Fans thrilled as baseball is back

Nexen Heroes first baseman Park Byung-ho hits a grand slam home run in the fifth inning against the KT Wiz during his team’s spring exhibition game in Mokdong Baseball Stadium, Seoul, Sunday. The Heroes won 10-4. / Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

The wait is over. Baseball fans, who were tired of waiting for the new baseball season, flocked to stadiums around the country to watch their favorite teams over the weekend as the 10 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs entered into the spring exhibition season.

Though the KBO, Korea’s top baseball league, decided to charge for its preseason games, some 76,000 baseball-goers visited stadiums over the weekend, proving that the sport is the hottest one in the country.

With this season’s addition of the KT Wiz, the 10 KBO clubs will each play 14 preseason games until March 22. The regular season starts on March 28.

The Eagles, the eye of the typhoon

The protagonist of the weekend’s games was the Hanhwa Eagles. The cellar-dwelling team, which finished in last place in five of the last six seasons, sold 13,000 tickets for both its Saturday and Sunday games against the LG Twins at their home Hanbat Baseball Stadium in Daejeon.

Perhaps the team’s new manager Kim Sung-keun played a key role in getting Eagles fans to flock to the exhibition games.

The 72-year-old manager, dubbed the “god of baseball,” made his comeback over the winter after a four-year hiatus.

Known for his tactical brilliance, Kim thrilled Eagles fans on Saturday as the team defeated the Twins 9-3. Though the Eagles lost to the Twins 3-2 on Sunday, it was enough to suggest the team will be much more competitive than last season when it often turned in lackluster efforts.

In Seoul, the Nexen Heroes, who lost to the Samsung Lions in the last season’s Korean Series, defeated the Wiz twice in a row.

The Heroes first baseman Park Byung-ho, who led the KBO with 52 home runs and 124 RBIs (run batted in) last season, hit two homers including a grand slam on Sunday, dispelling concerns about the absence of former teammate Kang Jung-ho, who is going to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Major League Baseball this season.

Tire retailer sponsors league

For this season’s title sponsor for the top baseball league, the KBO announced last week it agreed a three-year sponsorship deal with Tirebank, a local tire retailer.

Though the KBO didn’t go public about the exact amount, the deal is reportedly worth about 6.8 billion won ($6.1 million), according to a local media report.

Before signing with Tirebank, KBO bestowed its naming rights on noodle-maker Korea Yakult for two seasons. The KBO has been running a title sponsorship deal with companies since the 2000 season.