Holding out for a Hero


Opening Statement/joke

SA: It has come to this, Mr. J!

JT: Your wife found your webtoon reading list?

SA: What? No! She would never! *joke sting* No, we’ve come to the end of the KBO team histories! The final team has arrived.

JT: That’s right! We’re onto the Kiwoon Heroes or since they lost everybody we call em the zeroes “Joke Sting”! Kiwoom is the sponsor name at the time of this recording! It might be different by the time you tune in. 

SA: Since the name of the team is heroes, what’s the best hero song for the team?

JT: Well it can’t be a good one like the Tina Turner song from the Thunderdome movie. 

SA: These days the fans would be choosing Burn it Down by Linkin Park. 

JT: We should ask some Heroes fans what they would pick. Assuming any still or ever existed, shout out Mr. P.

SA: It’s awfully quiet in Gocheok these days.


History of the Heroes and the 3rd Seoul team dilemma

JT:Where do we start with the Heroes? Is this really a story of the Unicorns? 

SA: Yes…and no.

JT: Well that cleared things up! *joke sting* Very easy to understand.

SA: In the official record books, the Heroes are their own team. But in the eyes of fans and some players, the Heroes are the successors to the Unicorns. 

JT: But they don’t get the Unicorns’ chips on their shelves. They should either claim it and get the trophies or not and forget the legacy. 

SA: At any rate, the Heroes got started when the Unicorns went bust in 2008. A tobacco company took on the players and front office staff but skipped paying the debts. There was also controversy with the naming rights because it would imply cigarettes are cool. So they were called the Woori Heroes as a compromise. But like cigarettes, they started off coughing when they had to use the Unicorns uniforms for practice and spring training went terribly. Later in the season, the team stopped paying membership fees to the KBO and threatened to be kicked out.

JT: You don’t get to use Netflix without paying for it. Unless you borrow your father’s account, which is something WE never do here! *joke sting* So why wouldn’t it be the same for a baseball organization? Also this kinda reminds me of what happened with the Islanders back when the fake billionaire tried to buy it.

SA: Centennial Investment was led by chairman Lee Jang-seok when they started the team and brought in Woori as the main sponsor. But because of how poorly run the team was, Woori quit sponsoring the team around the time of the second half of the season and during the Olympic break. So they had to play with uniforms that only had Hs on them. 

JT: Those were the military themed uniforms the fans hated. 

SA: So besides the sponsorship problem, there were also less than enthusiastic players. So let’s do a thought experiment. Mr. J, pretend it’s 2008 and you’re a Unicorns player. Suddenly, a new team is springing up and they want to sign you. How do you feel?

JT: (Sound excited but not too loud) YAAAAYYY!

SA: But they want to sign you to half your previous salary.

JT: (sound fake excited) yaaaaayy… (laughter)

SA: So their first season under manager Lee Kwang -hwan went poorly and they ended the season in 7th place, barely better than LG. This was the start of their dark ages for the next 4 seasons. This also included one of their draft pick pitchers being involved in the 2012 match-fixing scandal. 

JT: But hey they were playing in Seoul! They got into Mokdong stadium, which was the dream of the Hyundai Unicorns ownership for a decade. 

SA: Speaking of ownership, the team’s chairman Lee Jang-seok kept selling the team’s best players during this time as a way to balance the books. Some of those like the Hwang Jae-gyun trade in 2010 were blocked by the KBO initially and led to rule changes about cash trades. These trades led to banner protests at the stadium by angry fans.

JT: All these fire sales would lead to later success by saving the team from ruin. I know it sounds like the old Vietnam war phrase quote we had to burn the village to save the village unquote. in this case it worked. Kinda sorta.

SA: Over the time Lee ran the team, he got Nexen to sponsor it and Nike to provide gear & uniforms. Ever famous coach Yeom Gyeong Yeop took over the reins in 2013.  After this commercial, we’ll see whether the Heroes rebuild project actually worked. 


Copy Yonosim ad here

The glory days of the 10s and the rivalry with LG

JT: So now we’re on the key part, when they actually became a good team. 

SA: Longtime listeners of the show will have heard the name Nexen more than a few times when talking about playoff experiences. They kept showing up thanks to the team president's dogged belief in sabremetrics, and farm improvements which they learned from a partnership with the Boston Red Sox in 2014. 

JT: Their first playoff appearance in 2013 signaled the end of the rebuild. That season they finished third thanks to great 300 hitting by first baseman Park Byeong-ho and clutch hitting third basemen Kim Min-seong. Their starting pitching was their weakness going into the playoffs against Doosan. 

SA: For some clear reasons, the team had a lot of experienced talent like pitchers Kim Byung-hyun, Lee Bo-geun, Park Sung-hoon, and Jeong Su-seong on the staff but excluded from the playoff roster because they were terrible all season. They also lost Kim Min-woo and Shin Hyeon-cheol due to drunk driving and hit & run accidents. 

JT: Nexen won game 1 their first ever playoff game thanks to a Lee Taek-geun single that scored the winning run. Game 2 went the same way when Nexen won it in the 10th thanks to a dropped ball going under Park Byeong-ho’s crotch allowing him to go to third then Kim Ji-soo’s clutch hit scored him to win the game. Up 2-nil, things fell apart and Doosan got the reverse sweep to go to the next round. 4 of the 5 games in this series were extra inning thrillers. How can you not be entertained!? *joke sting*

SA: Next season went even better for the Heroes, now thirsty for more playoff action. 2014 they finished in second place thanks to great hitting once again and better pitching from Henry Sosa from the Tigers and LA Dodgers. Seo Geon-chang, their top infielder had 201 hits to set the KBO record. 

JT: It was coming up Milhouse almost all season for the Heroes and they easily beat LG in the semi-finals to get to their first Korean Series. Andy Van Hecken was their ace once again and led them to an easy 4 to 2 victory against the juggernaut Lions in game 1 and 9 to 3 in Game 4. 

SA: Unfortunately for Kiwoon, they blew a chance to win game 5 for Sosa due to an error in the 9th that later led to Lions Choi Hyeong Woo’s 2 rbi hit to walk it off. Game 6 was also a rout that ended the Heroes’ chances of an upset. 

JT: This series went deep into November because of rainouts, Asian Games, and competitive series. Hell it ended on Pepero day. Choco sticks and good baseball for everyone am I right? *joke sting*

SA: It’s hard to feel bad for the Heroes. It was their first time and they were up against a dynasty. All their wheeling & dealing, their trades and renovating Mokdong stadium had finally paid off. They were actually competitive and wanted to remain so. 

JT: 2015 wasn’t as good for the Heroes as they had a few issues like Kang Jung-ho going to the Pirates, Lee Seong-yeol being traded to the Eagles, and Seo Geon-chang having issues, then fatigue set in because of all the Monday games. This was also their last season at Mokdong and they were being pressured to move into Gocheok by the city government. 

SA: They beat the Wyverns in an 13 inning thriller in the Wild-card round then met their cross-town nemesis the Bears in the playoffs. Lots of things happened in that series including a bench-clearing mess when Bears second baseman Oh Jae-won blocked first base and Seo almost ran into him. Doosan easily won the series against the Heroes but the real fireworks were happening outside the stadium.

JT: The scoreboard caught on fire again like in Daegu?

SA: No, but like on the field, fists were thrown! The Nexen fanbase felt betrayed when the Song Ji-man retirement ceremony was announced 3 days prior but this one fan group got the announcement weeks in advance, Then they held it before the game started in front of 200 or so fans sitting by the dugout.

JT: The 300 home run hitter only had 200 fans to cheer him on. Quite the hallmark moment there, team officials. *joke sting*

SA: But wait there’s more! Fans threw a fit on the team’s facebook page, then it came out that members of that favored fan cafe got discounted season tickets which resulted in 2 apology letters by the team owner. Fans stayed home in large numbers from the wild card game and the fanbase online went to war, with one counterprotestor going on the fan page and insulted the Sewol ferry victims which resulted in screenshots being sent to the Sewol countermeasures committee.

JT: What kinda sicko would bring victims of a disaster into a baseball fan battle?! Sometimes the fans get waaay out of pocket.

SA: These tensions led to a funeral wreath being pinned up at the ticket booth before the wildcard game, which led to a fight and someone’s glasses getting broken.

JT: More action outside the stadium than in it.

SA: More protests followed at Jamsil and Mokdong along with spying allegations and police cordons, which added new protests because the stadium management crew were being paid below minimum wage. 

JT: Who ran this team? Ebeneezer Scrooge? *Joke sting*

SA: The Heroes glory days would continue the next season with a new domed stadium called Gocheok out in Guro. We’ll talk more about that later. Kiwoon had another successful season thanks to rookie of the year winner pitcher Shin Jae-young. But they had to play without star Park Byeong-ho who had moved to Minnesota that season. They placed 3rd and went to the playoffs where they ran into their weakness, the LG Twins.

JT: LG gave them trouble all season and this series was no different with LG easily winning 4 games to 1. This also was a bit of an embarrassment for Nexen because LG became the first wild-card team to advance past a 3rd place team in the playoffs. This was also the end of Coach Yeom’s time and the team brought in Jang Jeong-seok to manage in 2017.

SA: Nexen didn’t play well at all in Jang’s first year because of Owner Lee Jang-seok’s embezzlement trials, the copyright player song scandal, the umpire payment scandal, and the foreign players struggled. But there were some good results with Lee Jung Hu winning rookie of the year. 

JT: 2018 went much better with a return to the playoffs, two series wins but a tough loss against SK. But they had a big scandal involving the owner making team decisions while in prison as well as pocketing the money from the Yoon Seok-min trade. And then there were the MANY scandals whooo boy. Cue up the Worst Persons music! (start music)

SA: Their draft pick Ahn Woo-jin was accused of assaulting junior players at his high school including using bats and balls along with two other players. After public furor, Nexen suspended him for 50 games. Later he fought to prove his innocence but he couldn’t get on the 2022 Asian games team and had to do military service, which is another mess we’ll talk about later. And the second involves two players being suspended because they were accused of sexually assaulting a drunk woman at a hotel, as well as driving under the influence. Those players were suspended while the case went through the prosecutor’s office, charges were dropped but the suspension stuck. One player later filed a damages suit against the KBO but it was thrown out by the court.

JT: More scandals came out after the season. Man I wonder what Coach Jang thought that season? Did I join the yakuza by accident? *joke sting* Anyway because of the Kang Min-guk scandal, Nexen’s outfielder Lim Ji-yeol’s drunk driving arrest came to light and he got a 30 game suspension. Because of this, the Heroes held a public ceremony on December 18th in which they pledged to stop drunk driving according to reports in OSEN. A pledge which did not last beyond the offseason, lemme tell you now.

SA: Other scandals were being unearthed involving the team like the Moon Woo-ram scandal. Heroes legend Lee Taek-geun apparently hit Moon in the forehead with a bat in 2015 and the scandal came out in December 2018. According to an interview in My Daily, Lee said he didn’t like Moon’s hair, and when Moon didn’t fix it the next day, Lee struck him several times with the bat. Rumor was that Lee was angry with Moon over match-fixing plans but that was not the case. However, Moon became closer with the broker since he was friendlier than his teammates. Later, Lee was prosecuted, paid a fine, and suspended for 35 games which is an odd number in fans eyes and they called it the cotton bat punishment.

JT: Remember last episode when I joked about how you’d have to spike my drink before I’d let a younger relative play for the Heroes? Well, shit like this is why. I feel more comfortable in an Itaewon bar than a Heroes locker room.

SA: They went into 2019 with a fresh coat of paint because their new top sponsor was Kiwoon! The CEO was still in prison so maybe they slid him documents to sign under his cellroom door Soviet Style? *joke sting* Anyway they got off to a great start and finished the season in 3rd place. They beat the Twins and the Wyverns to face their final opponent the Doosan Bears in the Korea Series. 

JT: A series where they got smooshed by the Bears. You can blame it on the LG curse but they didn’t have the firepower to go up against that team.

SA: They had Eric Yorkish that season and he pitched well but in game 1 he had a hilarious mental mistake in which he didn’t duck or dodge the throw from home plate on the steal attempt and got nailed in the chin.  

JT: Apparently he was shouting into his glove when he got the sweet chin music. *joke sting* Gotta watch the ball, it’s a lesson for more than the fans. This by the way is the most replayed highlight of the series. But fortunately, after a few minutes and pain sprays, Yorkish stayed on the mound. He gave up two more runs before being taken off. Kiwoon would rally to tie the game but in the 9th shortstop Kim Ha-Seong whiffed on a popout and Doosan won 7 to 6. The infielders might have been a bit distracted by Song’s constant trash talk about Bears players injuries, which he apologized for in the second game. 

SA: As usual, the Heroes would have a drop off in following seasons though they made the wild-card in 20 and 21. In 20 they had Son Hyuk as the manager and the team was in 3rd most of the short season but they had a late season collapse and dropped to 5th, then he quit or fired before the end of the season. KBS News reported that Board of Directors Chairman Heo Min was even calling plays from the front office and Owner Lee was manipulating him from prison.

JT: Probably should’ve also asked the coaches to stop driving drunk since they had 2 more arrests that season. At any rate in 21 they brought in Hong Won-Ki to manage the team. In 22 his efforts paid off with a 3rd place finish, defeating KT & LG in the playoffs and a trip to the Korean Series where SSG was waiting for him. Lee Jung-hoo and pitcher Ahn Woo-jin had standout performances with Lee winning League MVP.

SA: Unfortunately it was not meant to be for the team as SSG proved to be much better, though the team was praised for not getting swept like last time. Also you might notice from game footage that there were no cheerleaders and fireworks between games 1 to 4 because of a national period of mourning over the Itaewon disaster. KBS 2 didn’t even broadcast the first game until 940 pm after extreme criticism and complaints, especially with other channels running programs. 

JT: Winning game 1 wound up costing the Heroes the series because Ahn got a blister and they used their best pitchers to keep the game close. That curse of the shortstop error strikes again. Also history struck Kiwoon again when closer Choi Won-tae gave up a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 9th to lose game 5, which they also did to SK. History repeats itself!

SA: 22 errors in the postseason does not result in a championship, unless the other team is equally sloppy on the field.

JT: And that was the end of the Kiwoon era of competitiveness. Ever since that series they’ve been swirling the drain. *flushing sound* We’ll talk about why, after the break.


Current team

SA: Starting in 2023, the Heroes decided to do something they haven’t done since Lee Taek-gun joined. They…spent money on free agents like Lee Hyeong -jong and Won Jong-hyun. What a surprise! Did it work? 

JT: Oh hell no! They went to last place and have stayed there ever since. 

SA: Well, they get kudos for trying, I suppose.

JT: They should try to hire coaches that don’t commit drunk driving. They lost one this year when he hit a parked cop car and of course won a prestigious Hwa-ting sports worst persons award for that.(MOcking Jeering)

SA: But anyway the Asian Games are coming up and Heroes catcher 김건희 will be on the team. He’s hitting 257 with 20 homeruns at the time I wrote this.

JT: SSGs 조형우 will probably take the load of the catching duties. But we should also talk about I am not sure there is much to talk about their hitters but we should talk about them.

SA: Yes Kiwoom having the least runs scored and most runs scored against with a run differential of -239 the next closest terrible run differential being the Landers at -97 it’s not great. ( I will update before Friday)

JT: Not great at all Mr. S, I guess we can talk about the scraps, not a bad name the Kiwoom Scraps as most of their top hitters are the scraps of the other team “Joke Sting”.

SA: Who are they?

JT: Starting with 15 year veteran and 2025 back up KIA utility player, and me and you saw him play against the Fukuoka Hawks’ 3rd league team with the baby tigers as he spent a lot of time in the minors last year, Seo Geon-Chang. 

SA: Playing like a starter this year with a solid 113 hits (update on on Friday) and a batting average of .312 getting just in the top 10 at 9 of top batting averages for the league. Not bad for KIA leftovers, who else we got?

JT: Well Mr. S Kiwoom also had some Easter leftovers in the form of Kiwoom claiming Matthew Davidson from the NC Dinos on June 29th, and I am sure some other teams could have used him. 

SA: Yes the Dinos were struggling and Davidson was having a rough spring, so Kiwoom snagged him and currently he is having a very solid season in the form 280. Batting average puts him in the top 30, 113 hits, 18 of them dingers which is good enough for 12th.

JT: Kiwoom Sloppy Seconds got a ring to it, how about pitching Mr. S?. 

SA: Pitcher  Ahn is back from right shoulder ligament surgery he had done over the offseason. He was supposed to return last year but apparently he injured his shoulder catching fly balls in the outfield, called the fungo bat scandal. Sports Chosun had a writeup about it and talked about rumors of the military team hiding the extent of the injury and whether it was a punishment action or a regular training activity.

JT: As a former pitcher myself I loved shaggin balls in the outfield and we often played a game between the pitchers. 3 points for diving catch or robbing a homerun, 2 points for catching  in the air, and 1 point for getting the ball. 

SA: A way to pass time I suppose Mr. J.

JT: A very fun way so I can’t hate on Mr. Ahn, Especially as Ahn is widely considered the current best homegrown prospect that a lot predict to be the next big Korean major league baseball player when he is eligible to post in the winter of 2028 and hopefully we see him in a MLB uniform to get him out of his current purgatory.

SA: Yes he has received high praises from former and current KBO all-stars like Ryu Hyun Jin and Kim Kwan-Hyun, Ryu saying he is the next generational Korean Ace, and Kim saying he is possibly the only Korean pitcher with skills necessary to beat Ohtani. Also receiving high praise from his fellow fireballer and friend Gwak Bin of Doosan, saying unless his ERA is under 1.00 he can’t compare to Ahn.

JT: Some high praise for one of the few bright spots on a team decimated by the bright lights of the MLB stealing their best players. Ahn has posted a solid career ERA of 3.39, has a fast ball that can touch the upper 150 of Kilometers of course that's about in 99 bald eagle units for you Americans listeners out there. He is ranked 13 in strikeouts this year with 111 K’s, however because of poor team play he boasts a record of 3-8 over 20 games, but again I am sure almost on any other team and I do mean any other team, he would be doing better.

SA: Any other current pitchers worth talking about?

JT: Pitchers that have not hurt themselves shagging batting practice. Raul Alcantara had a stellar record for Kiwoom as an injury replacement at the end of 2025 for kiwoom finishing 8-4 with a 3.27 ERA

SA:Good enough to be brought back.

JT: Yes sir and he has been the ace of the staff this year boasting an amazing 9-8 record (may change be for the podcast) .

SA: Over 500 record? Amazing.

JT: Nothing short of a miracle Mr. S, this coming along with a solid 3.78 ERA which is 6th in KBO rankings and 127 strikeouts good for 7th in the KBO.

SA: So the one and only Kiwoom Hero.

JT: Correct again Mr. S. 


Famous Players

SA: Who are Kiwoon’s famous players? Well there are a few, some of which came from their Unicorns team. But they don’t have any retired numbers. 

JT: We’ll think of a few. 

SA: The team has successfully sold off six major league players, including Kang Jeong-ho in 2014, Park Byeong-ho in 2015, Kim Ha-seong in 2021, Lee Jeong-hoo in 2023, Kim Hye-seong in 2024, and Song Seong-moon in 2025, Heroes fans and fans of other teams sometimes call the Heroes the Major League Military Academy. But we obviously we have to talk about Lee Jong Bum’s kid, Lee Jong Woo of the SF Giants.

JT: Yes, The grandson of the wind, former 2022 KBO MVP.

SA: Being around Grandpa really paid off for him.

JT: It is just unfortunate he didn’t play for grandpa’s team with the KIA Tigers.

SA: Yes Lee played 7 fantastic years for Kiwoom leaving with a career .340 Batting average in 884 games played which is the highest KBO Batting average for minimum 3,000 plate appearances.

JT: He also has the rookie hit single season record with a  179 hits obviously making him rookie of the year

SA: Definitely the greatest hitting father son duo in the KBO. How about famous Unicorn players?

JT: Well, legendary catcher Park Kyung Oan who was 2000 regular season MVP for blasting 40 homeruns, and anchored the Hyundai Dynasty pitching staff, known for his cannon arm and great defensive skills.

SA: Some say the greatest KBO catcher of all time. Who else do we got from the Unicorns? 

JT: The most famous Unicorn pitcher was Jong Min-Tae “The Ace” throwing for 200 innings in five consecutive seasons. 

SA: That is why they call him the unicorn because his other arm probably fell off *Joke Sting* His most famous accolade was his KBO record of 21 consecutive wins by a starting pitcher with no relief appearances.

JT: He had a small cup of coffee in the NPB, and is now the current pitching coach of the Hanhwa Eagles. 

SA: So the insert sponsor Heroes of the future have many possible players to retire numbers if need be and we are counting the Hyundai dynasty as part of their legacy.


Stadium

SA: And now it’s time to talk about the stadium. The big dome of Gocheok! Well, for now anyway.

JT: It won’t be the only dome in Korea since SSGs will open in 2 years and Jamsil will get one and Busan might get one, and whatever the hell’s happening in Osong. Are they really serious about that?

SA: It gets wilder. Apparently South Chungcheong province also wants to build a dome stadium next to Cheonan’s KTX station. Just learned about it this week. They wanna build a 50 thousand seat stadium. 

JT: First off, how are they going to handle that many people using public transit? Cheonan station is big but that’s asking a lot for a building not designed for that amount. And secondly, have they learned any lessons from Gocheok’s struggles?

SA: Yeah, Gocheok in southwestern Seoul should have been an ideal placement but nope, nope! 

JT: Only line 1 goes to Gocheok. Jamsil has two lines, 3 if you count Line 3 from 항녈 but that’s a bit of a walk. So most people take the subway or the bus. If you’re coming from out of town, the fastest way, if possible for you, is to get off the train at 영등포역 and take line 1 to Guli station. Mr. S what about the parking situation?

SA: You’re gonna laugh when you hear this. They…don’t allow parking during the game.

JT: (your reaction here) 

SA: Yeah ok so the team website tells people to park in public parking lots around the stadium. They fortunately include fees and walking distances, but the closest one in next door 동양미래대학교 only has 320 spaces. Some of the other lots charge 1000 won for every 10 minutes. So if you park there for 3 hours, you could pay-

JT: Around 18000 won, which would cost more than some of the seats. And I take that only applies once you actually leave the parking lot, which I’ve heard takes up to 2 hours. This is because of all the traffic in the area. Why didn’t they build proper parking?

SA: Who knows? They only have 492 internal parking spots and those need to go to the media, players, family members, limo drivers and so on. There’re many reasons why fans don’t like this place. Hell I only went once and I couldn’t stop sneezing because the dome smelt like burnt plastic. I had to put on my pollution grade mask just to be able to watch the game. I’m pretty sure the MBC announcers saw me and said I look like SubZero. *joke sting*

JT: I’ve seen the seats. They look super narrow and hard to move through when coming in. There’s a picture with some of the seats resembling the squares in Minesweeper. 

SA: That’s why I bought a seat near the outfield corner. I couldn’t see much of the left field corner but I got leg room! Oh before I forget, the stadium also had a leaky roof problem that they fixed in 2021 (pause for 3 seconds) which promptly returned this season and 30 fans had to be moved to different seats.

JT: What’s the point of a dome?

SA: To play or have events regardless of the weather.

JT: So if the roof leaks, it’s kind of a pointless building. Might as well play in Mokdong if you can’t keep the rain out. Mokdong didn’t have as many sight line issues. 

SA: So now we’ve come fully around the dome *joke sting*. Can Korea’s next domes avoid the same problems? Place your bets now.

JT: Speaking of bets, what’s their best bets for food inside?

SA: Well, based on what’s on their site, they’ve got the usual pizza, hot dog and fried chicken chains. But they also have one shop that sells two versions of 회 or raw fish and raw beef. (stressed voice) Which is…a choice. Not one I would make anywhere near a hot stadium. 

JT: Let’s talk to the Heroes fans and see what they say.


Fan Interview

Questions to ask (If no interviews, make a joke about how their FB fan groups and Reddit pages are dead and talk about famous fans like Ted Smith)

Backup plan: 

SA: And…we have no fans who contacted us. Their reddit page died in 2023 and no fans messaged us on MyKBO’s Facebook page. Twitter and Bluesky posts are mostly highlights and when K-Pop stars throw the first pitch.

JT: There’s also the time in 2024 when a pop star got knocked out by a foul ball. I don’t think she’s a fan anymore. Who are some of their famous fans?

SA: Well like the other teams they have their ultra fans, some of whom have extensive Namu Wiki pages, and that gives the team the perception of a passionate if also conflicted fanbase. A fanbase that regularly clashes with Kia fans, we should point out.

JT: What’s that? I can’t hear their curses from the bottom of the well they’re in. I’ll have to move some of my trophies out of the way. *joke sting*

SA: But they have some positive fans! One famous one is a foreigner from Calgary called Ted Smith! He was the guy that wore a purple hanbok to the Nexen playoff games and doing the dances with the fans. He wrote a book about his desire to become a cheerleader for the Heroes in 2015. 

JT: While cheering with the team he reportedly got hit with chicken bones thrown by a hooligan so he got the whole experience!

SA: (laughter) Nowadays he lives in Japan and was spotted at one of Korea’s WBC games, so he’s still out there cheering on Korea. Another famous fan is Kim Kwang-jin the famous singer songwriter from the 90s and financial analyst. He has been a fan since the Sammi Superstars days. 

JT: Yeah 2010s era KPOP singers seem to be their main fanbase especially those that throw out the first pitch. Crayon Pop, Han Bo-reum, Eric from the Boyz. From the sports world the Heroes can count Hwaseong coach Cha Du-ri from Germany as a fan too. Now what about the average Kiwoon fan, Mr. S?

SA: Based on my barely scraping the surface research, the average Heroes fan is either a 50 something Incheon or West Seoul or Gyeonggi resident that fondly recalls the defunct teams, or a late 20s young woman that likes baseball. Sitting in the next row behind them is a family of 4 with a 40 something dad looking at his shrinking balance on his phone while his kids jump up and down and his wife elbows him for spending 200 thousand on bad baseball. *joke sting* And along the aisles are foreign tourists who came to check out Korean baseball because the Heroes rarely sell out. 

JT: Maybe one of them’ll become the next Ted?

SA: It’ll be the highlight of the team’s year.


Worst Persons

JT: Run and hide! Let the rage consume you! It’s the worst persons in the Korean Sports Woooorrrrlllllddddd!

SA: Who are we throwing mud at this week?

JT: You wrote the script so you tell ‘em.

SA: Oh that’s right I did! I was so mad while researching I forgot about that part! I wrote down all 3 winners in one day! So, let’s start with the Bulhwa award which goes to… Gwangju FC for getting 2 red cards in the game against Seoul on Aug 30th. One red card came for a quote dangerous slide tackle unquote that in hindsight didn’t look that dangerous. The VAR guys decided otherwise and sent off Kim Woo-jin, then the refs said Ahn Young-gyu tripped Klimala during a scoring opportunity which is a new FIFA rule. 

JT: Did it even look like a push or trip from behind?

SA: Not really. The replays I saw made me think Klimala tripped on his own. And so they lost to Seoul 5 to 2 since they were down 2 players. 

JT: And then the following week they tied against Gimcheon which means the 25 game winless streak continues! Great play out there, folks! Way to impress the fans! All 1 thousand of them.

SA: The Nap award goes to… Kim Tae Geun of Kia Tigers! During the 5th inning of Tuesday’s game against Samsung, Kim hit a drive to deep left field. The ball bounced off the top of the wall. Yes I know in some parks, this is considered a home run, but each park can set its own boundary rules. If you’re a footie fan you have the right to be confused so bear with us here. 

JT: Throw me a bone here *joke sting* Kim Tae Geun stood around home base with his bat up in the air, watching it land. He had only just begun to run when it hit the top of the wall and dribbled back on the grass. He slid into second but the cutoff throw was on time and it had plenty of time to get there  and out out out he was., so he would get an RBI putting KIA down 2-1 at this point with one out, However to make matters worse Kim Hyo-Young and Park Jae-Hyun would follow up the next with singles to the outfield which would have scored him, but Byun Woo Hyuck would line out to left to end the inning, then Do-young hit his 40th homerun as the leadoff the next inning. 

SA: The announcers said he might’ve thought it was going foul. But I mean that’s baseball 101. As long as there’s a chance it goes fair, you should run. 

JT: The only thing foul is his base running skills and If I was Lee Bum-HO his ass would have been on the pine as in the bottom Samsung scored 2, the momentum was changed at that point and KIA lost by 2 despite a valiant effort to come back. KIA could have moved up to 3rd as LG were losers. 

SA: This could be one of the bloopers of the year!

JT: Against his former team embarrassing, my guess he was trying to show em up, Great work Tae Goon.


SA: The Radon award goes to…KFA for stopping K3 and K4 promotion.

JT: Why would they stop it? Isn’t that the point of the whole ladder system they’ve just got going? Teams go up and teams go down.

SA: Just like the tides. Nobody can explain it *joke sting*. The reasoning behind adjusting the promotion system was that top K4 teams were deliberately losing, or at least accused of it, to avoid being promoted to K3 when their teams didn’t have the finances to compete at that level. 

JT: Which is not adding up to much, to be honest.

SA: Yeah, we’re gonna circle back to that. So at the start of the season the KFA told the semi-pro teams in both leagues that K4 League teams wishing for promotion must declare their intention by June 30 of the season. Also there won’t be automatic relegation from K3 but the worst team would have to play the team requesting promotion from K4.

JT: That would be Jeonbuk FC 2, their minor league team which has been terrible this year. But something went wrong.

SA: Yup, it was announced last week on the KFA’s special instagram that no teams qualified for promotion so there will be no promotion or relegation this year. 

JT: Other than the cup, what’s there to play for in K4 this year? And why does money matter that much anyway?

SA: Yeah that’s a good question. In K4, Jinju Citizens is the top team. Here’s a picture of their stadium (Mr. J clicks on it). 

JT: As my hockey playing days motto look good play good, not a bad stadium compared to other footie stadium I have seen or been to.

SA: And now here’s the K3 Gyeongju stadium picture.

JT: How does a team with more money like the power company have a less advanced stadium than a team with a city hall budget? K3 looks broker than K4! What’re we doin’ here?!

SA: They spent all this time wanting to get teams promoted and competitive footie across the pyramid, then they do this. How is a team supposed to attract sponsors if they can’t even use promotion as a way to…promote themselves?

JT: Way to pull the rug out from the Jinju fans’ hopes. We’ll just have to wait until the KFA gets K3 to 16 teams like they wanted…somehow.


SA: And finally the Plutonium award….more footie foolishness yaaay.

JT: Today’s winner is FIFA, but not for the reason you’re thinking. FIFA is in Korea investigating whether the Korean government is breaking the rules on organizational interference in national sports federations. According to reports in the Sports Chosun on August 31st, FIFA said it will visit the KFA to assess the situation in Korean football, including potential 'infringement of autonomy,' and review entities such as the K-Football Innovation Committee launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. So now we need to explain why this is a problem.

SA: OK so the best way I can explain this is that FIFA sees the innovation committee as a governmental body and thusly an interfering force. In the past, Sri Lanka’s and Kuwait’s teams were punished by FIFA for government interference in their associations affairs. So they’re threatening the KFA with sanctions if the legislature and sports ministry pushes too hard. But FIFA postponed their fact-finding mission this week after contacting the Asian Football Confederation according to reports on Sept 2nd. They said Internal circumstances but what does that really mean? 

JT: Right now there’s no KFA president because Chung resigned after the World cup. Moreno was picked to be interim coach because there’s no one running the show. So why is FIFA the big problem here?

SA: After the stunt Infantino pulled with privatizing the World Cup, trust in FIFA leadership by fans and associations is very low right now. Based on various reports, it looked like Infantino was going to pitch the World Cup to President Trump’s son in law Kuchner but that mess fell through because AFC and UEFA were gonna boycott the women’s world cup. So Infantino’s on the hot seat because he started acting like one of the unaccountable oligarchs he poneyed up to. And now he wants FIFA to punish Korea because Chung was one of his best friends. 

JT: But it's never a great idea when politicians get involved in sports. Look what happened when Nixon made a football team use one of his hare-brained plays. They got sacked for 11 yards. Some mighty fine playcalling there, Lou *joke sting*. Oh and we can’t forget when Dear Shorty Kim Jong Il called up the North team during the 2010 world cup and told them how to play and they lost 9 to 0, then the head coach got sent to a gulag. 

SA: But you gotta have accountability, especially when taxpayer money is being spent on association activities.

JT: Like bribing foreign referees with prostitutes. 

SA: Favorable whistles aren’t cheap *joke sting* but at least the KFA said they stopped doing that. (Pause for two seconds) Yeah OK I see why none a y’all believe them.

JT: To put the bow on this box of horrible chocolates, FIFA didn’t like it when the sports ministry launched an audit of the KFA two years ago.

SA: So there needs to be a balance between freedom and accountability, and FIFA preventing accountability from happening will not improve the situation at KFA. So it’s no surprise FIFA is today’s WORST PERSON! In the Korean sports world! Eat those 20% chocolate drops, Infantino!  


GOTW

SA: My pick for game of the week is the 2026 전남광주GT (ROUND.6) in Yeongam. It’s free! A-Pink will perform there Sunday at 1:20.

JT: I love Pink, “Sings poorly” So what I am still a rock star I got my rock movies and I dont neeed youuuuu and…(Mr S Interrupts)

SA: A-Pink…

JT: I like Pink, but, I am not sure I would give her an A, but definitely a B+

SA: And you get an F- for your poor dad joke, let's get to the game of the week.

JT: Back to the game of the week, Mr. S. what can you tell us about the 2026 전남광주GT (ROUND.6)?

SA: It is one of the largest premier domestic motor sports festival and auto-racing events in South Korea.

JT: Yes as you said it will be free and it will be taking place this  Saturday and Sunday September 12-13 at  F-1 Grade Korean International Circuit in Yeongam Gwangju Jeollanamdo Special province

SA: Yes a lot of the Top Korea racing drivers will be competing in the Toyota Gazoo Racing 6000 class along with motorcycles and hybrid racers. 

JT: So start your engines and get over to 영암’s International Raceway. 

SA: Or stall out on your couch and catch the action on KBS2 if you got Korean Cable or antenna at 2:05. 

JT: Or start your desktops and watch on Superrace Official youtube channel or the SOOP app.

SA: What else is on tap this weekend Mr. J?

JT: Well if you're an e-sports fan the 2026 LCK also known as the League of Legends Champions Korea will be closing out with the lower bracket Finals between Hanhwa Life Esports vs. T1 on Saturday September 12th and the winner will go on to the grand final and will be playing Gen G. E-Sports on Sunday September 13th.

SA: The action will start at 3pm KST on both days and takes place in the KSPO Dome in Seoul. Tickets seemed to be sold out so you can watch the broadcast on the LCK Global Youtube Channel.

JT: Back in my day I actually played video games myself and didn’t watch people play video games.

SA: I actually like watching people play games! Saves me a lot of grief and cash. Anyone who’s ever played a Madden game or Genshin Impact will understand. 

JT: Before we forget, the Asian games start on the 19th and go over Chuseok so we’ll talk a bit about them in the next episode. Be there or you won’t know why your favorite ballplayers aren’t in the game!



Copy Ending from previous multi-host episode

JT: A shoutout to our listeners in (pause for 3 seconds) you gotta be kidding me! Twatt Orkney Islands and Dull, Perthshire. These are real places?

SA: Yup! Dull is twinned with Boring USA and Bland Australia to make the Trinity of Tedium! Bring your own entertainment if you happen to stop by. 

JT: No wonder residents are tuning in. They have nothing better to do! And we thank you for it! But yeah our analytics are hella weird compared to other podcasters. 

SA: My guess is there’s a postal worker or delivery driver that’s tuning in while making the rounds. Some people say it’s VPNs, but who would put a VPN server in these places? Anyhoo, if you really live there, say hi on the Facebook page! Also a shoutout to friend of the show Ms. Yeets who has started a new service called Hagwon Hub which helps teachers find jobs and learn about teaching in Korea. You can find the app on your phones’ app stores. 

JT: We’ll be back next week with how to bet on sports in Korea! 

SA: Bet we’ll be there, Korean Sports fans!


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Notes

Gocheok Lights Incident

Park Byeong-ho's retirement party

Mokdong Baseball Stadium - NamuWiki

Gocheok

Kiwoom Heroes/Incidents - NamuWiki

Bad Stairs in Gocheok

Gocheok parking and road problems

https://m.sports.naver.com/kbaseball/article/109/0003912864

Ah Woo-jin and the injury scandal

Side note about the team selling players to MLB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_qG6bqCe0o

FIFA Investigates KFA

Robert Moreno Named South Korea Interim Manager - Everything You Need To Know | Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors