Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

To celebrate the opening of the new baseball stadium at the Munsu Sporting Complex, the first 1, 000 fans who lined up on the Saturday and Sunday of the 22nd and 23rd were treated to free tickets. Since Ulsan doesn't actually have a team, though, the games were between Busan's Lotte Giants and Daejeon's Hanwha Eagles. Despite the fact that a 7:30 wake-up on a Saturday morning proved to be too hard of a sell on my friends, I decided to check it out anyway. I'm glad I did, too, because it was one hell of a gorgeous day.

I arrived at the stadium feeling surprisingly alive, considering the previous night's festivities, and got in line. There were probably about 150 people ahead of me, so I was certain I'd get a ticket. For anybody who may have caught the Ulsan news that day, you may have even caught a glimpse of me on camera as a reporter interviewed an overly excited baseball fan nearby.

I wiled away the time by chatting with my sister on Facebook, and by 10:30, I had my ticket in hand. Since the game didn't start until 1:00, I was hoping to quickly run home, have breakfast, take a power nap, and then make it back to the stadium. Instead, though, I learned that ticket holders were already heading into the stadium, so I figured I might as well head on in as well and find myself a good seat.

And find one, I did!

I ended up right on the third base line, directly behind one of the team's dugouts. Unfortunately, I would learn later that I was sitting behind the opposing team. This was unfortunate because the real party at a Korean baseball game apparently happens by the home team's dugout. (I suppose Busan was the home team, since Busan is much closer to Ulsan than Daejeon.) There was an area set aside for a lineup of lovely looking dancers in deliciously short shorts who did a fantastic job of raising the crowd's spirits (among other things).

However, they were not the only entertainment there to keep the crowd on their feet; the girls were led by what was essentially Korea's Dancing Homer. This guy was the Most Valuable Player of the game, as far as I'm concerned. He never let up, never stopped moving, never stopped leading the crowd in chants, all despite the beating we all took from the hands of the sun that afternoon. And even from the other side of the field, I could tell that every single move, every gesture was exaggerated in hyperbolic and dramatic fashion; he didn't half-ass anything. He was a dancing and chanting machine!

Nonetheless, despite missing the party on that side of the stadium, front row behind third base wasn't too shabby either. I called up Drew, the birthday boy, who happened to be the one who informed everybody online about the free baseball tickets, to see when he was planning on heading down, and I covered up the four seats to my right with my sweater and jacket for him and the rest of his posse.

Once things got underway, the way the sun was shining, I couldn't help but think about those awesome childhood days I spent with my buddy Danny and his dad at Skydome. They had season tickets and invited me out countless times. Had it not been for them, I probably never would've gone to a Jays game as a kid. I need to make a note of going to games more often when I get back home.

The game turned out to be a rather lively one--at least until the eighth inning. The lead had changed hands several times, the Giants had knocked two out of the park, and we were leading 7-6. Then everything fell to hell. We couldn't get a single out, and in an inning that felt like it lasted at least half an hour, the Eagles managed to punch in 5 runs. We managed to hit one more home run before the game's end, but it meant very little, as the final score was a brutal 13-8.

On the plus side, Monique got her wish around the sixth or seventh inning. The previous inning, we noticed that the people on the other side of the stadium had received orange plastic bags, which they then inflated and wore on their heads, looping the handles around their ears. Monique had apparently seen this in Busan before, and she desperately wanted one. Thankfully, we eventually got our own an inning or two later.

A sea of orange.

The purpose behind these bags is genius: They're handed out so that people can place their garbage in the bags once the game is done and throw out their trash on the way out. Practical, efficient, and a bit of good fun.

After taking a beating from both the Eagles and the sun, I said goodbye to Drew and the gang, and headed home to curl up with a book. At some point, as I made my way through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I got a text from the lovely Honey, calling me out for some drinks.

Any other night, I would've said no--I'm an old man, and I was completely spent--but as I've come to learn from my time in Ulsan, Californians are some pretty awesome people, and it was Lex's sister's and mother's last night in Ulsan before they headed off to Thailand. I had the pleasure of meeting them the previous week at Holi Hai and we rocked Thursday Party, a local bar, the night before, so I couldn't let them leave without saying goodbye.

I had only planned on sticking around for a couple drinks, and I was just about ready to call it a night when the gang said they were going to hit up a club, but I was (rather easily) convinced to tag along, and so we made our way to GQ and danced to our heart's content. (Or rather, I should say, they danced, while I moved my limbs awkwardly and stiffly.)

Stay awesome, California.