Hi there! How was your weekend?
I had a fantastic weekend because I went to a baseball stadium and watched an exciting game!
Let’s take a look at Korea’s baseball culture together!
Lately, watching baseball games at the stadium has become a trend in Korea.
Many people are going to the ballpark, and getting tickets has become really difficult.
You need a membership to buy tickets easily.
One of the benefits of the membership is that you can book tickets one hour earlier than the general public.
So I got my ticket through a friend who has a membership.
Our seats were on the 4th floor, along the third base line since we were rooting for the away team.
One ticket was 10,500 won (about 7.8 USD).
The game was so popular that all seats were sold out.
If you have a friend with a membership like I do, you can get tickets at the regular price.
But others had to buy them at 2 to 3 times the price from resellers.
Especially today, it was the retirement ceremony for a player from the opposing team, SSG Landers.
Because of that, the game was even more popular than usual, and the ticket prices from resellers were even higher.
I feel a bit disappointed about that —
because the people who genuinely want to watch the game end up paying much more.
This is the mascot of my team, the Hanhwa Eagles.
Her name is Suri — she’s a baby eagle!
She’s super cute, and look — she’s even chewing bubble gum!
So anyway, it was Eagles vs. Landers today!
Korean baseball cheer culture is full of energy!
The cheering songs never seem to end, so we needed something to replenish our energy.
We brought food from outside the stadium!
There are lots of tasty options inside too, but we didn’t want to miss any of the game—so we bought our food in advance.
At first, the opposing team hit a solo home run and took the lead by one point.
We were trailing for a while, and it felt a bit frustrating —
but around the 6th inning, our team hit a three-run homer and turned the game around!
It was such a thrilling moment!
The player who hit the home run was Liberato, our player.
And what made it even more special was that it was his very first career homerun!
It felt like I had just witnessed a historic moment — it left a big impression on me.
Thank you, Liberato, for such an amazing gift! 🎁⚾
He is Ponce, the No.1 pitcher in the KBO!
We’re so lucky to have the league’s top pitcher on our team.
Thanks to Ponce, we didn’t give up many runs,
and we ended up winning the game 5–2 with a comeback victory!
After the game, all the players came over to greet the fans!
It was such a memorable match — from the thrilling comeback win, to witnessing a player’s first career home run, and even watching the final bases-loaded moment being defended!
I’m truly grateful to all the players for giving it their all. It was a game I’ll never forget. 🙌⚾️
After the game, a retirement ceremony was held for one of the players.
It was clear the team had put a lot of thought into the event — the crowd welcomed the retiring player with glowing cheer sticks, creating a beautiful scene.
They even played his old cheer song, and the fans sang along together. It was a truly touching moment.
The ceremony concluded with a heartfelt farewell and the team lifting the retiring player into the air.
It was deeply moving to see the end of one player’s journey honored in such a meaningful way.
Everything about today left a lasting impression on me.
Even though the weather was hot, the excitement and emotion of the day made me forget all about it. I guess this is the true charm of baseball.
It truly felt like a day I’ll never forget.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end!
I’ll be back with another post soon. Thanks again!