[59th] What Has Become of the Ceremonial First Pitch?

Actress Hong Su-ah, clockwise from top left, singer Jang Yoon-jung, Actress Han Chae-young and girl group “KARA” member Han Seung-yeon

By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter

A pretty, glamorous girl takes to the mound prior to a baseball game and throws a ball that pathetically bounces several times as it rolls towards home plate, finally coming to a rest in the mitt of a catcher squatting 18.44 meters away.

The would-be pitcher then proceeds to act as if she just won the Korean Series title, waving her hands elatedly.

It's an increasing scene recently in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and it's turning the sport, referred to as the "national pastime,'' into the "national farce", as the once-honorable ceremonial first pitch is more often these days performed by female entertainers with no connection to the game.

The delivery to officially begin a baseball game is usually thrown out ahead of special events, such as the season opener, the All-Star game and the championship series, by figures involved with the host team in some way. An exceptional case is for a president to toss the first ball.

One of the most historic first pitches of all time was performed by Okuma Shigenobu, the former Japanese Prime Minister and founder of Waseda University, in 1908, when the U.S. select team played a collegian team in Japan.

In the 140 years of Major League Baseball history, former President William Howard Taft was the first to get the honor in 1910 and since then, U.S. Presidents have usually performed the ceremonial task on opening day, at the All-Star Game or at the World Series.

Current U.S. President Barack Obama threw out the first pitch at this year's All-Star Game and George W. Bush threw out the first pitch ― a perfect strike, no less ― at Yankee Stadium in the first game after the 9/11 attacks.

In Korea, former President Chun Doo-hwan, who organized the Korean professional baseball league, threw the first pitch in the KBO's inaugural game in 1982.

Tom, Dick and Harry Tossing Ceremonial Pitch

It's not always easy to find a connection between the selected female entertainers and the franchise ― or even the sport ― for which they make the first toss.

For teams in a desperate hurry to recruit them, how distinctively they pitch and how attractive they look seem to be higher priorities than how familiar or related they are with the sport.

Consequently, the LG Twins, especially, have gone over the line in choosing the likes of American Nicky Hilton, a sister of Paris Hilton, Chinese actress Jiajia Chen and English-Japanese actress and model Eva Popiel to make a global roster for the ceremonial pitch.

What is worse, the once-meaningful mound has been degenerated into an advertising stage for the entertainment industry because it guarantees huge media exposure.

Photos of female stars performing the pitch can be found on various search engines and their names often top the lists of the popular search words.

For example, Actresses Hong Su-ah and Park Shin-hye made big headlines with their decent pitching forms, which later earned them the nicknames "Hong-dro" and "Randy Shin-hye" after big-league hurlers Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, respectively.

"Nowadays, a lot of entertainment agencies call us and ask about an opportunity for the ceremonial first pitch,'' a Doosan Bears official told The Korea Times.

As a result, the invitees, seeking to draw more eye-catching attention, take on more drastic but unnecessary styles ― gestures to pick off a runner or exchanging signs with the catcher ― that impede the progress of the game the crowd came to watch.

"Spending so much time on a futile performance is really irritating,'' said Park Hyun-wook, a fan of the Samsung Lions.

"When I saw those actions the first time, it was curious and amusing, but almost all throwers are doing that now. I cannot understand why they keep up with it.''

It reached a point where Bears manager Kim Kyung-moon complained in June that the invited pitchers were wasting so much time and it was causing a delay in the game.

"We cannot help it because we invited them,'' he said.

"But starting a game on time is a matter of respect to the people who visit the stadium.''

Some baseball fans have slammed their unsuitable outfits.

In the early days of the fad, many entertainers who visited the stadium wore skirts and high-heels with "bling," or gaudy jewelry, instead of the home side's jersey and sneakers, which drew criticism from those who call it disrespectful to the sport.

In the United States, there is also a dearth of downright ugly first-pitch performances by celebrities and politicians, whose tosses either barely roll across home plate or that miss the mark completely ― many examples of which will live forever on online video sites.

The fact that all but a handful of performers leave the stadiums right after throwing the first pitch because of their busy schedule, is another bone of contention.

"Inviting entertainers is a kind of event for fans. As the number of young baseball fans who come to game is increasing, it is another effort to draw spectators,'' the team said.

Upgrading the Ceremonial Pitch

To make matters worse, the Korean teams have been neglecting their oldtimers in calls for the honor.

The Bears, based in Seoul, selected 19 entertainers in the regular season and four in the postseason, while former ace Park Chul-soon, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the inaugural season, was the only former Bear to throw the first ball.

In the 2008 season, Sung Young-hoon, the team's first round pick and MVP of the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship was sent out to the mound.

"It is not comparable simply because the ceremonial pitches by entertainers are on the rise,'' the Bears said.

"On special days set by the team, we plan to call more ex-players to the mound.''

Those situations are not exceptional to other KBO teams.

However, some teams in the U.S. Major Leagues will ask former players to appear for the pitch, even those with whom they've had a falling out or some sort.

On opening day at Fenway Park in Boston in 2008, former Red Sox Bill Buckner was invited to throw out the first pitch.

Despite a solid career that produced 2,715 hits and 1,208 RBIs during the 22 seasons, Buckner is known for his infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets, which led to Boston losing the game and eventually the Series.

He became a pariah among the Red Sox fans and was blamed for extending the Sox miserable championship drought. At the time, the Sox hadn't won the World Series since 1918 but the streak finally ended in 2004 and the anger towards Buckner's gaffe subsided.

Crowds welcomed back Buckner's first return to Boston since 1997 with a loud standing ovation that brought him to tears.

During this year's American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees brought their former star players David Cone and Bernie Williams to the mound of Yankee Stadium.

Williams, a fan favorite who last played with the Yankees in 2006, wanted to continue his career in the pinstripes, but the Yankees' decline to give him a guaranteed roster spot in 2007, which resulted in him never playing in MLB again.

"I hope that someday ex-Lions' heavy-hitter Lee Man-soo will walk to the mound and throw the ball to the plate, behind which he used to crouch,'' Park said.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr