On Monday morning, I was watching an exhibition game between the Los Angels Dodgers and the South Korean national team. Professional baseball at 7 AM in South Korea? I and millions of other fans saw this movie four years earlier. While viewing Max Muncy hit a run scoring double, my mind flashed back and I couldn’t help but remember that it was at this very spot on the couch that we were introduced to pandemic baseball.
Back in that May of 2020, my kids and I would have the same routine as began our new lives. We would eat breakfast in the living room and watch live baseball from South Korea. During those early days of the pandemic, this was was the only live sporting event to watch. Not only did we see the best of South Korea in a nearly empty stadium, but we saw some familiar faces playing in the KBO. Aaron Altherr, whom we watched at Citi field hit his first New York Mets’ home run, became one of the best power hitters in the KBO with 31 home runs. There was former Arizona Diamondbacks’ prospect turned Chicago White Sox first baseman Daniel Palka trying to work his way back to the Major Leagues. On the mound, former Philadelphia Phillie David Buchanan posted a stellar 2.54 ERA in 31 starts.
Back then, it didn’t matter if there were MLB players in Korea or not. We were just excited to watch professional baseball. Seeing names we recognized was the cherry on top. It was a new world with a lot of confusion and sadness. Being able to watch three innings of baseball before departing to our respective areas for work and school made this new reality a little bit more bearable. It allowed us to bond a little bit more over our love for baseball. Four years later, we will be watching professional baseball under much better circumstances: Opening Day!
Threeunassisted 