Sports-hungry? Give the Korean Baseball League (KBO) a try on ESPN
Seven thousand miles away, Kim Hun-Gon’s face smashed into the right-field wall at the Samsung Lions’ stadium in South Korea.
I smiled.
Competition!
Oh, I didn’t know how much I missed it. To see a grown man run head-first into a wall like Wile E. Coyote while trying to prevent an extra-base hit from former Korean Series MVP catcher Yang Eui-Ji was the most satisfying medicine since the spring weather showed up.
There’s a real novelty to watching a different culture play a game we’re so familiar with, but playing it with such a different style.
As we approach our eighth week sitting at home away from gyms, away from fields, away from ice and away from anywhere else that hosts competition, the Korean Baseball League found itself in the rare position as the center of the sporting universe on Tuesday morning.
At 1:30 a.m. ET, or 2:30 p.m. local time in South Korea, anyone with ESPN could’ve tuned in to watch the Samsun Lions against the NC Dinos in an opening day matchup.
I’ll admit, I had my guard up the first few innings while wondering if they were being safe about the coronavirus, but South Korea has things under control, with widespread testing and daily new cases in the single digits, and the players are being tested for their temperature before being allowed in the park.
You’ll see an elbow-bump instead of a high-five. There’s no spitting allowed. Players don’t jump on each other upon returning to the dugout after a home run (but they do first bump). And while the trainers, umpires and first- and third-base coaches wear masks, all the players go with their faces uncovered.
It looks safe enough, and hopefully it stays that way. The league has promised to shut down for three weeks if anyone tests positive.
The stadium was mostly empty.
