There was an incident, which attracted all the Busan citizens in front of the TV to watch a baseball game. During the Korean Series, the final of the Korean Baseball League, in 1992, Lotte Giants fans will never forget the moment the team became a champion. (As far as I know, in the world there are three Giants teams: San Francisco, Tokyo and Busan.) At that time, Jongseok Yeom, a super rookie, showed a perfect pitch, striking out many batters in a row. His outstanding performance overwhelmed and kept the opposing team’s bats silent. As the game was still going on even though live broadcast was interrupted by the regular broadcast schedule, people started turning on a radio to listen to a description of the ball game. Everyone heard the voice of a sportscaster and a commentator with breathless attention.

Whenever Giants player made a hit or a score, the crowd just went wild. Busan citizen’s passion for baseball is the same now as in old times. People who once watched a Giants’ game in Jamsil or Sajik stadium might fully agree with me. When their players are at bat, the Giants fans cheer by doing the waves and sing the songs for each player till they shout themselves hoarse. Sometimes this makes the burden too heavy for players, and results in poor performance at home. For example, a couple of fans, sitting near the dugout, give a yell to players.

“Are you drunk?” “Do you think you deserve the batter Number 4.?

Without showing good performance, they would be humiliated, catching a scolding from their fans’ boos and hisses. But, though it sounds ironic, their tough talk is actually affectionate advice and a message of support. In fact, Giants fans enjoy a game regardless of results of the game. They made a new record of the greatest number of spectators around the stadium amidst poor performance. This is because all the fans’ hearts cheer for players. They just want players to take a full swing self-confidently.

There was a political aim behind the establishment of the Korean baseball league in 1982. Doohwan Chun, a military dictator in 1980s, needed some entertainment to avert public opinion from the attention of politics after he seized power, mounting a coup. As a part of the 3S policies: Screen, Sex and Sports, he founded the Korea Baseball Organization. His prediction hit the nail on the head, and people started cheering their home teams. This led to the split of political sentiment into two different directions: Young-nam area and Ho-nam area. Though it was launched with a specific political purpose, Korean baseball fans are enthusiastic because players perform fairly, demonstrating good sportsmanship unlike politicians.