Into April

The Tigers finished off March with a win. March 31 they played the Samsung Lions in Gwangju. It had rained all day and it was probably even colder than the day before when I had sat in the stands with Min Ha and his co-workers on opening day teeth all a-chattering. There's no definitive way of knowing if the game will be played or not except going to the stadium. And then who knows if it'll rain the second you get there? So I stayed home and surprisingly they played the game. It was the only game that wasn't a rain-out on the day. I watched on naver.com as the 1, 2, and 3 hitters for Kia picked Samsung apart. Lee Yong Gyoo, Kim Weon Seop and Na Je Weon went 6/9 with a HR, 3 RBI's and 4 runs. The pitcher was Seo Jae Eung and he did a good job. He went 5 innings giving up 7 hits and a run while striking out 7 batters and only walking one. Final: Kia 4 Samsung 2. First win of the season goes to reliever Son Young Min.

The April 1st game was rained out. So we settled for a split with Samsung. Then on Friday April 2nd I went to the stadium to watch my favourite player Yoon Seok Min get his first start. I heard from Kim Joo Il, the Tiger M.C. that Yoon had been sick. He looked fine and dandy on this day pitching 6 innings and spreading out 6 hits and a walk. He gave up one run but struck out 4 guys. But as usual the Tigers bats were quiet for Yoon and when he came out Son Young Min came in. This usually spells disaster and Son went right to work giving up a run. But luckily he wasn't bad enough to cost Yoon the win. The Tigers only got 4 hits on the day but Kim Sang Hoon got two of them and batted in 2 runs. Final score Kia 3 Lotte 2. WHEW!

April 2 - I went to Saturday's game as well. It was a sunny day. I didn't get there early enough so I sat on the 3rd base side of the stadium. That's the sunny side so I ended up getting a sunburn even though I'd brought my sunscreen. Lopez was the starter today and he had a good outing. In 7 innings he gave up only 4 hits, a walk and 2 runs. Struck out 5. Kim Sang Hyun was 3/4 with a homer; An Chi Hong was 3/4 with an RBI; Kim Weon Seop was 2/4 with a two-run homer. Final score: Kia 4 Lotte 2.

April 3 - I checked a couple websites for the time of Sunday's game. They both said 2 PM so I walked to the game and ended up getting there a bit before 12:30. Then I found out the game wasn't until 5 PM. I should have done something else but instead I just stayed around the ball park playing catch with some kids and wandering around. It was another sunny day. The wait was too long. After about 3 hours of walking around or standing in line I got into the stadium and claimed my favourite seat just above the main entrance on the rail. Some chicks who had also come early brought their own tape and taped off about 15 seats around me. If I hadn't been there so early they would have reserved MY seat too. I can't believe the nerve of people here. What's the limit? Could I reserve an entire section? Anyway, my friends Guns and Joey watched with me. Jeon Tae Hyun is still in the second spot in the rotation. I don't know why. He didn't do badly today though giving up 6 hits and one run in 4 1/3 innings. He also struck out 6. But is he really good enough to be the #2 starter on Kia? I guess time will tell. An Chi Hong had three hits on the day and scored both runs for the Tigers. Kim Weon Seop and Lee Yong Gyoo each had 2 hits. But in the 12th inning when Lotte pulled off the 3-2 win I had been at the ball park for over 9 straight hours. I think I got too much sun on the day too. I was dehydrated, sunburnt and saddened by the loss when I made my way home.

However, before the game Kim Joo Il brought about 9 people out onto the field for a pitching contest. There was a metal board with hole cut into it and a tiger painted on it. The square hole was not very big. I don't think it was a big as a standard strike zone. But if you threw the ball through the hole you could win a prize. I was up ninth and after telling everybody in Gwangju my age and where I worked, then asking Yoon Suk Min to get 20 wins this year I had two chances to get a ball through the hole. Or so I thought. I threw the first one high and wide right. Didn't even hit the metal. Then the second one hit the left side of the square. If the square was a strike zone it would have been a strike. But it didn't go into the hole. Joo Il gave me another ball. So I wound up and hit the top of the square. Again it would have been a strike but it didn't go through the hole. Finally Joo Il moved me really close, (age advantage he said), and I was able to toss it through. The prize was two tickets to Everland. Woohoo! So I'd say it was worth the long long wait.