Bat Flips Welcome: Korean Baseball Returns
The Lead
Audible
3.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Professional baseball is back! In South Korea, that is. The Korea Baseball Organization kicked off its season on Tuesday a little differently: empty stadiums and officials, coaches and players wearing masks and gloves. It's a completely different atmosphere for a league that's used to raucous crowds, dramatic bat flips and full-throated sing-alongs. South Korea was able to flatten its COVID-19 curve quickly and effectively, which allowed baseball to return. The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans joins us to talk about opening day in Korea and what sets its league apart from MLB. Then, we'll talk with Sung Min Kim who works on the R and D team for the Lotte Giants in Busan about how the players and other personnel are handling a return to baseball amid a global pandemic.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Live baseball is back in South Korea. |
| 0:20.0 | Today is opening day for the Korean baseball organization or KBO. |
| 0:24.0 | There are no fans in the stands, no rocket sing-alongs or cheermasters as per usual in Korea. |
| 0:28.8 | But the bat flips and baseball action are in full effect. |
| 0:31.8 | An ESPN has struck a deal to air six regular season games a week from the KBO. |
| 0:36.7 | Today, we're talking with the athletic C-Trent Rose Prans, |
| 0:40.2 | who will give us a primer on the KBO, as well as tell us what MLB can learn from the KBO's opening day. |
| 0:46.4 | We'll also be talking with former athletic contributor and current front office employee of a latte giants, Sun Min Kim. |
| 0:53.2 | You'll tell us what it's like in South Korea and what steps the KBO is taking to get the season started. |
| 0:59.0 | When I walk into our stadium, there's a sarmo camera that checks my body temperature. |
| 1:04.3 | I just walk in and if my temperature is too high, it's going to beep and then I'm going to have to get my temperature taken manually. |
| 1:10.9 | Sometimes I bring a hot coffee into a stadium and it just beeps. I'm like, oh no, it's not me. It's just it's the coffee. |
| 1:17.9 | From wondering on the athletic, I'm Tvita Davidson. |
| 1:23.8 | And I'm Anders Kelto. It's Tuesday, May 5th and this is The Lead. |
| 1:29.3 | It felt like something great was happening. |
| 1:33.4 | There was just something about the emotion and the heart of the team. |
| 1:36.4 | No, no, no, no, no, no, no. |
| 1:37.9 | The fact that it was the past don't matter because we've got this thing. |
| 1:40.4 | Are you okay? |
| 1:41.1 | I am seeing anything like that. |
| 1:42.4 | That's not good, dude. |
| 1:43.6 | This isn't a story where you interview the athlete in the home. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Audible, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Audible and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.