The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Korea sets record of half million economically inactive youth

  • 3

    Video footage highlights details of stepmother's fatal abuse of 12-year-old

  • 5

    Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

  • 7

    INTERVIEWNorth Korean-born chef delights Southerners' taste buds, breaks down cultural barriers

  • 9

    COVID-hit Myeong-dong bounces back as tourists return

  • 11

    Brides in early 40s outnumber those in early 20s

  • 13

    Public officials reluctant to dine with coworkers

  • 15

    ANALYSISYoon-Kishida meeting raises expectations of 3-way summit with China

  • 17

    Lee Se-young to lead MBC's new series 'The Story of Park's Marriage Contract'

  • 19

    Japanese students' field trips to Korea resume after pandemic hiatus

  • 2

    Woman killed in stopped car struck by bus on highway

  • 4

    Actor Yoo Ah-in to appear for questioning Friday over alleged drug use

  • 6

    KAIST student becomes first Korean recipient of Apple Scholars fellowship

  • 8

    American admits to train graffiti-related charges but calls himself artist

  • 10

    BLACKPINK Jennie's 'Solo' music video hits record high 900 mil. YouTube views

  • 12

    OTT service providers negatively impacted by illegal streaming website

  • 14

    TWICE's new album hits No. 2 on Billboard 200

  • 16

    Celebrities head back abroad to film K-food reality shows

  • 18

    N. Korea holds nuclear counterattack simulation drills; Kim urges perfect readiness

  • 20

    Korean startup Innospace launches test launch vehicle HANBIT-TLV

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • About the past
  • Imbricated Chaos
  • Voices from the North
  • Korea: deConstructed
  • Parchment Made of Sheepskins
  • Dialogues with Adoptees
Wed, March 22, 2023 | 11:40
Baseball in Joseon: Part 2
Posted : 2022-07-03 14:32
Updated : 2022-07-04 13:04
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40   Robert Neff Collection
Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40 Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

Phillip Gillett, an American missionary working with the YMCA, is often credited as being the first to introduce baseball to Korea in 1905. He helped popularize it and form a Korean baseball team, the Hwangseong YMCA Baseball Team. The following year, he helped arrange the first official Korean baseball match on Feb. 11, 1906. It would not be the last game.

Dr. Alfred Irving Ludlow, an American medical missionary, recalled that when he arrived in Korea in 1912, he pitched against one of the first Korean baseball teams in Seoul. These early games were not well-attended ― only a few passersby who stopped to see what the foreigners and Koreans were doing. But over the next couple of years, the game became quite popular in Seoul. Ludlow explained:

"In Korea, a young boy is often required to care for his baby brother or sister who is strapped to his back. Even this, though a handicap, does not deter the boy from playing baseball. I have often seen such a boy at the bat, while the little one on his back is watching the pitches or dodging the bat as it is swung toward him. The baseball uniform seems destined to become the dress of the Korean boy."

Years later, Gillett was probably somewhat miffed when he read one newspaper's account of how Dr. Ludlow introduced Seoul to "the game and started a nation of hermits to become diamond fans."

Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40   Robert Neff Collection
Bicyclists and baseball players in a park in Busan, circa 1920s-40 Robert Neff Collection

Baseball really took off in Seoul in the spring of 1924. According to Ludlow: "[Teams] from different parts of the country contested for the championship. Great crowds of spectators watched the games from early morning until night. One school had over 1,000 students, their band, flags banners and cheer leaders."

It was decided that a team of Korean baseball players would be sent to Hawaii to compete in a tournament. It would be, according to various newspaper articles, the first time a baseball team from "the Old Hermit Kingdom" of Korea "invaded the Occident" to demonstrate what they had "learned of the American national game."

A team "composed of the 13 best players in the Hermit Kingdom" was selected and then they were pitted against the American team in Seoul. They played three games and easily dominated the expat team ― the first game was 19-7, the second was 16-8 and the third was 29-1.

The Korean team's manager and catcher, 31-year-old Ho Sung (Hur Sung, and his English name was Raymond Herr), was no stranger to baseball or the United States ― having attended the University of Chicago in the early 1910s. According to one source, Ho pitched his first game in Korea in 1912 (presumably just before he left for the United States). Not only was he more familiar with the game and the United States, he was also bigger than the other members of his team. A review of passenger manifests indicates he stood 174 centimeters tall and his players ranged from 155 centimeters to 170 centimeters.

Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40   Robert Neff Collection
The Pyongyang team in 1932 Robert Neff Collection

However, Manager Ho was not the only one who studied and played in the United States ― he was eclipsed by 24-year-old Chi-sung Pil, a star pitcher from the University of Oregon ― who would join them in Hawaii. According to his interviews, as a boy, Pil threw stones with his fellow neighborhood boys in Korea ― seokcheon (stone battles) were still popular when he was a child ― and when his family moved to Hawaii around 1910, he utilized that skill learning how to play baseball. In the fall of 1919, he move to Oregon to attend school and tried out for the school's baseball team. He told the coach he wanted to be the pitcher but the coach was somewhat dubious that Pil ― who was 174 centimeters tall and weighed 65 kilograms ― was strong enough to occupy that position. Pil was undaunted and had a target set up about 18 meters distance. He then picked up a stone and bet the coach he could hit the target (bull's eye) three out of three times. If he won, the coach would make him the pitcher. Needless to say, he won and became the team's lead pitcher. He soon gained a reputation for being a "demon pitcher."

When the Korean team arrived in Hawaii on June 17, they were met by an excited Korean expat community. More than 40 receptions were planned for them. The local newspapers were enthralled with the team and wrote glowing reviews. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

"[Korea] is coming forward in an athletic way [which] is proved by the type of young men who make up the team, every one of them clean cut and with the stamp of sportsmanship and fair play readily apparent."

The article concluded by stating that the Korean team's arrival in Hawaii was a "big hour in Korea's athletic history."

Soon the local baseball enthusiasts were commenting on the Korean team ― especially its two pitchers: Chi-sung Pil and 25-year-old Sok-ki Park. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, "Pil and Park possess Laconic names and their work is just the same ― short and swift." The Hawaii Tribune was especially impressed with Pil "who has a record of having fanned 15 players in a single game while pitching for the University of Oregon. Any boy who can do that has something on the ball besides the cover. He will be poison to our sluggers who believe they can swing a wicked willow."

Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40   Robert Neff Collection
The Korean baseball team in Hawaii Image from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Jun 20, 1924

As for the rest of the team, there was praise, but not as much.

"None of the boys with the exception of one or two are sluggers but all of them are hitters who do not kill the ball but hit it consistently at the right moments. Their greatest asset as hitters is their ability to poke out singles and doubles at moments which mean the winning of a game. The Korean outfit makes just the right [type] of competition for Hilo teams."

Although the Korean team put on a good show, they didn't win many games. As they departed for home on July 28, Manager Ho penned a quick note in which he wrote:

"Although we have not been successful in our honest attempt to win baseball games from your local teams, we have learned and gained much from your sons whose baseball ability and sportsmanship we highly admire. We have no alibis to offer for our defeats. The best teams won and that's all there was to it, but we feel that we have given our best and that is what the fans expect from ball players."

The team arrived in Korea a few weeks later. Although the scores may not have indicated it, they were truly victors and worthy of being called the "best players in the Hermit Kingdom."

I would like to thank Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance.


Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.



Emailrobertneff04@gmail.com Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
LG Group
Top 10 Stories
1Japanese students' field trips to Korea resume after pandemic hiatus Japanese students' field trips to Korea resume after pandemic hiatus
2Possibly next SOHO, Seoul selects 5 neighborhoods for new signature 'K-alleys' Possibly next SOHO, Seoul selects 5 neighborhoods for new signature 'K-alleys'
3President Yoon refutes criticism of fence-mending summit with Japan President Yoon refutes criticism of fence-mending summit with Japan
4Kakao criticized for half-baked AI chatbot Kakao criticized for half-baked AI chatbot
5Lotte desperate to win LVMH Chairman Arnault's heart Lotte desperate to win LVMH Chairman Arnault's heart
6Apple Pay service starts in Korea Apple Pay service starts in Korea
7Osstem Implant to invite 1,500 dentists from 22 countries for training Osstem Implant to invite 1,500 dentists from 22 countries for training
8Busan to have alternate no-driving days during Expo inspectionBusan to have alternate no-driving days during Expo inspection
9US report voices concerns over S. Korea's press freedom US report voices concerns over S. Korea's press freedom
10LVMH allegedly joins takeover bid to acquire Missha LVMH allegedly joins takeover bid to acquire Missha
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Lee Se-young to lead MBC's new series 'The Story of Park's Marriage Contract' Lee Se-young to lead MBC's new series 'The Story of Park's Marriage Contract'
2Celebrities head back abroad to film K-food reality shows Celebrities head back abroad to film K-food reality shows
3Park Sung-woong talks about filming 'Woong Nam' with comedian-turned-director Park Sung-woong talks about filming 'Woong Nam' with comedian-turned-director
4[INTERVIEW] 'The Flag': Kwon Jin-ah's love letter to people chasing their dreams INTERVIEW'The Flag': Kwon Jin-ah's love letter to people chasing their dreams
5Kwon Sang-woo's new series to stream on Disney+ this year Kwon Sang-woo's new series to stream on Disney+ this year
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group