Playing by the Rules of Korean Baseball

Samsung Lions stadium - Daegu - South Korea
Yes, One more time! One more time what?

After a frustrating battle with Ticketlink, Jared and I managed to score tickets for a baseball game in Daegu. I haven’t been to too many baseball games in my life, but I had high expectations from this one. I’d heard that the fans go wild, regardless of how good their team is.

I wasn’t disappointed, though I was underprepared.

Apparently, there are a few must-haves when it comes to being a baseball spectator in Korea.

1. Fried Chicken and Beer (or dried squid)

Baseball just isn’t baseball without a giant box of fried chicken. Hawkers (ajummas wearing visors) surround the stadium, thrusting business cards in your hand and waving boxes of chicken in your face. Boxes of chicken that they probably bought from nearby stores early that morning. Boxes of chicken that have been hanging out in the hot sun for hours.

Yum.

If chicken’s not your thing, no worries. You can always pick up some dried squid inside the stadium. Or, like the group of students next to us, you can bring some seaweed soup, keep it in a box, and eat it at the end of the night.

Take your pick.

Personally, I went with Patbingsu, my absolute favorite summer dessert in Korea. It’s a combination of shaved ice, condensed milk, sweet red bean, fruit cocktail, and chocolate or strawberry syrup, all topped with cornflakes.

Patbingsu - Korea - Samsung Lions baseball
4,000 won for a little bowlful of heaven.

Truly, I can’t express how delicious it was.

As far as beer goes, you can purchase it in the stadium (2,000 won per can, and they even have OB Golden Lager, the best local option) or you can bring it in. Most people brought it in with their chicken.

Samsung Lions - Baseball - Daegu - Korea
Chicken? Check. Beer? Check. Patbingsu? Check. Seats? Not so much.

2. Gear

Since we were in Daegu, we decided to root for the home team, the Daegu Lions.

Wait – that’s not quite right. Instead of naming the teams after the cities where they’re based, teams are named for the corporation that owns them. As I read on another blog, it’d be like calling the Cubs the ‘Wal-Mart Cubs.’

So make that the Samsung Lions. The Samsung Lions have blue jerseys, so the seats were packed with blue. Blue hats, t-shirts, signs, blow-up sticks, on kids and adults alike.

There are a few exceptions – if you’re female, you can wear full makeup, tight jeans, and sky-high heels. Males have the option of wearing jeans, a blazer, and a bag.

3. Mirror

The couple next to us broke the rules a little bit by not wearing Lions memorabilia, but they pulled through by wearing matching Captain America couples’ shirts.

She also packed a mirror. Not a compact-sized one that you can use discreetly. A full-on silver mirror with a long handle.

Apparently the rules are to look at yourself in this mirror at least twice during each inning. They adjusted his hair together right before taking a self-pic with her smartphone.

4. Sun protection

It was freakin’ hot, but I didn’t see one single person slathering on sunscreen.

What I saw was a sea of parasols shielding their owners from the sun. I also spotted a girl with a fleece blanket draped over her legs.

A blanket. On a 30 degree day.

For those who didn’t bring their parasols or blankets (shudder), sleeves were a popular option.

Sleeves are a phenomenon I’ve noticed since we first arrived in Korea. They’re like pantyhose for your arms, and stretch from the sleeve of your t-shirt to your wrist. Based on a TV commercial I saw, they claim to wick away sweat and keep you cool.

So they claim.

5. Binoculars (for the cheap seats)

View of the VIP seats - Daegu - Korea - Samsung Lions
And across the way…the VIP seats. Squint & you can see the cheerleaders in neon yellow.

This isn’t so you can see the game. The stadiums are still relatively small, so views of the field are good from anywhere.

No, this is so you can look across to the assigned seats and see how much fun they’re having.

Going to see a baseball game is refreshingly cheap. Our general admission seats were only 7,000 won each. We’d hoped for tickets in one of the assigned sections (8,000 or 9,000 won) but they sold out within two hours of going on sale.

The main difference between the 7,000 and 9,000 won seats are probably the cheerleaders. They, along with the mascots (a lion and lioness, both surprisingly agile in their costumes) staged a full-on dance party. We caught strains of “Jump!” by Kriss Kross from our end, and could just about see the the crowd going wild.

Towards the end of the sixth inning, an odd drumming sound filled the stadium.

“What is that?” I asked.

Then I saw them: balloons. Somebody had distributed blue balloons to everyone in the crowd, except the general admission people. A barrier separated our section from the others, so we could see the balloons bouncing wildly above the heads of the VIPs.

It’s cool. I don’t need a balloon or dancers to have a good time.

Samsung Lions baseball - Daegu - Korea
Breaking all the rules and still having a blast. Note the mirror couple next to me & parasol behind.

We’re planning to hit Daejeon later this summer, home of the Hanwha Eagles. I’ll be fully prepared with some fried chicken, a cooler of beer, and maybe even spring for some better seats. No, scratch that—I’ll just bring my own balloon.

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13 Comments

  1. Sounds like you had a great time people watching and didn’t really take in the game! I’d be the same though if surrounded by such oddities! If only English football fans were so entertaining!

    1. In retrospect, I sort of forgot there was a game going on…the Lions lost, 3-4, in a very exciting finish! It sort of felt like the game added to the atmosphere rather than being the focal point. Guess I’m not a very dedicated baseball fan!

  2. Thank you for this 🙂 Although, I do agree, lacking a play by play on the field. You certainly had the food, beverage and seat mates covered! I assume baseball rules are baseball rules no matter where you are?

    I’m not sure about your Patbingsu…sounds like someone in search of a sundae, without the proper ingredients 😉 But I won’t knock it till I try it.

    1. As far as I could tell, the rules were the same…despite the focus of this post, I did pay attention to the game! The memories of the people were just stronger than the game.

      One of my friends said that patbingsu looks like something a college kid would throw together with the remains of what’s in the fridge. It’s GENIUS. And you can get it with ice cream, so it’s a little more like a sundae then!

  3. If I go to a baseball game it will also be for the people watching. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some of those sleeve things with gloves on them. In the heat! How could you stand it?

    1. That’s a big part of why I want to go again! Though the game was fun, too. It was good just to get out of Yeongwol and do something different for a change. The sleeves…I will never understand the sleeves!

  4. Let me know if you come to Daejeon! I’ve yet to catch a baseball game here, and I’m planning to pop my cherry with the Hanhwa Eagles! Not sure if I’ll understand what the hell is going on though, seeing as baseball is non-existent in the UK…

    1. I will – we’re thinking the first weekend in July as it’s our school’s birthday on the 2nd so DAY OFF wooo! I think you’ll be safe not knowing any rules – I basically cheered when everyone in a Lions jersey did and ate patbingsu. Worked out pretty well.

  5. I cant wait to go to a baseball game here! My mom is a huge baseball fan back home so I grew up watching the Atlanta Braves but Ive never actually been to a live game. I want to to see the Busan… I MEAN, Lotte Giants soon!

    1. It was really fun! The small stadium made it better, too. A friend of mine posted a photo of the Mariners’ game in Seattle and I was amazed – you could fit about three Korean stadiums into one American one! Good introduction to live baseball. I hear the Busan Lotte team has a pretty strong following!

    1. We’re going to another one in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait! It’s such a fun & relatively cheap night out with such a good atmosphere. But mainly, I’m looking forward to more patbingsu.

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