“AHHHH!” they screamed at me, in horror. “Ichiro is Japan!” They hate Ichiro. I have actually heard one boy call another ‘Ichiro’ as an insult. After Korea lost that heartbreaker to Japan in the World Baseball Classic (for which more than forty percent of the nation tuned in), it’s all I heard about in my students’ diaries for weeks. “Korea is ranking number two at WBC. Korea, Japan. 5-3 is outcome. Korea team is lose. Japans is team win. My very sad.” They are supposed to write five lines, but some, apparently, were too heartbroken to go on. As a lifetime Mariners fan, I sympathize. (But maybe this year…and the cycle continues.)

As I lived at a lake the past few summers, I’ve missed a lot of baseball. But now that I’m in Korea, with more free time than I’ve had since I was eleven, it’s time to get back in it. But there’s a catch. There are a limited number of English channels available here, but perhaps unsurprisingly, FSN is not one of them. Instead, I spent this evening watching the Korean Baseball Organization, this country’s answer to MLB. There are eight teams in the league, which is nothing to scoff at when you consider how small this country is. It turns out my city, Incheon, has its own team.

We are the SK Wyverns. SK is a cell phone company here, a la Sprint. In an homage to Korean Consumerism, their baseball teams are all named after the companies that sponsor them. I suppose it’s no worse than Busch Stadium or Coors Field; Americans have beer, Koreans have technology. That aside, you may be asking, what on earth is a wyvern? As did I. I did some googling, and twenty minutes of fascinated clicking later, found out that wyvern is not, as I had supposed, some Asian word in need of translation. No, no. A wyvern is “a fire-breathing dragon used in medieval heraldry; [it] had the head of a dragon and the tail of a snake and a body with wings and two avian legs.” Wow. Couldn’t just be the Lions like Daegu, huh, Incheon? But don’t kid yourself. I totally want an Incheon Wyverns tee shirt.

So I’ve been watching Korean baseball. There are some minor differences that threw me at first. For instance, if the count is one ball, two strikes, we would say it’s 1-2. They switch it around so it’s strikes first, or 2-1. This was initially quite confusing for me. I thought the ump had a very creative interpretation of the strike zone for about two innings, until finally the count became 1-3, and at last, I understood. Other that that, though, it’s pretty much the same as baseball everywhere, which is one of the beauties of the game. The commentators even use a lot of English terminology, which I find comforting. Amidst the Hangul, which I still can’t make much sense of, I’ll hear a breathless “back-to-back homerun!” Out is still out, and foul is still foul. And, having grown up on baseball, both on the diamond and the radio, I have a pretty solid intuitive grasp of what the announcer is probably saying. “He’s got a rocket of an arm, that one,” I guess, as the left fielder nails someone trying to stretch out a double. Or, “Byun Hai is getting a little greedy over there on first. Might want to cut that lead a step or two.” Even the after-game interview with the losing manager is the same. His mouth is saying some variation of we-played-hard-and-I’m-sure-proud-of-the-boys-but-you-can’t-win-em-all-that’s-just-the-game; his eyes are saying ‘one more question about our on-base percentage, and I will rip that headset right off your head.’ It’s nice to know that a world away, some things stay the same.

Go Wyverns.

written by  alli_ockinga on April 7, 2009 from Inch'on, South Korea
from the travel blog: I go Korea!
Send a Compliment

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I will send you anything you want from America for a 'Wyrvns" T-Shirt.

written by  KIM on April 8, 2009

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!!!

by the way, everyone says to be afraid of visiting South Korea. which isnt suprising. they say that about everywhere. but really, in light of recent events, whats the deal?

written by  chaddeal on April 14, 2009

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UMMMMMMMMMM I WILL GIVE YOU AT LEAST 20 DOLLARS FOR A SHIRT WITH THE WYVERNS ON IT.

Their mascot, if it exists, must be absolutely hilarious and terrifying.

written by  Ryan on April 15, 2009

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