KT Wiz

I love seeing foreign teams play baseball. Whether it is in the World Baseball Classic or on my yearly trips to Mexico, seeing the National Pastime being played through the lens of another country is fascinating. I don't know if I have made this declaration on here before, but I think my dream Road Trip would have to be to Japan or South Korea to see the teams play there. When I win the lottery and can go where I choose, I would choose to do that. But, since I haven't won the lottery, I have to settle for my foreign fix of baseball on my yearly trip to Mexicali. This past Monday, I was afforded the opportunity to see a foreign professional team play right in my own backyard.

We're in the thick of the college season, but there is also Spring Training going on. Us baseball fans equate Spring Training with Arizona and Florida. However, here in San Bernardino, the city hosted the Spring Training for the KT Wiz of the Korean Baseball League. For the past week, the Wiz have been working out down at San Manuel Stadium and playing exhibition games against some of the local college teams. On Monday, I caught their last exhibition game against the University of Redlands.

After a search on Wikipedia, I found that KT Wiz are based in Suwon and play at 20,000-seat Suwon KT Wiz Park. It looks like Suwon is about 20 miles from the capital of South Korea, Seoul, and is just outside Incheon. They were an independent league team up until this past season when they were officially admitted into the Korean Baseball League.

KT Wiz showed their power streak as they got off to an early lead on a Yoon Yo Sup home run in the first inning to beat the University of Redlands 5-3.

During the game, I was really trying to focus in on any differences between how the South Korean team played compared to other professional teams here in the United States. By that, I'm mean the way they approach the game from a strategy standpoint, the technique they have, and any other nuances that a baseball fan can notice. It is difficult to really gauge the differences after one game, but I did notice that the KT Wiz attempted to steal more bases. Aside from that, I couldn't really tell any subtleties from the Wiz.

I think this goes to show just how international the game has become. I can watch a game in Anaheim, Mexicali, and, probably, in South Korea, and it would hardly change. In fact, this consistency from one setting to another is a reason why this game is the greatest game ever.

This will, most likely, be my last international team match-up until I go to Mexicali in December. It was a lot of fun to see the KT Wiz from South Korea play in my own backyard. It certainly was a fun experience that I won't forget.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)