Opening Day

March 30, 2010 was opening day for the Tigers. They came into the game with an 0-2 record including one game that they really should have won. But the only way that will come back to haunt them is if at the end of the season in September sometime they find themselves one point out of a playoff spot. I really shouldn't have just said that...

The weather was unseasonably cold. I had promised my friend and long time baseball buddy, Min Ha that I would save seats for him and his Samsung co-workers and since classes were cancelled here for freshman initiation day, I had the whole day so I figured I might as well get to the park early. Funnily enough they all work for Samsung and it was the Samsung Lions providing the opposition on opening day. They were all voting for the Tigers but they took a few photos to show the company that they were supporting the team. Ha ha ha.

So I got a yearbook and read that while I waited for the guys to arrive and the game to start. I figured I'd have a couple of hours so it's good that the Kia Tiger yearbook is written in Korean. I had plenty of time to try to piece together what was written.

Well, mostly in Korean. Some Konglish too. Their slogan for this year? "Again 2009." I thought it was a misprint when I saw it. They won the 2009 season so I guess what they want to say is "2009 again." But "Again 2009" made me think to myself just for a second, "What year are we in?" Then in the beginning of the yearbook they summed up the Tigers' '09 season in these words, "Kia Tigers is True Winner." There's a bit of a history of their 11 league titles called, "History of Tigers." Or at least that's what it appears to be. I don't THINK it's a scientific study of the genetic origin of felinus gigantus. There's a very corny fashion magazine section with four of the Tigers in formal dress called "4 Color of 4 Players." The coaches are touted as "Best of Best." And my favourite is the title of the cheerleading section: "Cheer up Tigers!" They WON last year! They don't need cheering up!

Well, on the other hand, maybe someone knew something... So far this pre-season and regular season I've seen them play 7 times. They lost them all. In my previous post I was selfishly saying how I wouldn't mind if they lost a few just to keep the bandwagon jumpers at home so it would be more comfortable in the stadium for us true fans but this isn't what I had in mind.

Anyway, I left my place at around 3:30. I got to the seats at about 4:20 more than two hours early and STILL I couldn't find any seats in the spot Min Ha wanted. But I found some pretty good seats and saved 6 of them. You can do that here. I don't really like that but when in Korea do as the Koreans do eh? By the time the other guys showed up and the game started I was pretty cold. But once the game got going I was just a little chilly.

There was a bit of a ceremony with a brass band, some really good break dancers or B-boys and another guy who is a pretty famous singer. Then the Tigers all entered the stadium in Kia vehicles and walked under a balloon arch and down the red carpet to line up along the first base line for the national anthem.

Yang Hyun Jong was pitching. He did really well last year so it looked good for us. He started strong too. And the Tigers got out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to some speed on the basepaths by Lee Yong Gyu. But then Yang had one bad inning and suddenly it was 6-1 for the Lions.

That turned out to be the final score. Now, that may seem like a bad result but I was pretty happy with it. The relief pitching was phenomenal! Three relievers, (none of which was Son Young Min), combined for 1 hit, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts and NO runs for the final 5 innings. That's some really good pitching! And for the Tigers, who had a terrible bullpen last year, that's spectacular! The pitchers were Lee Dong Hyun, Jung Yong Oon, and Kim Hee Geol, none of whom I've heard of. And Yoo Dong Hoon came on for the final out. He was the closer last year and he was great. I guess they figured he needed some work since there have as yet been no closing opportunities.

Today, actually right now, the Tigers are tied 1-1 in the 6th inning. Seo Jae Eung pitched 5 fairly solid innings. Not great but not bad. And now, Son Young Min is in relieving him. (we hope). So far he's doing well. Hopefully the strong relief performances yesterday will light a fire under him and make him a little better. I didn't think the game would happen today. It rained all day long and it might be even colder today than yesterday. I can see the players' breath on TV. I'm a little bummed that I missed the game but I am not sad I'm sitting in my warm room instead of in the cold stands right now.

Well, I'd better quit writing and watch the game. Son Young Min got out of the 6th inning. He struck out the third batter with a guy on second. I sure hope they win today. It'd be nice to see Seo get the win. I really like him and he's a great team player. Oh geez, what am I saying? Son Young Min will get the win as things stand. And as I type this, Na Ji Weon has hit a two-run homer to put the Tigers up 3-1 and Son is in line for the win! This is how he got such good numbers last year. But I have to say he looks like he's pitching better than last year. I don't care who gets the win as long as he's pitching for the Tigers.

KIA FIGHTING!