Baseball in Joseon: Part 1

Baseball at the Oriental Consolidated Mining Company (OCMC) in northern Korea circa 1930s Courtesy of Jan Downing

By Robert Neff

On a beautiful fall afternoon in late October 1894, baseball made its appearance in Seoul. It isn't clear if this was the first baseball game to be played in Korea, but it is the earliest account I could find and clearly predates the popular belief that baseball began in Korea in 1905.

The game was held near the East Gate and involved American sailors and Marines stationed in Seoul as part of the Legation Guard. We know that the USS Concord was anchored at Jemulpo (present day Incheon) and part of its crew, under the command of Lieutenant Gile, served as the Legation Guard but there also seems to have been a small detachment of sailors and Marines from the USS Baltimore assigned to the Legation Guard. It doesn't challenge the imagination to assume the game was between the crews of the two ships.

Unfortunately, we know very little about the event. Elizabeth Greathouse, who mentioned the game in passing in her daily diary entry noting that her son went to see it but she did not, as she didn't "know baseball from a game of marbles" and expressed no interest in learning.

Other possible witnesses to the game were members of the American ambassador's family but, unfortunately, pages for that date have been lost. The ship's log for the Concord ― naturally enough ― does not include any notes on events in Seoul and for that date is filled with the punishments meted out to crew members for minor infractions. Apparently several of the Concord's crew failed to return to ship on time after being granted shore leave ― their period of tardiness ranged from a half hour to three days (some were apparently drunk) ― and were punished with extra duty ranging from a few hours to a few days.

The first detailed account of baseball in Seoul took place in the afternoon of April 25, 1896, and, unlike the game previously mentioned, this one was between the American Legation Guard and American residents of Seoul. According to Sallie Sill, the American representative's wife, "almost everyone went." But not all of the spectators were foreigners ― there were several Koreans who watched the game "with a great deal of curiosity."

Baseball at the OCMC circa 1910s Courtesy of Lower Family

According to The Independent, a newspaper published in Seoul, "The game was full of excitement and everybody did his part excellently." The game was very close but the Marines prevailed with a score of 21-20. Afterwards a luncheon was served ― much to the enjoyment of the Marines who were probably tired of their own cooking.

The game was such a success that another was played on May 3. Like the first one, it was attended by "several lady spectators" as well as a large part of the Western community. Also in attendance was a crowd of Koreans who "seemed to get some amusement out of the game." Once again, the Marines won ― thrashing the home team 17-11.

The Marines, now confident in their own ability and less than impressed with the American expat community's baseball prowess, challenged the English Legation guards to a game. The British readily accepted the challenge.

The Independent advertised the event as a contest between the Americans and English and promised it would be "an exciting match."

At the appointed hour on May 9, a large crowd of spectators, including several Korean officials, gathered to watch the event. It appeared that almost the entire Western community was there ― everyone, that is, except for the English Legation guard.

For over an hour the American team and the spectators waited but the English "did not find it convenient" to show up and so an impromptu game was set up between the American Legation guard and the American expats. This time, the expats won with a score of 23-19.

Baseball (as well as other sports) became quite popular in Seoul and games were often held between the city's foreign residents and visiting military attachments. These games generated a lot of friendly rivalries but also cultivated a general sense of community. Of course, not all comments were overly positive.

Ernest Bethell, the 32-year-old Englishman who founded The Korea Daily News, seems to have had rather mixed feelings on the game and apparently very little interest:

"A game of baseball was played on Friday [Sept. 23, 1904] between the U.S. Marines and a team composed of missionaries. The match resulted in a win for the Marines by three runs, the score being 17 to 14 in their favor. Although the play could hardly be described as first-class, it is interesting to see that sport is not quite dead in Seoul and we hope that this trial game will be the prelude to others more frequently."

Homer Hulbert, the American editor of The Korea Review, echoed Bethell's sentiments of the games (there were actually two) being rather amateurish:

"All these things crowded so thick and fast upon each other that there was scarcely breathing space between them, but the rare intervals were improved by several games of baseball, all of which were rather ragged but great fun nevertheless. In the first one the Seoul nine was defeated by the 'Countrymen' by a score of twelve to ten, though it must be confessed that there is some uncertainty about the exact score. In the second game the American soldiers beat a team chosen from among the foreign residents by a score of seventeen to fourteen, and a second game resulted in a win for the residents against the soldiers by thirteen to six."

The reference to "Countrymen" traces back to 1902 when the Presbyterians held their annual meeting in Seoul instead of Pyongyang, due to a cholera outbreak, and ended up playing a friendly game or two of baseball. The "Countrymen" refers to non-Seoul-based missionaries. It seems that Seoul missionaries were not very good at the game. Despite "a considerable number of ladies [who] loyally attended and lent enthusiasm to the players, the provincial missionaries were too good and easily beat their Seoul rivals 14-7.

For the foreign residents in Seoul, it wasn't their lack of baseball prowess that ended their exciting games ― it was politics.

In September 1905, The Korea Review lamented that word had been received stating the troops were to be withdrawn from Korea and returned to their headquarters in the Philippines. The troops had been stationed in Seoul for a little over 20 months and the editor was sure they, along with the foreign community, would miss the games they played with the missionaries ― games that resulted "always with victory for the Guard, but not without effort."

The American community would continue to enjoy baseball amongst its members but not in Seoul ― most of the games recorded in the newspapers, private letters and other records indicate they were held in Pyongyang or at the American gold mines in northern Korea. For the most part, after the legation guard left, Americans in Seoul enjoyed baseball as spectators ― watching the birth of baseball in Korea and the subject of our next article.

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