A Baseball Game
A game of baseball on a warm Sunday afternoon reminds me of those days when I used to play softball at my high school field.
I started attending softball practice in Form One, when we were told to take up extra-curricular activities. What drew me to softball so much I really don't know... again, maybe too much American TV?
Our softball team was called AMC Angels. We had practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. I attended afternoon session of school so that meant waking up at 5.30am to wait for the school bus, showering in the school toilet after practice and then dozing off in history class. It was so exhausting, yet I don't know why I was so semangat to wake up to go for practice.
At first, the seniors wouldn't let me do anything except practice my batting stances. Then it was physical exercise and catch-and-throw and batting sessions. And sometimes we went for softball tournaments in other schools. Although I loved playing the game, I was never really very good at it cos I have bad reflexes so I was always on the outfield waiting for a high ball to catch.
I remember mom used to grumble about how all that softball practice was taking a toll on my grades but dad told her to let me continue to play because I only had that opportunity to play in high school and maybe not anymore afterwards. He was right. At the end of Form Two, I quit the softball team and joined another club. I never had another chance to play softball again. Because, it is such an uncommon game in Malaysia.
Anyways, I went to watch a game of baseball at Sajik Stadium, the homeground of the Busan Lotte Giants with my Malaysian friends on 2nd May. The game was Lotte Giants VS Kia Tigers, and Kia Tigers was the Korea Series champion last year. The Lotte Giants wear their striped uniforms whenever they play on homeground.
I started attending softball practice in Form One, when we were told to take up extra-curricular activities. What drew me to softball so much I really don't know... again, maybe too much American TV?
Our softball team was called AMC Angels. We had practice every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. I attended afternoon session of school so that meant waking up at 5.30am to wait for the school bus, showering in the school toilet after practice and then dozing off in history class. It was so exhausting, yet I don't know why I was so semangat to wake up to go for practice.
At first, the seniors wouldn't let me do anything except practice my batting stances. Then it was physical exercise and catch-and-throw and batting sessions. And sometimes we went for softball tournaments in other schools. Although I loved playing the game, I was never really very good at it cos I have bad reflexes so I was always on the outfield waiting for a high ball to catch.
I remember mom used to grumble about how all that softball practice was taking a toll on my grades but dad told her to let me continue to play because I only had that opportunity to play in high school and maybe not anymore afterwards. He was right. At the end of Form Two, I quit the softball team and joined another club. I never had another chance to play softball again. Because, it is such an uncommon game in Malaysia.
Anyways, I went to watch a game of baseball at Sajik Stadium, the homeground of the Busan Lotte Giants with my Malaysian friends on 2nd May. The game was Lotte Giants VS Kia Tigers, and Kia Tigers was the Korea Series champion last year. The Lotte Giants wear their striped uniforms whenever they play on homeground.
The game started at 4.30pm and we entered just in time as everybody was standing for the national anthem. It was a warm day and we sat directly in the sun's rays.
That's one of the crowd favourites, Lotte Giants' No. 47, Kang Min-Ho, up to bat. I really, really loved the crowd atmosphere where they had a short singing chant for each different player, like for No. 49 it was "Hong Sung-Heon... Hong Sung-Heon... fighting... Lotte eh Hong Sung-Heon..."The organizers also spiced up the intervals by having "Kiss Time!" where the camera pans to a few random guy and girl (may or may not be a couple) in the crowd and the duo have to kiss for the camera!! It was hilarious!! Other than Kiss Time, they have "Sexy Dance" where the camera pans to a few random girls and they have to do a sexy dance and the one who does the sexiest dance will get a chance at the "Wheel of Fortune" to win some TGIF vouchers. Also they had cheerleaders dancing to K-pop every now and then!
At almost more than half the game time, the organizers started distributing orange colored plastic bags for people to pack their waste. Many people started tying up their hair with this weird accessory! Some of the Korean girls were really creative and somehow managed to fashion a Minnie-mouse style ribbon out of the plastic bag to wear on their heads. Amazing!
The orange wave - Lotte Giant's team color. Their team motto for the year 2010 is "Fighting to the Top"! "Fighting" here in Korea means the same as "Ganbatte" in Japan or "Jia you" in Chinese! They use it a lot!!At the end of the 4-hour long game (tied at 9th inning so had an extra inning as tie-breaker), Lotte Giants won 5-4 against Kia Tigers.
It was a really fun afternoon for me - one that made me relive my high school days when I and the girls used to go play at other schools..., the anticipation of walking up to the batting stand, the disappointment when I striked out after 3 times, the excitement and sense of achievement whenever I managed to hit the ball. Those were the days...
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