Players, manager for high school baseball team suspended over trash talk
Players from Pai Chai High School's baseball team line up before a match during the Bonghwangdaegi nationwide high school baseball tournament, Aug. 12. Yonhap
Two players and their manager for a Seoul high school baseball team were suspended for a month by the sport's national governing body Wednesday for their role in a trash-talking incident.
The Korea Baseball Softball Association (KBSA) handed down a one-month suspension on the three principal figures of the June incident from Pai Chai High School.
The two players were penalized for leading their team's chants, "Let's go to Starbucks!" and "Tank Day!" during a national tournament game in late June in Seoul against Gwangju Jeil High School from the southwestern city of Gwangju.
These words were linked to a controversial Starbucks Korea promotion on May 18, which drew strong criticism for allegedly mocking the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy uprising on its 46th anniversary.
On July 1, the KBSA slapped Pai Chai with a six-month ban from competing at national tournaments, but the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee reduced it to one month on July 20 following the school's appeal.
The decision allowed Pai Chai to play in the final major national competition of the year in August, the Bonghwang National High School Baseball Tournament.
Separately, though, the KBSA decided to penalize the two players for their trash talk and their manager for his lack of oversight.
The KBSA said it considered the way the players showed their remorse and offered an apology to Gwangju Jeil in person, and also how Gwangju Jeil accepted Pai Chai's apology and asked for leniency for the school's baseball team.
The KBSA also suspended the home plate umpire from that June game for one month for failing to stop inappropriate chants from Pai Chai and allowing the game to continue.
A coach from Gwangju Jeil received a warning from the KBSA for his use of expletives when arguing with Pai Chai players and coaching staff during the game.
The KBSA said it will continue to educate student-athletes on unacceptable actions at games and will prepare a new code of conduct for the 2027 season.