I’ve Got the Tigers by the Tail
Copy Intro from previous episode
Opening joke
SA: Big announcement for today’s episode! We have a co-host. Please welcome JTG to the show!
JT: *add cheering sounds later* Thank you, thank you. Pleasure to be here.
SA: *cheering sounds stop* Today on the show we’re talking about a source of passion and irritation for many across Korea; the Kia Tigers!
JT: We’ll be taking this tiger by the tail and discuss its history, famous players, and its famous stadiums.
SA: We’ll also talk about a few of their famous foreign players who saw the eye of the tiger!
JT: And we’ll discuss how they became the king of the KBO jungle!
SA: There are many stripes on this team’s fur that need to be combed.
JT: See, I guess some zebras can’t change their stripes with the dad jokes over here..
SA: Why not? They are one of the oldest teams after all.
JT: You’re not even a father, so dad jokes aren't allowed rules are rules this not nam’
SA: Before we begin, let’s talk about how we came to be Kia fans. Though you’re more of a fan than me.
JT: That I am GO TIGERSSS! Who did you like when you first came to Korea?
SA: The Lotte Giants, because I’m a SF Giants fan. But they were really bad so I shifted allegiances quickly. (JTG: cough bandwagoner COugh) No I’m not a bandwagon fan! Kia wasn’t so hot in those days either. I really liked Lopez’s attitude and Mudeung had this big-team in a small park feel you kinda get from minor league stadiums back home. What about you?
JT: (riffing) Buffalo inme/ true to the hometown/only team that can get me championships
SA: And now that we got our history covered, let’s talk about the team! *snap finger*
Kia Tigers History
SA: There are a couple of things about the formation of the KBO that casual fans probably don’t know.
JT: up to 2012 that would be me. Fill me in what would that be?
SA: According to a documentary by KBS on youtube with English dubbing, the Lotte Giants GM was called to the blue house in the early days of Chun’s military rule to create a league with night games since he got rid of the curfew. Creating the sports leagues was a big deal as it was part of the distraction campaign.
JT: “Are you not Entertained? Chun doo-whna probably, anywho what’s the second thing?
SA: The first year of the league they only had 7 games in 1981 but they had a whole ass parade in the stadiums with hundreds of cheerleaders, and some were wearing this knockoff Wonder Woman 1970s costume!
JT: *laughing* Wonder Woman and baseball?!they had the tiara and the long boots?!
SA: Yeah! It looked more like her winter costume but still had the same style.
JT: Never thought the words Wonder Woman and Korean baseball would ever go together. The early 80s were a different time!
SA: You can see the doc for yourselves. The link is in the description. Anyway, there were some issues with local sentiment and the lack of strong companies in the Gwangju area. The Gwangju Daily wanted to create a city team similar to Hiroshima but only as a backup plan. Even Kumho Tires backed out of sponsoring the team.
JT: So the Kumho factory fire in seonjeong was the tigers all along, I am sure Kumho is regretting it for two reasons now
SA: But eventually the first sponsor was Haitai, the snack company. They’re still around today.
JT: As a fatty a better choice, known for ace and ivy crackers, those pocky choco sticks and that taro bus snack kids won’t shut up about.
SA: Yeah it’s their fault! *Joke sting* Haitai took some of their amateur team players and hired a few others but they only had 14 available players to start with in 82.
JT: 14 the good ol days? How many of them were 2-ways?
SA: Most, according to Wikipedia. Hell their best pitcher Kim Seong-han had 10 wins and 69 RBIs to lead the league. He was the Ohtani of his day!
JT: Foreigner rule not around at the time I am sure they could have gotten Hank Aaron
SA: He was still with the Braves at that time, but Haitai was much smaller then. They probably didn’t have the money.
JT: They should’ve asked the Peace Corps!
SA: They left after the coup, but you’re onto something here. Mr. J, if you were a fresh out of college, wide-eyed but patriotic peace corp volunteer in your first month in 80s Korea, and a random guy in a tweed suit walks into your classroom and says “drop what you’re doing, we need you to play pro baseball in Gwangju. It’s for the good of the country.” what would you say?
JT: Lifetime supply of Tayo bus crackiers and other assorted snacks. You gotta a deal not as good as Manny Ramirez unlimited sushi deal in Japan but in the 80s it will suffice.
SA: You might’ve had to coach as well since they fired their first coach after 13 games and replaced him with Jo Chang-soo.
JT: What happened to the first guy? Tiger got his tongue?
SA: They wish. The other coaches quit because he was too violent and berating them and then some incident involving lemon soju and bar girls was the last straw. The GM had enough of the negative press and fired him.
JT: I am sure he had more straws, but obvious that guy got out of baseball huh?
SA: Oh hell no! He got hired by the MBC Blue Dragons a year later!
JT: Why am I not surprised?
SA: Needless to say the first season didn’t go too well after that and they went 38 and 42. But the next season things skyrocketed when they hired Kim Eung-yong. Before he took up the job, he learned baseball at Georgia Southern, was the home run king of the business league with Haitai, then became the team’s coach in the 60s, and even led Korea to a super World Cup championship in 1977 in Nicaragua against team USA.
JT: Wait a minute, isn’t he the super tall coach that was famous for stealing baseball gloves from the US army base?
SA: Yes, that’s him. He was so tall and skinny his teammates in high school called him Mr. Rib. At 188 centimeters he was taller than most of the basketball players in the country at the time. But apparently he was also renowned for his fighting skills.
JT: Why not? It was the 80s after all.
SA: In an incident mentioned on Namu Wiki, rookie catcher Jang Chae-geun was mad about getting subbed out all the time in key hitting situations. So he got drunk and broke into Coach Kim’s room while carrying a bottle and a rock.
JT: As you do when you’re a rookie.
SA: So the coach, age 50 at this point, knocked him out. But he was impressed by Jang’s directness and confidence, later making him the starting catcher. He also broke up a fight at age 60 between three foreign players while coaching for the Wyverns. In that fight he put Cabrera in a headlock chokehold because he and Britto went into the Samsung dugout to fight their pitcher Hodges.
JT: How much of street fighter was inspired by Haitai Tigers at this point?
SA: *laughing* probably all of it!
JT: I thought that old adage was for hockey “I went to fight and a baseball game broke out” ESPN should make a 30 for 30 about him!
SA: They would have PLENTY of material. In fact, in his first year of coaching, he led the team to their first championship! They still had Kim Seong-han, Kim Bong-yeon the mustache guy and Kim Jong-mo from the chaotic year before but with a better coach, they formed the 3 Ks of doom. The team also purchased infielder Seo Jung-hwan from Samsung to anchor the infield.
JT: There’s a bit of backstory with Seo Jung-hwan. Apparently the marketing director talked him into joining the team even though he got a better offer from the Sammi Superstars and his family was closer in Incheon. The director said it’d be better for him in Gwangju since he used to play with Cha and he knew Seong-han and a bunch of the players. But joining the Tigers wasn’t the easiest for him since he was from Daegu and many of the soldiers who committed the Gwangju massacre were from that part of the country. But the locals took a shine to him and taught his wife how to make kimchi and fed him hongeo soup. Real charm offenseive
SA: It’s for the stamina! *Joke sting*
JT: With players like him jelling, they went on a tear. They won the first half title thanks to fans playing drums all night outside the Superstars team hotel in June, and went to the Korean series in October against the Dolphins. They won 3 straight, tied game 4 after 15 innings, and won game 5 to get their first championship. While the games were certainly interesting, the action and memories came from behind the scenes.
SA: That was the year of the North Korean attack in Myanmar, right?
JT: That’s one of the reasons why the series was postponed. The season ended October 5th but then the national sports festival was going on and it got pushed to the 12th. The bombing in Myanmar on October 9th pushed the starting date to the 20th, but then it got switched to the 15th. The series started with the threat of war with the North bearing down on the teams. Some fans said the Tigers victory was due to Kim IL-Sung. And then there was the bulgogi rebellion.
SA: Bulgogi rebellion? That sounds like a Pyeongtaek rock band.
JT: I don’t make the names. Anyway, after winning the chip, Haitai went cheap and cut spending on bonuses, put the players in cheaper dorms, and cut their meal allowance.
SA: Damn! Did they want the players to start growing their own vegetables in the offseason?
JT: Wouldn’t surprise me if they did. So the players got mad and the senior players set up a protest. On April 10th, after a game in Jamsil, team owner Park took the team to a bulgogi restaurant. The players decided not to eat the bulgogi until the owner agreed with their demands. But he hedged during the talks and all the meat burnt on the grill. But the seniors were supposed to signal Kim IL-Kwon to give the signal to eat, but everyone missed the signals.
SA: I’m seeing a common thread here.
JT: Of course. The owner got mad at them and stormed out, then Coach Kim accused Il-Kwon of being the ringleader. He got tagged as a troublemaker then traded to the Dolphins in 1987.
SA: I take it pay issues began to weigh down the team?
JT: No surprise there. The team struggled in 84 and 85, then went on to win 4 straight championships with Chae Dong-cheol, Kim Jung-soo and Jang Chae-geun among others. One thing about the dynasty that gets left out a lot is that the Tigers only won the regular season title once. The Lions and Eagles had better records in 3 out of their 4 championships.
SA: The team couldn’t continue their success in 1990 and lost to Samsung in the playoffs. But they rebounded and won 4 more times in the 90s. Their last championship with Haitai came in 97 which ironically was around the time of the election of Kim Dae Jeong.
JT: What does his election have to do with baseball?
SA: None on the surface, but he won because of the IMF crisis, which also killed Haitai’s ability to fund the team. The Tigers lost Lee Jeom-bum and other players, then Kia took over in 2001.
JT: Haitai always had money problems. Coach Kim used to tell the press the players saw the 10 million won series bonus as 100 million won so they played to win it all. Hell there were serious concerns with the players that the team wouldn’t pay them if they didn’t win. When they let Lee Jong Hu sign with Chunichi in Japan, the 5 billion won transfer fee paid for the team’s salaries in 98.
SA: He led the team even after leaving the team! A rare feat in baseball.
JT: When Haitai was looking for buyers, Kumho’s name came up again but chairman Park Seong-yong was more interested in classical music and didn’t want to own a baseball team. POSCO wanted to but they were broke. The other companies weren’t interested. And then there was the princes’ rebellion.
SA: Gotta love these names, huh?
JT: This sounds like something from the Business Wars podcast.
SA: Basically, complete with people actually dying. Hyundai’s chairman Chung Ju-young was dying at the time, so Chung Mong-koo split a bunch of companies off and acquired Hyundai-Kia. He originally wanted to buy the Unicorns but the Tigers were cheaper so he bought them instead. Because Kia owned the Asia Motors factory in Gwangju they could buy the team according to regionalization rules. But in order to satisfy the regulators and the rest of the family, a whole bunch of team swapping went down and the Busan basketball team moved to Ulsan, the Jeonbuk soccer team went to Hyundai Motors, and the volleyball team got traded to Hyundai Capital and became the Skyhawks.
JT: Damn! They swapped teams around like pokemon cards .
SA: Even though they got a new sponsor, the Tigers kinda struggled for a while. They made the playoffs the first year and a few more times but didn’t win the chip again until 2009.
JT: That was the 7 game series, right?
SA: Yeah and the last in Mudeung. It was also their first since Coach Kim left at the end of 2000. That was quite the monkey they got off their back.
JT: They probably should’ve gotten rid of him after the Hawaii Rebellion.
SA: Their next coach had his flaws too. Remember the bread brouhaha?
JT: Sometimes I wonder about this team. They sound more like a movie team.
SA: Anyway, the team struggled afterwards, but won it all once again in 2017.
JT: That was Lee Beom-ho’s last championship as a player. He won it again with Kia in ‘24 but as a first time manager.
SA: And that’s a good time to start talking about the players! Hopefully they’ve stopped slapping each other.
JT: Polymarket gives that a 6 to 1 chance. *Joke sting*
MAYBE HOW WE became KIA TIger fans before we go into the history (from the top)
Famous Kia Players
(Talk about 2 players each you remember well or you think the audience should know well. Steve chooses Lee Beom Ho and Socrates)
SA: Let’s talk about some famous Tigers! Kia’s had quite a few popular ones.
JT: We could dedicate whole episodes to some of them, but we ain’t got time for that.
SA: I’m going to start with Lee Beom Ho, aka the Grand Slam Man! He has the record for most grand slams in KBO history.
JT: My all time favorite KIA player, notice I said player and not coach. (so far he reminds of a Kim Gi Tae or as I like to call him a Kim Gi Terrible and just lucked into a Korean Series Championship) As a player I remember he hit one in game 5 of the Korean series off Dustin Nippert.
SA: He also had the record for most home runs in the playoffs, until Park Byeong Ho overtook him.
JT: What else is he famous for?
SA: He started his career in 2000 with the Eagles, which of course didn’t win anything, but he won 2 golden gloves while there.
JT: The media started calling him Flower Beom-Ho because he resembled Oh Ji-heon on Gag Concert.
SA: He went to Japan for a season, then joined Kia in 2011. He’s one of their big names that didn’t go through the Honam system like a lot of their Haitai era players.
JT: That was because of the regional restrictions back then, right?
SA: Yes indeed Mr. J! Imagine if MLB or NFL started during Vietnam or something and the teams were only allowed to draft within 200 miles of the stadium.
JT: Arizona would love it! New York…maybe not so much with 5 competing teams to outbid.
SA: Things were way more regionalized in the 80s in Korea. Anyway, Lee didn’t resign with his team due to contract issues and Kia swooped him up. With Kia, he hit 169 home runs including the Korean series grand slam, and ended his career with 340, putting him in the top 15 in the league.
JT: He would have had more if his hamstring didn’t give him problems.
SA: Unlike other KIA players, Lee is now a coach and he coached the Tigers to the championship in 2024. I’d say that’s a pretty impressive career arc.
JT: The fans would be more impressed today if he told his players to stop swinging at balls in the dirt.
SA: And tell his pitching staff to stop walking so many batters. Anyway, who have you got?
JT: One of the 2 wall of farmers you see at Champions field #18“The National Treasure" himself Son Dong Yeol famous for his wicked slider and at the time a nice fastball
SA: Korean Cy Young?
JT: basically
SA:He had a career ERA of 1.20 in 3 seasons was sub 1.00 ERA over 11 seasons, 3-time mvp
JT: Also had a stint in Japan Chunichi Dragons from 96-99 mostly as a closer with 10-4 record and 98 saves and a miserable 2.70 ERA what a bum in Japan
SA: What are some of his famous games?
JT: The one that impressed me the most and will never happen again in modern day baseball is the 15 inning marathon game against heated rival pitcher choi dong won, Sun threw 232 pitches to dong wons 209 pitches after a merely short 5 hours they ended in a tie.
SA: If only they had MLB extra innings, what could have been?
JT: He also was a coach
SA AS a tigers coach very forgettable and almost legacy tarnishing among tigers fans, but he did win the 2018 Asian world cup as the head coach of the national team
JT: Helping get some players out of military duty, now we will get out of my Sun Dong yeol rant. It’s your turn again. Who you got this time?
SA: My next player is Socrates Brito. He’s the one with the catchy theme song. It was my landlord’s ringtone. He’s an outfielder from Dominican Republic who played for the Tigers for 2 years, but before that he was in Major League baseball. He took a year off during COVID because his brother died of it. He signed with Kia in 22, played well in the first half but injured his nose and his production declined. Next season he also had an up & down season with injuries but he played well, then in 2024 he struggled a bit and the team even thought about trading him. But things worked out well later in the season and he helped them win a championship.
JT: Hitting 300 with 5 RBIs certainly helped.
SA: After 24, Kia brought in Wisdom, and Socrates went to play in the DR.
JT: Fundamentally speaking, what was his biggest impact on the team?
SA: That theme song of his with the back beat from Timmy Trumpet. Man it got the fans going! It became pretty popular for a while.
JT: (say something about the song)
SA: And now we wrap it up with your choice. Who’s our last Kia Player?
JT: Fairly recent history KIA fan, Hopefully retiring soon Yang Hyeon Jong the 2017 Korea Series MVP and Regular Seasons.
SA: I actually have a signed ball from him!
JT: Complete Game shut-out Game 2 of that series
SA: He was one of the clinchers in game 5 too.
JT: wife 7 months pregnant at home/bar starting Yang chants where were you?
SA: I saw much of the series at home. How about during the regular season?
JT: Absolutely dominant Regular season 20-6 193.1 innings, 3.44 ERA 158 strikeouts. inning eater.
SA: Didn’t he go to the Texas Rangers for a year?
JT: Mostly as a reliever. home saw him pitch against the Yankees
Kia’s current roster
SA: Let’s talk about the current Kia roster. They had an injury replacement come in from Mexico last week, but also still have their two ace foreign pitchers.
JT: Former ACE/ and coming back to earth
SA: How so?
JT: Naile had a dominant two years (RIFFING possible injury)
SA: He could still be affected by the jaw injury from 2024. How about Oller:
JT: Started the year off hot but has come back down to earth the past two starts
SA :Any favorite current players?
JT
SA: Also some good news about the roster. They get Kwak Do-gyu, their hard throwing relief pitcher back. He had elbow surgery last year and he’s just started pitching in the Future’s league according to Osen Online.
JT: About time! Kia’s pitching staff needs all the help it can get.
SA: That bad huh? Lemme look at the stats *typing sounds* Hmmm, 4 point 61 era and only 5 saves with 36 jacks so far. Yeah… they gonna need every arm available.
Champions Field
SA: Now it's time to talk about the home of the Tigers, Champions Field. It opened in 2014 replacing Mudeung. I actually went on a tour of the stadium just before it opened. It can hold about 27,000 and has an outfield grass picnic area with a sandlot out in right field. In right-center there's a home run zone with a new model Kia stuck on a platform.
JT: Yeah when players hit the car with a home run, they get the car. Socrates won two, Choi Hyeong-woo as well and so did Na Seong-beom. However there is a curse with this in whomever wins a car, the player or team will slump or get injured. Choi Hee-seop and Tucker were two who are said to be cursed.
SA: I wonder how much Kia pays to shamans to dispel the curse? It's bad for business.
JT: Man I'm not worried about the curse! I could sell it the next day then it's that schmucks problem!
SA: Like they did in the ring movies! *laughing* Here’s the keys, no refunds!
JT: You have to successfully hit with runners on and no bunting 7 times in 7 games or the creepy hair lady will break your back. *Joke sting*
SA: KBO difficulty level: impossible. Anyway, champions field has very short foul lines and injuries have occurred when players ran into the walls. New Tigers and rookies sometimes misjudge how much space they really have.
JT: You'd figure they would build out Challengers field the same way to give the rookies some practice. But that would require attention to detail.
SA: At least with Champions Field, they don’t have as many blind spots as Hanwha field does. You can see almost everything except some foul territory most of the field.
JT: One of the things you can see there is when Kia goes to the bullpen, they drive the relief pitcher onto the field in their newest car line. But they don’t turn on the Aircon for him.
SA: Why not? It be hot in them cars!
JT: Don’t want to cool them off before getting on the mound. Besides, it’s only 30 seconds. It’s not like he’s picking up coffee for the infield. *Joke sting*
SA: A pity Kia doesn’t have a flying car line. Now that would be a dramatic entrance. But speaking of coffee, what are the food options? I recall a few places in my various visits like the pretzel shop.
JT: They got the usuals like burgers, chicken, mandu, and now a taco stand.
SA: A taco stand? It is just like home.
JT: TACO STAND! I need to get out of my seat more at the gameThey also have Papa Johns for some reason.
SA: They still around, huh? I thought they were gone.
JT: Imagine if they left. Who would fill in for the 30 dollar pizza space?
SA: It’d be funny if Alleyway took it.
JT: *laughing* I don’t know if they’d see it as a blessing or a curse.
SA: Anyway, if you ever get a chance to get into the luxury Sky box, they have car seats on the balcony. They come from their newest line of cars.
JT: I haven’t seen anyone do it yet but I bet some fans start holding their hands at 2 & 10 out of habit phone still blocking their vision.
SA: Like they about to park the car *joke sting*` Old habits die hard.
JT: We’ve also got some Champions Field stories from some of our friends! First up was in 2017, 3 of our friends got fake media passes and snuck into a Korean Series game while heckling the opposing pitchers behind their bullpen. Thankfully I was lucky enough to get tickets too the old fashion way.
SA: Oh, the good ole’ foreigner card! *joke sting* Gotta love the security here!
JT: Gary Carter sure had a good time the university girl checking passes had no chance of denying world series hero like him! When did he die, again?
SA: 2012! They really don’t do obituaries out here that often.
JT: If I didn't have tickets I think I could’ve snuck in as well! I look like a scout.
SA: I could pretend to be Barry Larkin. We kinda look alike.
JT: How would they know the difference? Not a lot of Reds fans here. Hell, I could pretend to be Fernando Valenzuela!
SA: One of our former teammates had a memory to share of being in the skybox. The Tigers struggled all game. Fans around him started leaving, then Kia rallied late and won on a Brett Prill homerun. He was the player with the McFly theme song.
JT: Yeah they called him Pill the whole season.
SA: *laughing* Yeah, take your medicine, closers *joke sting*.
Mudeung Stadium Memories
JT: Speaking of old things, we’re going to talk about Kia’s former stadium called Mudeung. Mudeung was fully torn down a few years ago but there is still a baseball field there.
SA: Mudeung was the team home from the 80s to 2014. I went to a few games there in its later years.
JT: Any interesting memories?
SA: OK so one year I was there, they didn’t have a lot of netting around the sides. Foul balls would zip into the crowd. One game I went to I saw an old guy try to catch a line drive and got nailed in the chest and he went down like he took a 12 gauge of buckshot to the chest.
JT: Damn!
SA: Later in the game I saw him get stretchered out and I thought well damn! I better bring my glove to the game or that might be me! Also, while I didn’t see the fans dancing on the cheerleader stage like in the documentary, I occasionally saw an old woman fan who liked to get the crowd going. I heard she was quite famous for that.
JT: (say something about the granny fan) joke question
SA: Why?
JT: Answer to corny joke plus commentary what else about the old stadium?
SA: Also, they had tables behind home plate that were reasonably priced so after midterms I would take my test papers to the game and grade them as I watched the game. I think the SBS sports crew thought I was a scout or something. My students say they saw me on TV at least once doing that.
JT: *laughing* I bet they were saying oh no I hope Kia plays well so he’s in a good mood and more forgiving.
SA: Oh Lopez gave up a home run! Fs for everyone in class 212! *Joke sting* Anyway, while I wasn’t there for it, the Hanky had an article on their English side about rowdy Gwangju fans and there were two photos of a foreign fan eating nachos when 5 ball hungry fans dogpiled over her to get a ball. Her nachos got all over her pants and the second picture is of her going HEY what the fuck? And one of the ball fans going “sorry sorry”!
JT: I would’ve thrown the rest of my nachos at them.
SA: What are some things you remember from Mudeung?
JT:The not so kid friendly outfield
SA:What do you mean?
JT: They had the nice cement bleachers I guess you call them, you could bring a cooler declare your seat and teach koreans how to heckle the outfielders of the opposing team ( I miss those days) Now its too family friendly
SA:Ah yes they have the children’s playground under the scoreboard and a small sandbox in rightfield
JT:Just needs a hagwon and the parents will be thrilled
SA: Safe to say your days of heckling outfielders are over,
JT: Depends on the beer intake and the crowd
SA: To date, I haven’t heard any fans say they liked Mudeung more than Champions, but I haven’t heard any that said very bad things about it. Have you?
JT: consider me old fashioned but I miss the old outfield seats, but as a family man now I supposed its time to grow up and be happy with the playground to watch me kids, but tough trade off jungle gym babysitter or heckling.
Sports Update *breaking glass sound*
SA: Got some late breaking sports news for ya! A quick update on a recent story involving Badminton legend An Se-yeong. Recently the BWF Regular Congress decided to change the game length from 3 rounds of 21 points to 3 rounds 15 points with a 2 point victory margin until 21 points are reached. The federation’s idea is to reduce the wear and tear on players, but as noted in the Chosun Daily, this puts An Se-yeong at a slight disadvantage as a lot of her game strategy relies on late game focus and wearing out her opponents with her superior stamina. Maybe she eats a lot of hongeo soup *joke sting*? Ahn herself has said she doesn’t mind the change. This whole situation reminds me of the defensive 3 second rule in the NBA to stop Shaq. Anyway, we will have to stay tuned and see what happens.
Worst Persons (if any)
Bulhwa/Flouride Award:
SA: Our first award for dumbassery this week is the Bulhwa or Fluoride award which goes to…LG Twins for blowing a 4 to 3 lead on April 29th, making me so mad I threw my test papers all over the train.
JT: It can’t be that bad, can it?
SA: Oh trust me it is! LG had already blown one lead in the 7th against KT.
JT: They lost Yu Young-chan their best closer, so not a surprise.
SA: But they went to the 10th and took the lead on an Austin Dean base hit. I figured it was all over and told Dreads on his live stream that there was NO WAY LG would blow this game and I would throw my papers up if they did.
JT: You know you can’t rely on a KBO bullpen! That’s why Lopez would argue and refuse to leave games.
SA; Yeah I should have seen it coming. Anyway, LG gave up three walks but brought in Kim Young-woo and I thought, man no way KTs coming back. NOPE!
JT: NOPE! A double to left field and 2 runs scored to win the game.
SA: And up went my papers! The train conductor shook his head and walked off. Guess he knew.
JT: He had to. He’s seen some shit. He knows that look.
SA: The look of a bulhwa award winner.
Radon:
SA: The Radon award goes to…. LG Sakers and JUNG KWAN JANG Red Boosters for failing to advance to the basketball finals. They were the #1 and #2 seeds and they got wrecked! This is what happens when you get too used to beating up bad teams!
JT: The Red Boosters should’ve taken their own products *joke sting*
SA: I don’t think all the ginseng in the world could have saved them from piss-poor defense and 28.5 percent from 3.
JT: Their rebounding was also pretty ass too, huh?
SA: Unfortunately so. LG put up a much better fight but had 2nd half collapses one after another.
JT: What happened to Carl Tamayo and Assem? Aren’t they the best on the team?
SA: Not this series. They held Carl and Assem to under 50 points total in all 3 games. And everyone around them were decent but not good enough to keep up with Sono’s aggressive play.
JT: And they couldn’t hit 3s either huh?
SA: No, they were able to keep up with Sono in that department. It was their free throw shooting in the last game that sank them.
JT: Should’ve gone to the granny style then.
SA: When you’re 61% from the line in a do or die game 3, yeah! So now the championship will be between #5 Egis and #6 Skygunners. I just heard the Sono song while writing the script and whoo it is not one for the streets.
JT: On a scale of 1 to 10 how much cringe per minute?
SA: I couldn’t finish it! It started with DeepFlow chanting We are winners! Winners blah blah blah. And I’m like, y’all were in 9th place until round 4. You were not winners until the playoffs and last year you were ass.
JT: So thanks to LG and KT dropping the ball, we’re stuck with the most mid finals in years. The overrated super team in Busan vs the Goyang cringe lords. It’s a basketball apocalypse.
SA: That’s why both teams are getting the Radon Award.
JT: I bet the plutonium winner is going to be a rough one.
Plutonium:
SA: The plutonium award goes to… Bucheon Hana Bank senior coach Jung Sun-min for sexually inappropriate remarks made to the same player multiple times. According to reports in the Joongang Daily, Jung made an inappropriate remark against a Hana Bank player on April 16 during a team event. The player complained to the team and the team investigated, finding that she made similar remarks to the same player during the season.
JT: I take it they fired her, huh?
SA: Not exactly. She left the team at the end of the season anyway. But the WKBL has mentioned a follow-up discussion with the team regarding the matter.
JT: Man, what a terrible end for the Basket Queen.
SA: Yeah she did it all. Led her team to the semifinals in the olympics, first Korean player in the WNBA for half a season, won MVP 7 times in the WKBL, coached team Korea to 75 point blowouts against the USA but later won the bronze in the Asian Games in 2023.
JT: But most importantly her team beat North Korea.
SA: And then she was let go after that. Seems like she picked up some bad habits from that experience.
JT: Star players don’t make the best coaches. That’s why you don’t see MJ on the bench anywhere.
Stars of the game segment (if any)
SA: Time for our much more positive segment Stars of the game! Speaking of WKBL, a legend retired last month! Center Bae Hye-yoon retires after 19 years in the WKBL. Nicknamed Badridge," after the retired NBA player LaMarcus Aldridge because she focused on steals more than defense and had crisp passing. She started with the Cool Cats then got traded to Woori and helped them start their dynasty with a championship. After that season she got traded to Yongin where she stayed for 13 seasons and one championship. This year her team went to the playoffs but got swept by KB in the finals. Here’s a toast to you, Mrs. Bae! May your next career be just as fun! Who you got, Mr. J?
JT: You’re gonna laugh when you hear this one. There’s a tennis played called 안유진 who’s ranked 9 hundred 36 in the world and plays for South Chungcheong. She won a match in Goyang last week and it got covered by Czech sports site Live Sports which also runs FlashScore. They put her picture up on the app…but… it wasn’t her. It was 안유진.
SA: That’s her, isn’t it?
JT: Of I’ve the Kpop girl group.
SA: Whoooops! 헐!
JT: They couldn’t find a real picture of her?
SA: Must’ve been their AI agent that put the photo there.
JT: Someone wasn’t paying attention. Anyway, Kpop star Yu Jin had some fun with it and posted photos of herself in a sports shirt and playing with tennis balls with the caption Do you like tennis?
SA: I wonder how the tennis player feels about the mixup?
JT: She probably sees it as a compliment. Not every day you get confused with a Kpop star. Here’s to you Ahn Yu Jin, and the Kpop star too!
SA: Lucky her. I’d probably get confused with the hipster jihadist if I didn’t shave for 6 months. *joke sting*
GOTW
JT: It’s the weekend Mr. S! What’s on the schedule that’s worth our time?!
SA: First up is Korea’s Pro wrestling event Wrestle Nation 2 tomorrow May 9 at KBS Arena! Their last big event drew 3 thousand and they’re thinking this could draw more. Nic Nemeth from the WWE will be there too. You can get tickets from 60 to 100k at ticketlink.
JT: Is it on TV or Youtube? Their promos usually are.
SA: None of their posters or links said anything about live stream so if you can’t make it you can watch highlights on their YouTube channel.
JT: What’s your number two this week?
SA: Game 3 and game 4 of the KBL playoffs this weekend. I mentioned how they got here, so now it’s time to watch them and see who wins. Game 3 is 2pm in Busan and Game 4 is at 430pm. What’s your pick this weekend?
JT: You stole all the good ones I know this is hwating sports and it is Korea based talk show but for my pride of my American hometown game of the week tomorrow morning Korea time game 2 Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal Canadians
SA:15 years of no playoffs, so I'll give it to you.
JT: Thankfully I was born into the KBO KIA TIGER dynasty at the ripe age of 24! Also Kia is playing at bottom scraper Lotte so this is a good chance to get back into the playoff fight. Watch some hockey in the morning and some baseball in the afternoon.
Ending
Copy ending from previous episode
A shoutout to our listeners in Lehi Utah! Home of the…. of the… Well OK they have a rodeo, and that’s about it. No wonder I’m popular there! Gotta have something fun to listen to while you chase cows around! *joke sting* We will return on the 22nd and I’ll be covering the Twins and Bears and Jamsil stadium! May you lasso them cows, Korean Sports fans!
(AI voice) Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast get frozen meals from Grahams’ frozen surprises! You can’t go wrong with Graham’s menagerie of frozen goods like last year’s kimchi rice, last month’s chicken cutlet surprise, and the centerpiece; sketchy asian restaurant take-out! You can smell the savory flavors from miles away! (increase speed) Not safe for human consumption!
Notes
Ex-basketball coach accused of making sexist remarks against player
‘굿바이 삼성생명의 기둥’ 정든 코트 떠나는 배혜윤, 그녀가 걸어온 19년 커리어
KBS Documentary about the league and Kia Tigers
https://m.sports.naver.com/general/article/139/0002246444
Tennis player confused for K-Pop star
15-Point System Challenges An Se-young's Late-Game Dominance