SEOUL — “L-A Dod-gers, Jason Heyward! Ahn-tah, home-run, Jason Heyward! Ahn-tah, home-run, Jason Heyward!”
Effectively, if Jason Heyward hadn’t heard his title sung melodically round an instrumental interlude — on repeat — he positive has now. And so have all of his teammates, who every had their very own songs recorded and piped by means of giant audio system on the base of Sections 104 and 105 on the Gocheok SkyDome, as whole sections of followers rose to their ft to sing, dance and clap alongside.
Welcome to the world of Korean baseball, the place that’s the norm by way of the gameday expertise for followers and gamers. The objective is to provide MLB gamers and followers a customized style of that tradition, mentioned Myung-Sip Oh, the bright-faced gentleman who served because the Dodgers’ “cheermaster,” in a Korean-language interview with MLB.com following the Dodgers’ 14-3 exhibition win over the Kiwoom Heroes on Sunday.
“Identical to how Okay-pop is well-liked, I’ve some hope that this form of Okay-cheering tradition features some worldwide recognition, too,” Oh mentioned. “Very similar to how the cheering we had within the World Cup grew to become well-known, you see it in Taiwan now, too — how they’re making an effort to undertake our cheering model, or so I hear. With this Seoul Collection, possibly they see this new method of cheering and hope that they get a sense for one thing new like this.”
Let’s set the scene right here.
There are two dueling “cheer squads,” set on platforms in entrance of fan sections down the left- and right-field traces, matching the orientations of the groups within the third- and first-base dugouts. When it’s their crew’s flip to play protection, followers and cheerleaders alike will sit down and wait their flip.
However when it’s their crew’s flip to hit, followers get to their ft and the cheerleaders will take their positions. On Sunday, every crew in each exhibitions had a cheermaster main a crew of 4 cheerleaders, with the Dodgers’ cheerleaders — borrowed from the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles — sporting matching crop tops and white shorts, and a drummer taking his place at a big bass drum.
When the Heroes got here as much as bat within the first inning, the complete part broke out in a choreographed track that went by means of the complete beginning lineup, one by means of 9. Contemplating the Gocheok SkyDome is the Heroes’ residence stadium, they had been well-represented within the stands, with followers readily following alongside to all of the individualized songs that performed at any time when a Heroes participant would step to the plate.
“Within the KBO, when your crew is as much as bat, there’s all the time music and singing,” Oh mentioned. “After having finished video games with the KBO in that model, we ready to cheer on the Dodgers in that trend, too.”
On the Dodgers’ facet, followers clearly didn’t know gamers’ songs by coronary heart (these songs didn’t even exist), so the cheermasters — organized by an organization referred to as CHEERKINGKOREA — needed to provide you with a plan.
At first, there was some considered having lyric-less music for followers to comply with, however that will have sounded bizarre, they thought, so Oh mentioned there was a 48-hour scramble within the days main into Sunday’s exhibition to document all the music. To assist followers comply with alongside, they used present music for sure energetic KBO gamers and changed their names with these of the Dodgers.
“Gavin Lux, whoa-oh-oh-oh,” the group sang collectively on repeat.
“L-A-Dod-gers, da-da da-da-da Will Smith!” they later sang as they rapidly caught on with Will Smith on the plate. (By the way in which, in Korean, “Smith” is pronounced in three syllables.)
“L-A-Dod-gers, Free-man ahn-tah, whoa-oh-oh-oh,” they’d later sing on repeat with Freddie Freeman on the plate.
“Ahn-tah” means “base hit” in Korean, by the way in which. Most of those songs and chants revolve round asking for hits and residential runs from hitters. As every pitch is delivered, the 4 cheerleaders face the sphere and prolong their left fingers towards residence plate and their proper fingers straight up in anticipation.
At instances, the cheermasters need to improvise.
Oh needed to do loads of that on Sunday, when he and his crew needed to cope with the piped-in recordings of organs and clapping patterns, as could be performed between pitches throughout video games in the USA.
It didn’t assist that he bumped into audio points in the beginning along with his microphone and audio system not working at full energy whereas these audio interludes would interrupt him, so he needed to improvise by yelling and adapting chants round these patterns.
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, “Free-man, ahn-tah!”
Amusingly, when Shohei Ohtani would come to the plate, that cheer would flip into the next:
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap, “Oh-tani, home-run!”
Identical sample, totally different expectations. You recognize, as a result of he’s Ohtani.
Amazingly, on the finish of 9 innings, Oh was nonetheless on his ft and had a voice, merely smiling when requested how he mustered up all that vitality.
“Effectively, once you’re up in entrance of the followers, you haven’t any selection!” Oh mentioned.
“The surroundings, ambiance was nice,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned. “Quite a lot of vitality tonight, definitely on their facet. We’re not used to having cheerleaders throughout video games. In order that was thrilling for everybody. Simply appeared like everybody stored their vitality up all through the entire night time.”
Particularly Oh. Because the audio kinks obtained labored out and his audio system grew to full energy, he and the followers finally obtained caught up of their customized music to the purpose the place they may drown out and energy by means of the American-style stadium audio interludes, singing as one voice within the ninth inning.
Come Opening Day on Wednesday, they’re hoping to placed on a full, polished show of what it means for an MLB crew to be cheered on within the Korean model.
“The video games are in Korea, so we need to assist them perceive that there is this form of tradition right here,” Oh mentioned. “I hope the gamers have enjoyable with it. And sooner or later, possibly a few of them will get to a degree the place they will need to play within the KBO, considering, ‘Oh, it is a actually enjoyable surroundings, and I need to be cheered on like this.’ I hope that comes throughout nicely to them.”
