[KBO Story] In between Disrespect and Personal Expression

• My Story of the soccer game between Brazil and Korea in Abu Dhabi

Loud cheers followed by rhythmical applause filled the entire Zayed Sports Stadium in the middle of Abu Dhabi. The giant clock in the scoreboard announced that less than five minutes were left. One step away from the side line, two or three players from both teams awaited the chief referee’s call for substitution. It seemed pretty obvious that the winner of the game had been already determined if nothing miraculous had happened.  Some of crowd packed belongings and unfinished food, some others found their way out before a large exodus, but many in red uniforms maintained their spots. The Red Devils from Korea suddenly sprang out of seats and began singing the Korean traditional song Arirang. The overwhelming wave of flashlights over red sea occupied the audience supporting Brazil as well as local medias. The smaller numbers on the clock became, the louder volume of Korean’s singing, shouting, and clapping. If someone just stepped into the stadium, he or she must believe that Korea would lead the game by three to zero against Brazil, one of the strongest soccer teams. It was the moment when Koreans demonstrated their exclusive way of enjoying sports to gulf citizens.

 

A group of Korean soccer fans, called The Red Devils, flew from Korea to Abu Dhabi to support the Korean national soccer team. 

• Dynamic Cheering Culture in the KBO games

The re-export of baseball to the U.S. triggered Americans’ curiosity on unique features of Korean baseball culture, such as cheering songs for each player and chi-maek (a popular food combination of fried chicken and beer). The states were fascinated by videos on YouTube in which Korean youths enjoyed watching baseball games as if being in K-Pop concerts. The American fans envied the dynamic and vibrance of the KBO fan culture, whereas the Major League games were mostly in a calm mood like an opera. This energetic cheering culture of the KBO is consumed not only by twenties but by all generations from two-year-old babies to grandparents in seventies, while ESPN reported that the majority of the Major League audience were over 50. Regardless of ages and social status, every person in the Korean baseball stadiums is not modest and refrained audience who simply take a seat with popcorns on one hand and appreciate games. But the crowd emit power and energy on every ball a pitcher throws and every swing a batter takes. The wild cheers are one way of fans delivering their expressions bluntly.

 

I went to the Jamsil Stadium to watch the game between Lotte Giants and Doosan Bears.

• Bat Flips = Natural Actions

On April, ESPN reporter Mina Kimes published a long article ‘The Art of Letting Go’ which tracked down the origin of bat flips and introduced the overall history about the KBO. Her investigation found that neither players nor coaches pointed out a specific period when batters began throwing bats high up in the sky. Instead, she concluded that bat flip in Korea was not an artificial product of certain players but a natural stage of swing based on her interviews with many retired players. She also met current players well-known for characteristic bat flip postures, and none of them particularly spent time to study and devise creative bat flips. The so-called bat flip postures were nothing more than an extension of the batters’ swing. The hitters did throw their bats no matter what the balls turned out to be. For example, a video title ‘zero point home run’ was uploaded on YouTube and soon became viral among baseball fans in the world. In the 40-second clip, Jeon Jun-woo from Lotte Giants made a full swing and assured that he just saved the team from the imminent defeat. His bat danced in the air, while his free hands pointing at his teammates. Unfortunately, the ball  could not jump over a wall and threw itself into the outfielders glove instead. Jeon certainly did bat flip, but it was not a celebration for his fake home run. Kimes commented that many bat flips that she encountered during the games in Korea were not always followed by home runs. The batters also flipped their bats when the ball was single-hit, fly-out, foul, or even strike out. The reporter discovered that the term bat flip had not been used in Korea until pitchers from the states coming during the mid-2000s.

 

Zero point home run by Lotte Giants left outfielder Jeon Jun-woo.

 

• Personal Expression or Disrespect?

On May, 2017, a ball from Jose Bautista’s bat flew high and went over the left wall. Jose stared at the ball in the middle of its traveling through the sky for a while and threw his bat to the right on his way to the first base. The pitcher avoided watching this performance, while the catcher expressed his inconvenience when the batter finished his journey around bases. The home fans supported their catcher by sending huge boos to the disrespectful hitter. A similar situation to this also had happened quite a lot to imported pitchers in the KBO games. The bat flips were considered to be disrespectful acts to the opponent, especially to a pitcher, in the states, but almost every hitter showed no respect in Korea. The fans did not blame the batters for throwing their bats but accepted it as an act of personal expression. After witnessing this shocking scene, Mina Kimes asked to herself, “What was this place, this parallel sports universe where baseball players could shatter the game's unwritten rules?”

My personal answer to her question is the difference in how people accept sports games in Korea. Many Americans will be surprised to know that around half of people yelling wildly in the stadium support neither of the teams. They participate group cheering simply because of friends or their will to express excitement. It is applied to not only baseball stadium but soccer fields, basketball courts, and even school playground. The fans do express their sorrow and despair when their supporting team lose for sure, but that grief is included in the group cheering as well. The word ‘watching’ is not enough to hold the true meaning of watching the baseball games in Korea. The players also participate in this self-expressive atmosphere during the games. In the baseball, bat-flip is one of many ways that players contribute to the cheering culture.

 

* Related Articles

Mina Kimes, The Art of Letting Go. ESPN, Oct 4, 2016. 

www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/17668845/korean-bat-flip

The great Korean bat flip mystery