By Sho Chang Young

Last Tuesday, my old high school friends and I supported the final match of the national high school baseball tournament called the Cheongnyonggi Competition at the Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul. My alma mater, Jeonju High School, faced Masan Yongma High School. The match started at 2:00 PM and was stopped at the end of the third inning due to monsoon rains. The rain stopped completely at 5:00 PM and the match continued an hour and a half later and ended at 7:00 PM. Both teams played hard and Jeonju High School won 14-5.

It was so much fun to sing and cheer for the school song with my high school friends who I hadn’t seen in a long time and the younger students who had rented a bus from our hometown. Whether they won or not, it would be the same for our opponents, Masan Yongma High School.

Watching and cheering this game brought back old memories of baseball. I have loved baseball since I was a child. I usually played baseball with my friends in the vacant lot in the neighborhood. We had very little at that time, so we had to share old balls, bats, and gloves. But the feeling of playing the game was very enriching. However, since we did not know the rules of the game well, the game stopped and discussions started. This motivated me to be interested in the rules of baseball and to study them.

Due to lack of supplies, I borrowed books from the city library and taught myself the rules of baseball and how to keep score. I was impressed by his systematic methodology. As a result, I became known among my friends as a baseball expert and was always the referee of neighborhood games.

My interest in baseball peaked when I was in high school. Several national high school baseball tournaments were held in Seoul from spring to summer and were particularly popular. Prestigious high school teams from all over the country participated in the games at the Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium, which had now been converted into a park. News of the final game made national headlines.

As a so-called “expert,” I had to adapt to this atmosphere. It was my daily routine to learn the outcome of each game first and brag to my friends with my comments. Once, while listening to a baseball broadcast on a small radio in class without the teacher’s knowledge, I was caught shouting with excitement, so my radio was confiscated and I was ordered to give a statement reflecting my offense.

By the time I began my adult career, professional baseball had come into being. Yet, I had gone through life without ever taking an active interest in baseball. The tournament final above may be an opportunity to rekindle my forgotten potential enthusiasm for baseball.

I think we should pay more attention to the development of high school baseball. It is said that today’s high school baseball players are reasonably encouraged not to neglect their studies during practice and play. The number of baseball tournaments has been appropriately reduced, and games are played more on weekends so as not to interfere with classes. In addition, the number of pitches per game for each pitcher is limited.

I would like to thank all the high school baseball players, coaches, and others in the sport. I will soon visit the baseball field where the young students play more often. I am looking forward to the next national tournament, the Bongwhangdaegi High School Baseball Tournament, which will be held in August.

Sho Chang-young is a retired high school teacher and former principal of Gunsan Girls’ High School.