Baseball in Suwon, South Korea (kt wiz)
That’s not a typo in the title. They’re owned by a South Korean telecom company purposefully spelled “kt”, and they wanted to bring the lowercase style to their team, as well.
The kt wiz are located in a relatively nearby city to Seoul, named Suwon. It took about an hour and a half to get to the park, which isn’t too bad on public transportation. They were going up against yet another team from Seoul, the Nexen Heroes.
This was the second ballpark I have been to, so far. At the end of the season, I’ll be able to do a write up of all of the teams within context of each other. But for this piece, I’ll be almost directly be comparing them with the Doosan Bears experience. The two teams do provide different experiences for sure, as Doosan is an established brand and kt is an upstart guppy trying to come into their own.
What I noticed immediately after my arrival was that there wasn’t much tailgating involved with this ballpark. After I arrive, I normally take a couple of laps of the stadium to get a feel for the atmosphere. At Jamsil Stadium (Doosan/LG), I have normally found people everywhere camped out with picnic blankets, drinks, and chicken. Here at kt wiz park, it almost felt like a ghost town. There wasn’t much pregame activity, besides some families outside of the outfield gates on blankets. By the outfield it wasn’t a party atmosphere, just parents sitting with their kids and enjoying the day. This wouldn’t change either, as we got closer to game time. Most of the action was occurring inside of the stadium, but the ridiculously drunk atmosphere that’s typically associated with Korean Baseball wasn’t to be found.
No matter, I was able to secure a nice seat in the cheering section. But, before the game started I wanted to explore the stadium and what the kt wiz park had to offer.
As far as food goes, this park was noticeably different than my last experience. Jamsil stadium has food options littered outside of the stadium, and features many familiar brands and chains. At the kt wiz park, it wasn’t necessarily the case. There were a few authentic concession stands, and the only big chains there were Pizza Hut and Lotteria. There were also the typical Korean Baseball staples, such as dried squid and gimbap, but I bought three items that stood out to me at a baseball game.
The first thing I bought came from a Korean chain that is around but is much more rare than the others. They specialize in a more traditional form of Korean fast food, which is a rice burger. Here, the rice is so sticky they can actually make burger buns from them, and in the middle it’s made of customizable meats, cheese, and sauce. I’ve had this before and felt that it would really hit the spot. Their options were more limited than a typical location however, and I only had the choice of kimchi or chicken, egg, and mayo. I took the chicken, and for about $4.50 it was some decent value. But, I was disappointed to see they abandoned the rice burger novelty of their dish. They served it in a bowl and decided to mix up all of the ingredients, so be warned.
I was also really surprised to see a “Mexican” food stand at the park. Mexican food is here, but not common in Korea, especially if you’re outside of Seoul. This place sold tacos, quesadillas, and burritos. I ordered what was possibly the smallest burrito I’ve ever seen for $6.50. Coming from a Mexican American background, I’m very passionate about burritos, and felt the opportunity to enjoy one at a Korean ball game was too good to pass up. Alas, it wasn’t up to par. I cannot tell you why, but this stand felt that coleslaw was a solid addition to add to their burrito; it wasn’t. So, I reluctantly finished the burrito and looked for one last piece of snack satisfaction.
My last choice of food was a welcome surprise, however. If there’s one thing the kt wiz can do better than Jamsil, it’s their hot dogs. In Korea, a typical hot dog is thought of as a different concept, which is something that resembles more of a corn dog. It’s always battered, fried, and on a stick. A pure sausage and bread, piece can be hard to find, unless you’re at kt wiz park in Suwon. There was a real hot dog stand that offered franks in many different types of varieties. My choice ultimately ended being an egg, bacon, and cheese dog with a 500ml hite beer. The hot dog was $5.00, and the beer was $3.50, for a total of $8.50. Just to be clear, they were still selling liters of the same brand of beer for $4.50 at convenience stores located in the concourse as well. Also, I paid about $11 for the same 500ml cup of hite, back when I visited Dodger Stadium. It really can’t be understated how much reasonable prices can enhance the fan experience. With beer and a hot dog taking up both my hands, it was time to head to my seat and enjoy the game.
With the lack of rampant pre-drinking going on outside of the stadium, it was a bit predictable that the crowd wouldn’t be as rowdy as others. Still, there were enough fans to fill up the cheering sections, and I was sitting in a central part of it all. My main mindset was to feel the pulse of team and get the real feel for their energy.
The fans were not as raucous as fans from the more traditional teams in the league. The team is very new comparatively, and it’s clear that they have a ways to go before traditions and icons are established. The team is also having a rough first few seasons, so it’s understandable that fan engagement isn’t through the roof. This was a good night for them, however. They were able to put up 5 runs early, and the fans were treated to nice and simple victory over the Nexen Heroes.
There was a promotion supporting one of their rookies, Kang Baek-ho. This kt “wizkid” is eighteen years old, and it tearing up the league. They call him “the tiger”, so tiger masks were handed out to the entire cheering section. When he came up to bat, everybody put them on and started growling. The kids especially were going nuts with this.
Of course, as with any other KBO event, there were mid-inning games that kept the people going. Instead of the beer chugging contest that happens at Doosan games, the kt wiz have a beer chugging camera. It’s similar to a dance cam that’s at most sports games, but here if you make it to the jumbotron you have to chug your beer. A lot of paper cups were finished, but what really impressed me was when a fan managed to chug his entire liter of beer for the crowd, what a stud. Another game that was interesting to watch, and much more family friendly was a rock-scissor-paper cam. They had pre-recorded mascot on the screen and if a fan was lucky enough to be picked, they would countdown and throw down. Every single person lost, no ties. I don’t even know how that’s possible with about seven people in a row, but life goes on for them, I guess.
As far as KBO teams go, kt wiz are the new kids on the block. The team was founded in 2013, and it’s apparent they are still working their way through the growing pains. The huge crowds and icons aren’t there for them yet, but they are a team with some potential. At the game, you’re not going to find a lot of die hard fans, but you will find a lot of families enjoying the game with their kids. It’s apparent that they have a family-friendly model that’s attracting fans that want a relaxing afternoon with their kids. For them, that’s a great model to adopt in the early stages. The KBO is a tradition here in South Korea. You adopt a team from your parents, and grow with them. Having an atmosphere that’s kid-friendly in the present will be one that is passionate and loyal in the future. These kids are going to grow up one day, and when they do they will have been going to kt wiz games for over twenty years. They’re small now, but this is a team on the rise, without a doubt. If you want to join them for the ride, now’s the time. There’s going to be plenty of room on the bandwagon for years to come.
