Baseball and Life
By Choi Tae-hwan
Do you have a favorite sport? Is it soccer, baseball, golf, or basketball? Have you ever thought about the true meaning of sports in our lives, and why some people are so crazy about them?
``Two outs with the bases loaded in the bottom of ninth inning, two strikes and three balls ― a full count." Can you guess what the scenario is? A player on the team that is losing is in the batter's box, ready to take a big swing and get a hit. What a nervous situation it is for a fan when a hit can completely reverse the course of a game! Wouldn't it be unbelievable if the batter hit a grand slam? Who has the edge in this type of intense moment, the batter or the pitcher?
Every evening, I make it rule to sit down in front of the TV in my living room after dinner and watch a pro baseball game instead of going to the ballpark. I dare say that I can't pass a day without watching a game. In fact, I can't even fathom what life would be like without professional baseball. What has turned me into such a baseball buff?
How can I ever erase from my memory the most impressive and touching moment of the 2008 Beijing Olympics? How amazing it was for the Korean team to beat all their key rivals ― Taipei, Japan, the U.S. and Cuba ― and become Olympic champions! How can Koreans forget the fantastic play of Korean baseball players in Beijing, such as Lee Seung-yeop's two-run homerun that crushed the spirit of the Japanese team or Chung Dae-hyun's turning of a double play to clinch the gold medal?
It is said that baseball is like a microcosm of a person's life. Life is thought to be made up of a variety of ups and downs, just as a baseball game is composed of disappointing and exciting plays during the lead-up to the outcome. How exciting it is for the stage to be set for a dramatic reversal, such as when a positive opportunity presents itself in the midst of a crisis! How unexpected and ironic it is when an excellent at bat turns into a fly out, or when a terrible at bat turns out to be a hit!
I'm a huge fan of the Kia Tigers. I just about go nuts whenever I watch their games, inserting my own meaning to literally every play on the basis of my long experience as a fan. Recently, the Tigers have clawed their way up in the standings on the strength of solid pitching and batting. The Tigers had a terrible batting average at the beginning of the season, in spite of strong pitching. However, the Tigers then acquired Kim Sang-hyun as their starting third baseman through a trade with the LG Twins. Both Kim and another slugger, Choi Hee-seop ― who was the first and strongest Korean hitter in Major League Baseball but returned to the Tigers three years ago ― have turned the Tigers into an offensive powerhouse.
This year, no team has stronger pitching than the Tigers, who have five or six starters including Yoon Seok-min, Yang Hyun-jong and two foreign pitchers, all of whom have demonstrated superb pitching.
The Tigers have an excellent chance to finish atop the Korean pro-baseball league standings this year. Expectations are naturally running high among Tiger fans that their team will play in the Korean Series and go for their tenth championship since 1997.
I am sure that baseball can be wonderfully therapeutic in helping to rid us of the stress we face during our daily lives. I can't help but be excited with the fantastic play of the Tigers, from Kim Sang-hyun's powerful home runs and Yoon Seok-min's superb pitching to Lee Yong-kyu's skillful defense.
It is true that in professional sports, talented players cannot be considered elite unless they demonstrate both great sincerity and effort, which is also the way it is in life in general. I hope the players will do their best to play fairly and with great effort in their well-facilitated ballpark. I also encourage all Koreans to do their best in all walks of life by throwing away their stress and difficulty and feeling refreshed in their daily lives by watching professional sports games.
Let's enjoy today's baseball together! Let's say to ourselves: ``Sound sports, sound mind!" and ``A sound mind in a sound body!"
The writer is an English teacher at Jeonnam Middle School in Kwangju. He can be reached at cth0707@hanmail.net.