You’ll cheer at this must-do event (and have no idea why)

Baseball is a mystery to me. There are bases, and a ball, and the rest is largely unknown. I’ve never cared to investigate further because I’m about as far from a sports fan as you can get. The mass hysteria has never appealed to me and much like other flag-waving, uniform-wearing events, I tend to view them with a healthy amount of suspicion.

Despite this, the first thing I tell anyone who is planning to visit Seoul is that they absolutely, non-negotiably, must go to a baseball match.

Korea is to baseball what the ’70s were to disco, a riot of singing, synchronised dancing and pants that are too tight. It’s a place where inhibitions are thrown to the wind and even if you know nothing about baseball, you’re in for one hell of a good time.

If you’re going to a baseball match in Korea, chances are you’re going to watch it in Jamsil (pronounced jam-shill) Stadium. It’s the beating heart of baseball in Seoul and the home stadium of the Doosan Bears and the LG Twins.

Now, as a foreigner, you’re not going to be able to buy tickets for a baseball match online. Not unless you use a third-party booking system, which I try to avoid whenever possible. You’re better off turning up to Jamsil Stadium on the day and buying tickets from the gate.

At times, this can feel daunting. The queues are long and there is plenty of that aforementioned mass hysteria. Know that these queues move quickly, and as long as you’re happy in the nosebleeds, you will, eventually, get your tickets, along with some free merch from K-pop idols in baseball outfits.

If you want to get better seats, there is a current “hack” going around about a booth for “digitally disadvantaged foreigners”, which is one of the most Korean sentences I’ve read. They set aside desirable tickets for people with foreign passports who don’t have the luxury of purchasing them online.

However, desirability is relative, and while these seats might give you great views of first and third base, they put you on the wrong side of what is called the “exciting zone”, which, in my opinion, is far more entertaining than whatever is happening on the field.

This exciting zone (or orange zone, as the seats are orange on the seating map) is where good times abound, a place that combines Korea’s love of booze, karaoke and choreographed dance moves. It’s an extravaganza that makes you an extension of the cheer squad as you’re dragged along by a professional hype man, an enigmatic master of ceremonies who conducts the crowd whenever their team comes out to bat.

You’ll cheer, without a clue who you’re cheering for. You’ll sing, despite not knowing any of the words. And you’ll dance, even though you haven’t danced since that wedding you went to ages ago.

Compared with the joy I found in those stands, the baseball was irrelevant. And it doesn’t matter whether you sit with the home or the away team, you just want to get as close to the orange seats as possible. Sometimes it’s even better to sit with the away team, as I discovered during a match against the Lotte Giants.

The Lotte Giants are renowned for having the wildest, rowdiest fans in Korean baseball. Think less “hooligans” and more “we inflate orange plastic bags and wear them on our heads” sort of thing. Their cheering section was bonkers. Watching it was the closest thing I’ve experienced to the scene in The Two Towers when the Uruk-hai arrive at Helm’s Deep.

It’s also worth mentioning that unlike any stadium you’ll find in Australia, Jamsil doesn’t gouge your eyes out. You can get affordable Korean pocha snacks and the beers will set you back only the remarkable stadium price of 3500 won ($3.80).

Like I said, I don’t know anything about baseball, and after watching two matches at Jamsil Stadium, I think I know even less.

What I do know, however, is that if there was ever a chance for me to become a sports fan, then I would become a KBO League fan, and I’m almost certain you will too.

THE DETAILS

FLY
There are non-stop flights to Seoul from Sydney with Jetstar, T’way Air, Korean Air and Asiana.

BASEBALL
Tickets to the baseball can be purchased for as little as 8000 won ($8.90). For the KBO League schedule, see eng.koreabaseball.com/

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The writer travelled at his own expense.