I really like the way they do things in the KBO as far as their playoff format. The 3rd and 4th place teams slug it out in a best of 5 to play the 2nd place team in a best of 5 and the winner of that takes on a very well rested season champion in the Korea Series. That well rested champion was Kia this year. They sat back and watched while the Doosan Bears beat a feisty Lotte Giant club 3 games to 1. Then they got a 2-0 lead on SK. I was shocked given the finish SK had! They hadn't lost two games in like two MONTHS! But SK came back to win the next three.
So as expected it's the SK Wyverns vs. the Kia Tigers in the Korea Series. The first two games were Tigers home games in Gwangju. OF COURSE I went to see them, right? Nope. I ended up going to my friends' restaurant grand opening that weekend. (which was this past weekend). I had a great time though! Met some nice folks and I was very impressed with the restaurant the Jackson family has set up. It's a breakfast restaurant in the Peng San area. That's near Pyeong Taek. I think they'll do all right. Likely within 6 months there'll be 4 or 5 copycats down the street. Already several people have said they were "thinking about" doing that...
Above is a pic of Moodeung Stadium, the Kia Tigers home field, as I went by in a taxi on the day of the first game of the KBO finals. Known as the Korea Series. I went to about 30 home games this year so I'm pretty comfortable in old Moodeung. It was about 1 in the afternoon when I passed by and already the crowd was REALLY thick for the game at 6 in the evening. I think I'm probably lucky I didn't try to go.
It was good to see the family again and I even went to church with them. A nice cozy, little church that sings songs that I remember from MY church-going days. The pastor is a retired military man and his sermon was on something that has been coming up again and again lately for me. It's not something good. It's the idea that when the shit hits the fan, don't sweat it cuz it just makes you stronger. It actually says that we are to "count it all JOY when we fall into divers temptations and persevere." That's in the Bible. Maybe not exactly like that, but it's there, man. Trust me.
I've been struggling with a supervisor who is doing his best to make things as tough as he can for me. He told me I could teach at camps during vacations, that I'd get my own private internet in my room, and that I'd be getting a raise so I make the bare minimum salary here in Korea:2 million won a month. All three were contract promises and all three were lies. It's VERY hard to count that kind of stuff JOY! Kicking his scrawny, spineless, prevaricating ASS would be a joy though. But not very Christian of me. Just one of the divers temptations I have to power through.
Also this semester, AS ALWAYS, he gave me my schedule without classroom numbers and as always I went to a couple of the wrong classrooms and taught at least one class full of students who sat there for 20-30 minutes before telling me I was in the wrong room. But because this happens every single time I had asked my supervisor if he was absolutely positive of the room numbers cuz they didn't sound correct to me. He assured me, (lied to my face), that they were correct.
Then this past week during midterm exams I had 3 of my 4 exams scheduled at the same time: Monday at 10 AM. The one exam that wasn't conflicting with any others was, of course, the exam for my supervisor's class, the flight attendants. Since I knew what to expect if I asked him to help with the other conflicts, I solved the problems on my own by going to the various offices of the three other departments I teach. Between the deans of the physiotherapy and dental assistant departments we were able to hammer out a revised schedule so that dental was at 9 and physio was at 10. I couldn't find the dean of the E.M.T. program so I arranged with the students to have the exam at noon on Monday. My supervisor assumed I wouldn't be able to do this, (because he thinks his job is actually hard), and he sent me a message around 11 saying, "EMERGENCY! Your class is waiting for you! Where are you?" I called him back and said, "Relax they know the exam is at 12." Sure enough they all showed up at 12. This PISSED my supervisor off!
That's what I'm dealing with here. And there are dozens of other stories I could tell. In fact scroll down my archives and read. You'll find some of them. But it has been really good recently to be talking with some of my friends about this very subject. I have actually been encouraging OTHERS to stay positive in the midst of trials and tribulations and now it's ME who has to take my own advice. I wrote a letter today to my supervisor's supervisor explaining what a jagoff he's been but because I have a pretty sweet deal here, (all things considered), and I like the hours, my students, my long vacations and I don't have a wife or kids so don't need a ton of money, I'm still happy. I'd better just accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. I haven't sent the letter to anyone although I have the email of the guy who could probably fire my supervisor's ass. I don't think I will either. Why fix what ain't too badly broke?
But back to baseball. I'm hoping I don't have to use this strategy with the Tigers although, here I go. The Tigers won the first two games. Aquilino Lopez, (a former Blue Jay hurler), started game one for the Tigers and I have to admit, I am BLOWN AWAY by how well he's done this year! Early in the season I said he'd probably crap out and be sent home. But he's not only stuck around, he's become one of the best pitchers in the league. He's now known for getting stronger as the games go on. He's the one and ONLY pitcher on the Kia staff that the coach leaves in past the 7th inning because around about that time he's virtually unhittable. I saw some stats on a broadcast that were astounding! Like opponents' batting average after the 6th inning is like .090 or something ridiculous like that! So he pitched game one. He pitched 8 innings giving up 6 hits including one solo homer. It worked out to 3 runs. Not spectacular but it was as dry as the Sahara Desert for the SK hitters on the night. They're not used to that kind of low production.
The offensive hero of the night for the Tigers was the veteran Lee Jong Beom. Everybody's favourite player. He's been around for ages here in Gwangju. The people of Gwangju know him as "The Son of the Wind", (I think it's "Param Adeul" in Korean), for one season when he hit .393, stole 84 bases and got 196 hits. (He was only caught stealing 15 times.) But that was back in 1994! Nobody expected him to star out now, but he had a good season this year and even at 38 he's producing in the playoffs. On a night when the Tigers only got 6 hits, he got two of them and they were clutch hits that earned him 3 R.B.I.'s and were the difference in the game. The final score was 5-3 for Kia. I watched the game at Scott and Minju's new restaurant. They have a big screen there. It wasn't open yet, (they were setting things up while I watched), but next day was opening day.
Above is a pic of the restaurant interior and the TV upon which I watched this historic game. That's Alex in the foreground. Because Peng Sang has a big military presence he got an American quarter and flipped it over to the heads side and asked me, "Uncle Dave, that's Barack Obama, right?" If you blow the pic up you might be able to read the extensive menu. It's mouthwatering. You can also see it in the pic on the right.
On opening day, Scott was all by himself in the kitchen cooking for an army of friends and family that ALL showed up at once. A nightmare for ANY restaurant never mind one that hasn't cooked a single meal yet. But he did admirably. There were even some walk-in customers but it was, of course, too slow for most because of the huge backlog brought on by the festivities. The customers understood. I think.
I couldn't get a picture of Scott. He was a blur in the kitchen making waffles, bacon, eggs, French toast, you wouldn't believe the menu. I wish I could post it but I lost the site. It's online. He takes phone-in orders too. That's gonna be popular.
Anyway, it was a long wait for most but for most we didn't care. We were all socializing and enjoying ourselves while Scott whipped up his magic and Min Ju distributed it all and collected the money. I think they're both going to be exponentially happier now that they don't have to teach any more. Not that they won't miss the teaching, but, like me they're gonna LOVE getting rid of the shit that comes with it. Like having to be nice to students' parents who are unreasonable and crappy supervisors and so on.
Here's Jeff, the Jackson's upstairs neighbour, eating the first order. It was the Hungry Human Breakfast. That's what I got too. And trust me you have to be very hungry or not quite human. And here's Minju waiting on tables. I KNOW she's loving every second of this new restaurant!
But back to baseball, Kia and SK played on opening day for "Bacon 'N Eggs": October 17th at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This is closing time for the restaurant. We watched the first inning at the restaurant and the owner of the building came by, took a look and said, "Let's franchise!" Then we went home and watched the rest on TV. ANOTHER big Screen! Scott and Min Ju have done well for themselves in their businesses!
This time, MY favourite pitcher on Kia was pitching: Yoon Suk Min. Internationally for Korea he has the best record, PERIOD! But he's largely overlooked by Koreans. Same thing in the KBO. He's respected but not considered elite. I DO consider him elite and in game two he made the SK hitters his bitches! He scattered 7 hits over 7 innings giving up ZERO runs and striking out 7. The reason he's not a pitching GOD in Korea is because his team never seems to give him run support. He's like a Korean Dave Stieb. Boy THAT'S dating myself! I'd like to date myself. I'm a good guy. Good sense of humour. Not bad looking. A pretty good catch really. Eehhhh anyhooo, Kia only got 5 hits in the game and two of them went to their former major leaguer Choi Hee Seop. He knocked in one run each and that was enough for the win. Very dependable closer Yoo Dong Hoon gave up a homer in the 9th but the final was 2-1. I nearly pooped my pants when the home run was hit in the ninth. I even told Scott, who was in another room, "OH NO! Tie game," because I thought there was another guy on base. But I forgot he had been thrown out on a close play. During the season Yoon Suk Min LOST close games like this because of little tiny mistakes by relief pitchers or fielders or whatever. He didn't have a stellar season this year. He went 9 and 4 with 7 saves during an inexplicable stint as the best pitcher in the league being used as the CLOSER! Man that was frustrating for me! And for him! I think I even saw him purposely trying to be bad so as to be removed from that role. Don't blame him. Anyway, I think he'll get to pitch again and I'm hoping he'll win, it'll be for the championship and I'll be there in Seoul to watch! Maybe, just maybe THEN he'll get the respect he deserves.
On to game three. The scene now switches to Incheon, the home of the SK Wyverns. The starting pitcher for Kia was my personal acquaintance, Rick Guttormson. I met him at a pub in downtown Gwangju. We drank for a while together and chatted a bit. I still don't consider him a "friend" because he said he'd give me a signed ball at the game the next day, but he wasn't the starting pitcher even though he though he would be. So I got no ball. Not HIS fault at all. But I don't know if he'd know me from Adam or not. Next time I drink with him I'll consider him my friend. Then maybe he'll overtake Yoon Suk Min as my favourite pitcher on the team. Unless I happen to meet Lopez... I sat beside Guttormson's younger brother at one game too. Nice guy.
Anyway, he had a VERY uncharacteristically bad outing. He gave up 4 hits in the first 2 innings, which doesn't sound that bad, but he also surrendered 2 walks and by the time he was yanked he'd given up 4 runs including one homer. I've watched him all season and I KNOW he's a bit of a slow starter like most pitchers. His worst innings are the early ones. But because of the shitty internet I have here in the dorms and the TV I used to have that exploded, I was unable to watch the game so I don't know if he should have been pulled or not. I'm guessing NOT. The coach Jo Beom Hyun is far too willing to go to the bullpen even though he's got the best starters in the league. And NOT the best bullpen. Suffice to say the next guy, Seo Jae Eung, (another former major leaguer), gave up 4 runs in the next two innings and the guy who has been the darling of the coach and the scourge of the bullpen for a few seasons: Son Young Min, gave up 3 more in his one inning. The Kia batters piled up 6 runs in a late-inning comeback attempt that Son Young Min made sure fell short. Kim Sang Hyun, the league's shoe-in M.V.P. got two hits, a homer and 4 R.B.I.'s but his efforts were wasted by bad pitching. I'm kinda glad I missed that game. I went for a bracing walk after trying fruitlessly to bring it up on my computer. Probly better for me anyway.
Yesterday was the best game of the series. By remarkably good luck I had enough bandwidth to get the game. The starter for Kia was Yang Hyun Jong who had no wins and 5 losses last year. Also a 5.83 E.R.A. Thing is I remembered him from last year as being a pretty good pitcher. I got him mixed up with Yoon Suk Min a few times. Only he's a lefty. I went to a couple pre-season games this year and he was pitching and he was VERY impressive. The games were VERY boring because of him! That's why I remember.
Not that pre-season usually means anything but I wasn't that surprised to see him bust out this year and have a great season. He went 12 and 5 with a very solid 3.15 E.R.A. And he had a very good outing yesterday as well. He went 5 2/3 giving up only 4 hits. The coach, as usual, pulled him WAY too early. I was watching and he should not have been pulled. Only 88 pitches! He DIDN'T deserve to lose either! He gave up one home run on a 3-0 pitch. What kind of megalomaniac swings at a 3-0 pitch? I mean honestly! That went for two runs. Luckily for the megalomaniac. Then Kim Sang Hyun, (Kia's MVP), hit a ball that probably would have been a homerun if not for a spectacular catch by the SK fielder. I think given the right circumstances this will be the Korean equivalent of "the catch". For those of you who don't know just google it. Dwight Clark would be a virtual unknown otherwise.
Yang struck out 6 and walked only 2 in 6 innings of work. Those are awesome numbers. He just made that one mistake probably thinking, "There's no WAY this guy's gonna swing at an 3 and oh pitch!" Or in Korea, an oh and 3 pitch. And that was all she wrote. Lee Hyun Gon went 3/4 with a homer and Na Ji Weon, (who I really like), got his first hit and RBI but it was all for naught. In the 9th inning with two out the third run for Kia scored on an error. Then 3/3 Lee Hyun Gon stepped up to the plate and hit a solid ball RIGHT AT the shortstop. The real difference in the game was that catch. It would have been a two-run homerun and Kia would have won the game if it were like an inch higher. But it ended as a 4-3 loss for the Tigers.
But, oh well. Count it all joy! Now I know for SURE that there will be a game Friday. Today is an off day while the teams make their ways to Chamshill Stadium in Seoul, (a money-making scheme I really hate), which is one of the few things I don't like about the KBO. I have ONE class tomorrow. A bogus hagwon class that was just piled on to fill out my sched. Probably only one student will show! Because of that I can't go to the game in Seoul tomorrow. Unless I just say fuck it! And nothing against this one guy who shows up but, he's a few sandwiches short of a picnic. He's the REASON the other 40 people dropped out of this class. I don't think it'd be too hard to think something up...
But before I get any idears... there WILL be a game on Friday! So I don't have to neglect my duties here. Even though my beloved employers have already breached the contract 3 times I am STILL going to teach a class of one weirdo rather than be a part of history tomorrow. Count it all joy! See what I mean? There's no doubt in my mind that this theme has arisen at an appropriate time in my life. And although I squawk and squeak like a greasy wheel I really do like my job. So I don't think it'll be too big a downer to miss the game tomorrow. Who knows, maybe there'll be TWO games I can catch in Seoul! And the winner of the Korea series will be Kia and I will be there to watch it! Then this will all sound like useless whining.
But I'll have to keep that in mind while I'm teaching my ONE class at 4 PM tomorrow. Oh to clarify, the game is at 6 PM and it takes 4 hours plus to get to the stadium in Seoul from Gwangju. If not for the one student I'd go. But because of him I can't. I am guessing Lopez will be pitching tomorrow and if he makes it past the early innings before getting the nervous Jo Bum Hyun hook, he'll probably win. Then more than likely it'll be my favourite pitcher Yoon Suk Min on Friday. I can't complain.
So anyway, that's how things are this end. Sorry if you are not a fan of baseball but... I warned you.
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