The 2012 professional baseball season began on April 7th. The new baseball season was celebrated in four major baseball stadiums around the country –Seoul, Incheon, Daegu and Busan. The highlight of the season opener is of course the first pitch. In the season’s opening game between the Doosan Bears and the Nexen Heroes held in the Jamsil baseball field in Seoul actress Park Ha-seon brought the crowd to its feet with her perfect throw.

Korean professional baseball celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Launched in 1982, pro baseball games drew more than six million people last season, confirming it as Korean people’s favorite sports. This season all 92,600 tickets to the four season openers were sold out, recording four ticket sell-outs in a row since 2009.

In addition to season openers, weekend games are often sold out as well. This year Korean professional baseball hopes to have more than seven million people come see the games. At this rate that target would easily be reached. Here’s Mr. Oh Jong-hak, leader of the Doosan Bears cheerleading squad.

The passion shown by the fans at the stadium is akin to the energy experienced in a club on a Friday night. The fans pour out everything they have. I started leading the cheerleading squad in 2008. Every year I see more and more fans. This year’s ticket purchase was a war. Now there are so many fans that they have to fight to get tickets.

Going to a professional baseball game is now recognized as a bona fide leisure activity, just like watching a movie or climbing a mountain. It is the latest trend in Korean sports culture. Thanks to the exploding popularity of professional baseball, there are not more than 6,500 baseball fan clubs around the nation. Baseball fields are where you can witness Korean people’s iconic fervor and dynamism. Let’s find out more about the sports that captivates Koreans from spring into fall.

There is one place in a baseball park that any baseball fan must stop by before the start of the game. It’s a shop that sells cheer paraphernalia.

Plastic cheering bats come in a rainbow of colors – white, blue, red, yellow. But this is not the end of this baseball shopping trip. The team merchandise shops are crowded with fans looking to show off their team loyalty.



You can’t call yourself a baseball fanatic without wearing the jersey of his or her favorite baseball player while rooting for the home team. It has become commonplace to see people buying just about every merchandise sporting the logos of their favorite team and the name and number of their favorite player.

We sell the uniforms and team outfits identical to the ones worn by real players. We have uniforms, baseball jackets, hoodies, and assorted accessories with team logos, like coffee mugs and key chains. We even have the miniatures of team buses. There are also seat cushions and team mascots. These days we sell a lot of hoodies, but as the weather gets warmer, uniforms will sell briskly. We sell a lot of uniforms and official baseball caps. Compared to a few years ago, we carry more varieties of merchandise. There are more women fans these days. They tend to look for casual outfits that they can wear every day.

The fans would feel like a part of the team dressed up in team outfits from head to toe. To cap it off ladies put on a cute headband or a barrette and men wear a baseball cap. Now they are ready for the game!

- I met my girlfriend through a friend I made at a baseball game. We now wear matching uniforms since we like the same team.

Baseball players crisscross the well-manicured field and show off spectacular plays. Fans respond with loud cheers and applause. Baseball games in Korea stand apart from the major league baseball of the United States in one thing – mass cheering. The very basic of Korean-style cheering involves just clapping, without using any instruments.

Following the clapping session is the sing-along. The names of their favorite players are inserted throughout the cheer songs to boost the players’ morale.

The tunes are borrowed from K-pop songs or children’s songs, but the lyrics are changed to include not only the players’ names, but also their characteristics. So listening to the cheer songs customized to each player is another pleasure of going to the games. Here’s the Doosan Bears official cheerleader Oh Jong-hak.

Each player has his own cheer song. There are songs that call for a hit or a homerun, as well as songs to sing between the innings or for specific situation. The variety is quite extensive, more than 60 songs. Some of the songs are my ideas, and some songs were suggested by the team management. My fellow cheerleaders and squad staff select the songs at meetings. Some fans send us their compositions, too.

It goes without saying that singing cheer songs make the game even more fun and exciting, both for the spectators and the players.

- I can release my stress when I sing songs for a hit or a homerun.
- I like baseball and shouting helps me get rid of my stress.
- Baseball is like life. There are a number of crises, but we can win if we overcome those crises. It’s so much like life.
- You can watch a game in detail if you watch it on TV, but coming to the stadium is a whole different experience. You can be closer to the players and everything is more dynamic. That’s why I come to the actual games. The more you come, the easier it becomes to memorize the players’ names and enjoy the cheering and the game.



When the game reaches its climax, that’s when the fans take out their cheering bats and use them to punctuate their cheer.

The unique cheering culture of Korean baseball fans has captivated even foreigners. Here’s former baseball player and commentator Lee Yong-cheol to tell us more about foreign fans of Korean baseball.

Baseball culture in Korea is really amazing. Korean cheerleaders don’t only lead cheers but they also work hard at choreography and slogans. And each baseball park has its own unique characteristics. For instance, if you go to Sajik Stadium in Busan, you’ll see fans using shredded newspapers as pompoms and wearing plastic bags on their heads. They’ll also try to intimidate the players from opposing teams with loud boos. Foreigners have a great time when they come to Korean baseball games. The Korean professional baseball league has a lot of foreign fans who think Korean baseball is more fun than American or Japanese baseball. They say that Korea’s cheering practice is what makes their baseball experience more special and exciting.

Cheering is not the only fun part of watching a baseball game. One game usually lasts more than three hours and people can get pretty hungry. That’s why snack and food are such an important part of the baseball experience.

- Oh, it’s so delicious. I get hungry after shouting and cheering for a while. That whets my appetite. The food is great.

The variety of snacks at a baseball stadium runs from fried chicken, pizza, hamburger to gimbap and even beer. Food merchants at the stadiums can’t stop smiling from all the sales.

Korean people’s passion for baseball predates the launching of the professional baseball league. Before the 1980s Koreans loved high school baseball and rooted for corporate teams. But today’s popularity for baseball outdoes all that. The crowning of professional baseball as Korean people’s favorite sports can be attributed to phenomenal baseball stars. Here’s former baseball player and commentator Lee Yong-cheol to tell us more about Korea’s baseball legends.

Korean baseball fans came to really appreciate American baseball when pitcher Park Chan-ho went to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The major league baseball became the destination of dreams for Korean baseball players. When Park was winning games in the States, Korea was undergoing the most difficult times in its financial history. Park’s play gave us Koreans hope and resolve to overcome the hardship. Lee Seung-yeop was another international star. He was a great slugger who set the Asian record for the most number of homeruns. He wowed in the Japanese baseball league by hitting homer after homer for the Yomiuri Giants. Other famous players include Choo Shin-soo currently of the Cleveland Indians and former Arizona Diamondback pitcher Kim Byung-hyun. They have two World Series rings between them. Other Korean players with the major league baseball experience include Seo Jae-weong with the New York Mets, Choi Hee-seop with the Chicago Cubs, and Kim Sun-woo with the Boston Red Sox. Legendary baseball stars in Korea include sensational ace Sun Dong-ryeol, who now coaches for the Kia Tigers, and the late Choi Dong-won who died last year.



These baseball stars made landmark achievements for Korean baseball. The Korean national baseball team won the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009, and won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Here’s former baseball player and commentator Lee Yong-cheol to tell us more about it.

Everyone was skeptical about the Korean baseball team matching up to other teams with longer baseball history. Korea gained a lot of baseball fans during the World Baseball Classic in 2006. At the time the annual salary of one American pitcher equaled the combined earnings of the entire Korean team. American and Japanese baseball players enjoyed much bigger markets and fan bases. But Korean players showed them how good they are by advancing to the semifinals in their first appearance and winning the title next time. Also, Korea had never won a gold medal in a ball game until the national baseball team won the WBC title in 2006 and 2009 and an Olympic gold in 2008, going undefeated until the finals. That’s when people started going wild for Korean baseball.

The Korean national baseball team clinched the gold with a nine-game sweep at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. People around the world, who had thought Korea’s success was a fluke until then, began to take Korean baseball seriously. Since then, a string of Koreans went to play for the major league and made a definite mark in the sports.

Still in its infancy with 30-year history, Korean professional baseball is showing what national sport should be - fun, exciting, and inspiring.