake/sleep schedule the plane suggested, but there was not a lot to break it up, especially at meal times when I just grabbed the most bread-looking things I could find and drank some water. There were naps, and books, and movies, and I would bet my life that time actually stopped at some point. There was nothing particularly unpleasant about it, except the duration, much like a Kenneth Branagh movie.

There was some people-watching to be had. One of the only other Caucasians on the plane was having a rough flight, so for a good portion of it, she was parked right across from me in landing seat for the flight attendants. Being close to the bathrooms and one of the only walk-around areas in the plane brought a lot of children. With minor exceptions, the kids were all insanely well-behaved and serve as yet another glaring indictment against America and all things American.

As we were making a passive-aggressive right turn around North Korea, I saw a Korean baseball movie in the entertainment selections called Perfect Game. It is tragic that I noticed it so late in the flight because it was damn near the thing in which I was most interested. It was a weird quasi-biopic about a legendary 80s baseball game between the two best Korean pitchers at the time. The story begins with Team Korea playing Canada in some tournament (and outside of a Michael Moore movie, how many times are the Canadians ever the bad guys?), where the younger of the two pitchers watches in awe as the older pitcher goes out with no rest and a split finger and strikes out the side to hold onto a win. And then... the movie presumably ends, because what I just saw was the end of a sports movie. Except it wasn't.

Fast forward a few years. The younger pitcher, now pitching for the Tigers, wins the Korean MVP award at a dinner that very much looks like a corporate awards show. The older pitcher (playing for the Giants) looks on grimly. Though still the legendary pitcher of his generation, his generation has passed, and the younger is ascendant, and he begins to have to field questions about how he feels about his younger competition now winning all the honors.

The story is a fairly straightforward progression towards the two pitchers facing each other in the aforementioned "perfect game," but there are a ton of side stories thrown in. There is the new female reporter for a Korean daily who, for some reason, knows nothing about baseball and is desperately trying to get a scoop after being threatened with termination by her Perry White-like boss. Her lack of baseball knowledge is not a weakness of her gender, as shown by her roommate, an insane baseball fanatic who at one point incites a riot when a game is sold out. The reporter, driven by her boss, eventually publicly shames the older Giants pitcher by asking him about his declining skills, prompting praise from her boss and horror from her colleagues.

There is also the side story of the back-up catcher on the Tigers who is desperate to get some respect from his son and wife, the later who keeps begging him to quit his low-paying baseball job so that he can help support the family. Also, the son of the former Giants coach is getting in trouble for showing up late for practices because he is secretly caring for his ailing father. So we have our soap opera established.

All of this is tied around the developments in the two pitchers. The by-the-book, honor-before-all aging Giants superstar is forced to loosen up after his former coach's funeral and realizes that the brutal public dressings-down he was giving the younger player were the result of him caring for his father. He also reconciles with a teammate with whom he had grown apart because of his aloof perfectionist image.

On the other side, the younger Tiger pitcher, after numerous public scandals about his carousing, grows to dedication to the game that he had been missing for his career up to this point. He bonds with the washout backup catcher to perfect his form. The reporters realize that a series of rainouts have aligned a match-up between the two pitchers that will serve as a tie-breaking contest between the two, who have each won one of the previous two meet-ups.

And then the game is on... and the flight ended, so I'm not quite sure how this ends. Also, since this was "based on a true story," lord only knows how much of this is close to real. That said, the fact that a lousy catcher not properly providing for his family and a (for the most part) unflinching martinet are held up as heroes does say a lot about the state of Korean baseball, or at least their mythology thereof.


The Accommodations:
I was on the plane all day. At some point, Wednesday turned to Thursday, but again, I take the liberty of making the point when I stepped off the plane in Korea as the start of the new day. Because I can.

On Blue Suede Boots on the Ground

A Sordid Tale

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Seoul, South Korea


Outside of the Game:
Everyone stumbled from the plane into the Korean afternoon. Groggy, disoriented, and with a violently disagreeable stomach, I set forth unto a new land. Since I had yet to pick up my officially heavy bag, I was moving along pretty quickly to wherever I was going, unburdened by 14 kilograms. The first stop was immigration, which had no line, and then I was on to get my bag, which I had in under five minutes. And then I was on to customs, which involved dropping off a form. It was then just a matter of working out how to get to Seoul.

I entered into the main terminal at Incheon International, and literally one of the first things I saw was two Korean Elvis tribute artists singing on a big stage in the airport. This has now become something of a running theme on these trips, especially after Elvis Night last year in Chicago. Well played, Korea; well played.

No, really, there they are.

I stopped to get some money from the international ATMs at the airport. Unlike in Japan, apparently "international" really meant "international," instead of "mostly international." I got my money out easily enough, but in my jet lagged, mush-headed state, I didn't quite know if I had just taken out $50 or $500. The decimal points always get you in the end.

After some searching, I found the desk where I had to turn in my train pass voucher. I got my pass and all my scheduled tickets for the trip fairly quickly, and then had to find the express train into downtown Seoul. I got my separate ticket and got on the next train to find a fairly Japanese level of train competency. Clean, quick, and on-time, the train arrived in Seoul, and then the adventure began in earnest. I had worked out for the most part how I needed to go on the subway to get to my hotel, but that's the thing about theories: they'll get you in the praxis.

The first part was an epic hike up stairs and escalators from the airport express trains, through the regular train station, and the bus station, before I got to the subway station, all with 14 kilograms of bag. Then it was a matter of working out the best way to get to my station. I managed to pick one of the longest. Nevertheless, I ran into a nice Chinese couple who asked me in English if I had been here before, I said that I hadn't, and after he said he had been here once, I jokingly said I'll follow him then. I'm not sure they got the joke. We talked for a while, and as I explained that I didn't have my subway map (in my bag somewhere), that I was traveling alone, and that I had a general idea of where I was going, they looked at my with great concern in a way that I clearly understood to convey "Whitey, they aren't even going to find your shoes." We parted ways at a transfer station, and I'm fairly certain that they expect me to be dead by now.

I eventually got to the station by my hotel. It turns out that my hotel in located in the Sinchon market, a bustling area of narrow streets packed with tiny shops of all imaginings. After a helpful local pointed me in the correct direction, I managed to locate the PLEX Hotel, check in and drop off my stuff, and head out to see what was there.

The game lets out

The market was a busy place, located a short walk from one of the two baseball stadiums in Seoul proper. It was hopping on a Thursday night, and if anyone ever tells you that Koreans don't drink like champs, you punch them right in the face, because by around 8 PM on a Thursday, a small sampling size of 100% of the people I ran into on the street were utterly, utterly hammered. I walked around the streets for a while before remembering that they were playing a game that night, and headed over to the ballpark. I got there right as the game was letting out, and the streets were eventually swarmed with happy home team fans and the stadium quickly drained towards the bars and clubs in the market, to forever end any danger of sobriety.

Kids love the baseball

I walked back myself and noticed a number of baseball-related booths mixed in with the food stalls and clubs. There were a tiny indoor batting cages where guys bashed baseballs to impress their girlfriends, and then the girlfriends took a turn so they could giggle at each other. Right around the corner from my hotel was a pitching booth. It wasn't just a speed pitch booth, but it had a dynamic strike zone projected on the backstop with an anime baseball girl standing in. A different section of the strike zone got highlighted after each pitch, and you got points for not only how fast you threw, but if you threw a strike, and bonus points for hitting the highlighted zone. As I watched, a young girl went up and hit her target zone with every pitch, and then one of the proprietors asked me if I wanted to try. The implication, of course, being that if a little girl can do it, surely I could.

Effectively shamed, I paid my 2,000 won (just shy of $2) and warmed up so that I would at least be reasonably mobile the next day. To my credit, I was better than average on the accuracy, but when I tried to put anything on the pitches, I ended up in the next lane. I believe the girl had a better overall score than me, but none of you can prove that. After my great victory, I walked around the corner to the hotel and went to bed, or at least laid down until I slept for a bit.


The Accommodations:

The PLEX Hotel

For my first stop in Seoul, I decided on a hotel right near my first game. The PLEX Hotel was located right down the street from Jamsil Stadium and fit the bill admirably. It was my first encounter with the weird amalgam motel... thing I would run across. The first floor of the hotel was a parking garage right off the street. The lobby of the hotel was only accessible from this garage, but all the subsequent floors were guest rooms.

I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting from Korean rooms, but outside of the hotel's odd layout, the room itself was about right. Along one wall was a small counter with beauty supplies and a desk of a sorts, with a giant TV above it, while built into another wall were a window, a refrigerator, and a welcome water cooler. The bed was tucked in to the opposite wall, and the small bathroom was around the corner. It had a tiny tub and Japanese-style electric toilet from the future.

Along the desk wall, there was also a small PC set up. It turned out that this was a machine dedicated for movies, but if you closed out the movie app, you could also use it as a regular computer. This was later confirmed to be fairly common in Korea, as some kind of DVD jukebox thing. Among the movies you could watch was the baseball movie from the flight, but there were also a whole bunch of adult features in there as well, and even though there was not indications of any charges to watch the movies, I didn't want to risk it.

The room also came with a can of mosquito spray (ecologically friendly mosquito spray, if the can could be believed). Though I would find out this is also a common feature in hotels in Korea, they apparently are there for a reason, as I was eaten fairly alive the first night before learning to do a diligent spraying before bed.

On Getting Started with the Baseball

Jamsil Baseball Stadium, 2012

Friday, June 22, 2012

Lotte Giants vs. LG Twins
Jamsil Baseball Stadium
Korea Professional Baseball
Seoul, South Korea
6:30 PM


Outside of the Game:
This was first full day in Korea, and jetlagged as I was, it started early. I managed to sleep until 6 AM, and then unable to get back to sleep, I was out into the new world. My first piece of business was to call my family and tell them I was okay. After a brief expedition to a local convenience store to find a calling card, and some timely assistance from the hotel staff, I was able to make my call. That just left the rest of the day.

With everything still closed in the early morning, I headed off to Asia Park across the way from the hotel to do some walking around. I was not alone, as the park was teaming with older folks out taking part in an organized exercise program. I got my constitutional while watching them, and as the group was breaking up, the first of the restaurants was opening up so I could grab a proper breakfast. Fed and at the time in the morning when the cultural attractions were actually open, I decided to try my luck going to one.

Beside a quick ride the day before, this was to be my first real encounter the with Seoul subway system. It turned out to be much like the Japanese subway system, if not as preternaturally clean. Not to say it was dirty or anything, but it didn't have an army of workers constantly wandering around catching any stray piece of garbage before it even hit the ground.

The subway lines were well-organized, with easy-to-follow maps and signs to let you know where you were and where you were looking to go. The entire system worked on RFID cards, and buying a ticket was a little more confusing than it had to be. To buy a one-way ticket, you had to pay the fare and then a "rental" fee for the RFID card itself. I eventually found out that you can get that nominal fee back if you turn in your card at machines set up for that purpose, but it was more involved than needed and not at all clear.

In addition to the regular sort of safety posters and equipment, each station has an emergency locker filled with supplies such as respirators in addition to the more mundane first aid supplies. In case you were wondering what they were for, they run videos in some of the subway car monitors that explain how to use them, which makes a certain amount of sense, except in how they go about doing it.

They have a looping video presentation that shows a terror attack on a subway station, complete with special effects, showing what to do, if, for example, there is a gas attack. Now imagine for a minute what would happen if they had semi-realistic videos of terror attacks running in the subway cars in New York. I'd imagine rioting within the first day of their implementation.

I managed to make it to my destination without any rioting, which in the this case was the National Museum of Korea. This was my first day being able to do any real touristy stuff, so I decided to jump in feet first by going what was the South Korean equivalent of the Smithsonian.

Pagoda at the Museum of Korea

If you say nothing else about the museum, you have to acknowledge its scope. The museum building itself is simply humongous, and it is situated on an even larger campus, complete with outdoor exhibits and its own lake and waterfall. So it certainly has majesty going for it.

Once you can make the long walk to the entrance, for no charge, you can get into the enormous building itself that holds the main exhibit area. Although admission is free, you have to pay to get electronic tour guides. For the low tech among us, you can grab an MP3 audio tour, or you can pay a little extra and get a PDA tour.

The future, Dottie

The little handheld device comes with headphones to listen to the dialog, and a completely interactive touch screen to see close ups of objects or get audio dialogue about them. I'm not sure if it is the case in other languages, but the audio for English was done as a discussion between a stand-in for yourself ("Visitor"), and the "Curator" supposedly giving you the tour. The Visitor's questions run from the mundane softball set-ups to the mildly insightful. What adds an extra layer of bizarre to the experience is that all the voices are generated by text-to-speech programs, making the whole process seem like two chatbots having a quasi-Socratic dialogue in your presence.

All of the exhibit halls are similarly as huge as the building itself. They cover the beginnings of history in Korea, as well as cultural development is various fields of artistic development. The history section was a little odd in that more time was spent on the early history, and each successive time period was given less and less time, and then history just stops before the second Japanese occupation of Korea prior to World War II. That's it. Final gallery ends; no more history to be found. I'm not sure if this was intentional (as those periods of Korea's history are covered in other museums more thoroughly), is part of a work in progress, or was a deliberate decision to bury their heads in the sand over a controversial issue. I still don't know.

After passing most of the morning wandering the hallways of the museum, I decided to grab some lunch before heading back to the hotel to get my stuff for the game that night. The museum had a humongous food court that operated slightly differently from any I'd seen before. There is one main counter that has the menus for all the restaurants on screens behind them. You place your order there, and then they give you a pager for the restaurant that is doing your order. You sit around and wait for the pager to go off, and then you go to get your food.

Testing fate

The process went smoothly, and I crossed my fingers as I tucked into my pork rice bowl, my first real meal since arriving in Korea. I was able to finish my meal with no great consequences. I headed outside to see some of the exterior museum exhibits, and then get back on the subway to get my game bag for the game.

Post-game

Taking the short walk to the game and back was without incident, and I went straight to bed upon returning to the hotel after the game, trying to get myself set on the new time schedule.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, Jamsil Stadium

Jamsil Stadium turned out to be one of the larger stadiums in Korea, about average-sized for a Japanese ballpark. It was the home venue for both the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears, so I was scheduled to be back here in the second week of my trip.

The stadium had its entire outside circumference filled with ticket windows, team stores (the LG Twins and Doosan Bears both had separate stores), and concession stands (including the likes of KFC and Dominoes), and a large parking lot was located in the back of the stadium. All of the signs in the stadium were changed to reflect the LG Twins, except the for the Bears team store and a set of doors under and overhand towards the back of the stadium, adorned with Bears branding.

Just some fans...

The interior walkways went all around the stadium, but the individual seating areas were regulated by ushers. There was a lower deck and an upper deck around most of the stadium, with the exception of the bleachers, which tapered off into a single row. The bleachers were cordoned off by a separate entrance, as was the seating area behind home plate, although you could walk around the rest of the stadium through the upper deck.

The walkways had the expected concessions and merch shops, though because you are allowed to bring in your own food to Korean stadiums, the food concessions weren't as ubiquitous as you'd likely imagine. Jamsil Stadium also had "beer guys," but I have to say, I still prefer the Japanese beer girls. There were Twins banners everywhere, which indeed would be swapped out when the Bears were at home.

The Twins cheering section was on the first base side. The stage wasn't on the dugout itself, but slightly further down the first-base line. There was a formal MC and the cheerleaders, and the mascots (two sets of boy and girl twins) did make an appearance during the festivities, though it was mostly the MC and the cheerleaders, and it was the cheerleaders doing the between-inning shows, though there was a junior dance crew out between some innings. There was a special seventh-inning event that ended with a streamer cannon being fired over the stage area.

Fighting cheerleaders

The visiting team had their MC (in a full white tux, no less) and their cheerleaders providing the show for the visiting fans. Even though the Lotte Giants were from as far away as you can get in Korea, the Giants fans were out in force, and filled up the entire left side of the stadium, making their presence well-known throughout the game. The home fans were in attendance as well, filling up the right side for this Friday-night game. Both were very loud with their inflatable thunder sticks through the course of the game, but the away fans, just by virtue of how far they had to travel, get the nod for being a little more loud than even the home fans. Either way, both sides were audible and enthusiastic for the entire run of the game.


At the Game with Oogie:

I wasn't the only American there

So for my first baseball trip, I was at a hotel literally a few blocks away from the stadium, so I didn't figure transportation was going to be a problem. About two-and-a-half hours before the game, I casually walk the ten minutes to the stadium... and find a line at the ticket booth wrapped halfway around the stadium.

I was fairly stunned that the line was so long and that they'd have literally only one ticket window open, and I started to wonder what I was going to do to get a ticket in time for the game, let alone for me to take all my crazy pictures.

At this point, the guy in line behind me interjects, in English, if I'm trying to go to the game. It turns out that he had spent a year in school in San Diego and so had a better-than-average grasp of English. While we were waiting, we talked for a goodly amount about why I was here, and he was appreciative of my goals. He gave me a great deal of pointers of getting tickets and getting to stadiums and getting out of stadiums. It was frankly exactly what I needed to start the trip off on the right foot, so I took that as some manner of sign.

Another sign came soon after when someone came out and started yelling in Korean which he let me know (on the move) that it translated to the fact that they had just opened up another ticket window. Now on a much shorter line, we got our tickets relatively quickly. He was from Busan and so was going to be on the third base side, but he ordered a first-base side ticket for me. Our business concluded, a thanked him profusely and wished him luck in the game.

After all my usual walking around taking pictures rigmarole, I went inside and found out that he had gotten me a seat on the first base side relatively close to the dugout stage with a great view of everything, so that worked out. We were wall to wall people down there, none of whom gave me much notice, but one or two were staring at me keeping score, though no one asked about it on that day.


The Game:

First pitch, Giants vs. Twins

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Korean baseball outside of some variation of the Japanese game. I wouldn't be surprised, and I would get an extra dose just to be sure.

The visiting Giants went down in order in the top of the first, while the Twins lead off with a single in the bottom  of the inning. Here is where the divergence with Japanese ball began, as he was not immediately bunted over as a matter of course. A ground-out left a man on first, until the next batter singled him over to second. A walk loaded up the based with one out, and a dinky single brought home the first run, but the big inning was squandered with a fly to second and strike out looking, leaving it 1-0 Twins.

The Giants got a single in the top of the second and nothing else, but the Twins turned a single, sac bunt (there she is) and single into another run to make it 2-0 Twins. Again in the third, the Giants got a single and nothing else, while the Twins turned two singles and a stolen base to make it 3-0 Twins.

To shake things up, the Giants got two singles in the top of the fourth without bringing anyone home, whereas the Twins finally failed to score on a solitary walk. The Giants went back to their original ways, getting a single in the top of the fifth, while the Twins surpassed them with two singles in the bottom of the inning with nothing to show for it.

The Giants finally broke through in the sixth. A leadoff walk was followed by a strikeout, two singles to bring one run home, and a routine ground-out to short that turned into a run on an E6. A new pitcher ended the rally at 3-2 Twins. The Twins got a single hit in their half of the inning, leaving the score at that tally.

The seventh saw the Giants back to form, getting a single hit in their half, while the Twins decided to get the run back. Back-to-back walks started off the inning and prompted another pitching change, and a two-out single brought the lead runner home, re-establishing the lead at 4-2 Twins.

The Giants came back in the eighth, overcoming a double-play to put a run across on a two-out double and single. The Twins answered with a leadoff single, sac bunt, and two more singles to leave them with a 5-3 lead going into the ninth.

The Twins closer came in and promptly got two quick pop outs to start the top of the ninth. A clean single broke up the inning, and it all came crashing down when the next batter drove a bullet straight into the left field seats, tying it up at 5-5 before the bleeding was stopped. The Twins went weakly in order, and my first game in Korea was going to extra innings.

Perhaps tired, both sides went in order though the top of the eleventh. The Twins had something going in the bottom of the inning, where a one-out single got moved to second on a fielder's choice, then followed by an intentional walk and a pedestrian walk to load the bases before a fly to left ended the inning.

The twelfth began with a double for the Giants. A ground out that moved the runner over to third was followed by a single to bring home the runner. A pop out to the catcher and a failed steal attempt ended the half. The Twins got a two-out single, but a fly out to right finally ended the game, sending the visiting Giants fans home happy with a 6-5 win in 12.


The Scorecard:

Giants vs. Twins, 06/22/12. Giants win, 6-5.

As Korean teams don't have scorebooks, I brought along the Baseball Writers' Association of America Official Scorebook to keep the time. One benefit that Hangul (the Korean written language) has over Japanese is that there is only one alphabet that is used for everything. While my longer exposure with Japanese gives me a greater fluency in it, it is still insanely difficult for me to read anything in it, because has four alphabets and is peppered with kanji, which are essentially Chinese characters you have to memorize to be able to read anything. That being the case, I am actually able to read Korean much better than I am Japanese. This made reading the names off the scoreboard much easier, and by about the third game in I was even able to get my scorecard filled out before the start of the game.

That wasn't the case here, as I struggled through reading, translating, and transcribing all the player and umpire names, no doubt rather badly. Korean names are nearly all three one-syllable names, so their scoreboards are accommodated for it. When there is a non-Korean in the lineup, it make trying to translate the transliteration even harder. I muddled through fairly well, I think, given the circumstances.

With a weird-assed, extra-innings game, there was bound to be some oddities, scoring-wise. The first was both teams managed to run out of position players before the end of the game and had to have the pitchers hitting for themselves because they needed to swap out position players with their DHs after all the pinch hitting. The Giants did this for the seventh inning, and the Twins did in by the twelfth.

Another weird one was the Twins called in a pinch hitter in the eleventh after the batter got a strike on him. As soon as he went 0-1, the manager went up and pulled him out for a pinch hitter, who only managed a weak ground-out to the pitcher. The thing was, this oddness was only the slightest of hints of what was to come for the rest of the trip.


The Accommodations:
I was at the PLEX Hotel again. I spent maybe an hour there awake all day.

The staff was super helpful when I was trying to make my call to my family to let them know I had gotten in okay. Between the language problems and me being jetlagged within an inch of my life, they were extremely patient and useful in the process.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2012 Korea