Baseball in Joseon: Part 2

Playing baseball at a park in Busan circa 1920s-40 Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

Phillip Gillett, an American missionary working with the YMCA, is often credited as being the first to introduce baseball to Korea in 1905. He helped popularize it and form a Korean baseball team, the Hwangseong YMCA Baseball Team. The following year, he helped arrange the first official Korean baseball match on Feb. 11, 1906. It would not be the last game.

Dr. Alfred Irving Ludlow, an American medical missionary, recalled that when he arrived in Korea in 1912, he pitched against one of the first Korean baseball teams in Seoul. These early games were not well-attended ― only a few passersby who stopped to see what the foreigners and Koreans were doing. But over the next couple of years, the game became quite popular in Seoul. Ludlow explained:

"In Korea, a young boy is often required to care for his baby brother or sister who is strapped to his back. Even this, though a handicap, does not deter the boy from playing baseball. I have often seen such a boy at the bat, while the little one on his back is watching the pitches or dodging the bat as it is swung toward him. The baseball uniform seems destined to become the dress of the Korean boy."

Years later, Gillett was probably somewhat miffed when he read one newspaper's account of how Dr. Ludlow introduced Seoul to "the game and started a nation of hermits to become diamond fans."

Bicyclists and baseball players in a park in Busan, circa 1920s-40 Robert Neff Collection

Baseball really took off in Seoul in the spring of 1924. According to Ludlow: "[Teams] from different parts of the country contested for the championship. Great crowds of spectators watched the games from early morning until night. One school had over 1,000 students, their band, flags banners and cheer leaders."

It was decided that a team of Korean baseball players would be sent to Hawaii to compete in a tournament. It would be, according to various newspaper articles, the first time a baseball team from "the Old Hermit Kingdom" of Korea "invaded the Occident" to demonstrate what they had "learned of the American national game."

A team "composed of the 13 best players in the Hermit Kingdom" was selected and then they were pitted against the American team in Seoul. They played three games and easily dominated the expat team ― the first game was 19-7, the second was 16-8 and the third was 29-1.

The Korean team's manager and catcher, 31-year-old Ho Sung (Hur Sung, and his English name was Raymond Herr), was no stranger to baseball or the United States ― having attended the University of Chicago in the early 1910s. According to one source, Ho pitched his first game in Korea in 1912 (presumably just before he left for the United States). Not only was he more familiar with the game and the United States, he was also bigger than the other members of his team. A review of passenger manifests indicates he stood 174 centimeters tall and his players ranged from 155 centimeters to 170 centimeters.

The Pyongyang team in 1932 Robert Neff Collection

However, Manager Ho was not the only one who studied and played in the United States ― he was eclipsed by 24-year-old Chi-sung Pil, a star pitcher from the University of Oregon ― who would join them in Hawaii. According to his interviews, as a boy, Pil threw stones with his fellow neighborhood boys in Korea ― seokcheon (stone battles) were still popular when he was a child ― and when his family moved to Hawaii around 1910, he utilized that skill learning how to play baseball. In the fall of 1919, he move to Oregon to attend school and tried out for the school's baseball team. He told the coach he wanted to be the pitcher but the coach was somewhat dubious that Pil ― who was 174 centimeters tall and weighed 65 kilograms ― was strong enough to occupy that position. Pil was undaunted and had a target set up about 18 meters distance. He then picked up a stone and bet the coach he could hit the target (bull's eye) three out of three times. If he won, the coach would make him the pitcher. Needless to say, he won and became the team's lead pitcher. He soon gained a reputation for being a "demon pitcher."

When the Korean team arrived in Hawaii on June 17, they were met by an excited Korean expat community. More than 40 receptions were planned for them. The local newspapers were enthralled with the team and wrote glowing reviews. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

"[Korea] is coming forward in an athletic way [which] is proved by the type of young men who make up the team, every one of them clean cut and with the stamp of sportsmanship and fair play readily apparent."

The article concluded by stating that the Korean team's arrival in Hawaii was a "big hour in Korea's athletic history."

Soon the local baseball enthusiasts were commenting on the Korean team ― especially its two pitchers: Chi-sung Pil and 25-year-old Sok-ki Park. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, "Pil and Park possess Laconic names and their work is just the same ― short and swift." The Hawaii Tribune was especially impressed with Pil "who has a record of having fanned 15 players in a single game while pitching for the University of Oregon. Any boy who can do that has something on the ball besides the cover. He will be poison to our sluggers who believe they can swing a wicked willow."

The Korean baseball team in Hawaii Image from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Jun 20, 1924

As for the rest of the team, there was praise, but not as much.

"None of the boys with the exception of one or two are sluggers but all of them are hitters who do not kill the ball but hit it consistently at the right moments. Their greatest asset as hitters is their ability to poke out singles and doubles at moments which mean the winning of a game. The Korean outfit makes just the right [type] of competition for Hilo teams."

Although the Korean team put on a good show, they didn't win many games. As they departed for home on July 28, Manager Ho penned a quick note in which he wrote:

"Although we have not been successful in our honest attempt to win baseball games from your local teams, we have learned and gained much from your sons whose baseball ability and sportsmanship we highly admire. We have no alibis to offer for our defeats. The best teams won and that's all there was to it, but we feel that we have given our best and that is what the fans expect from ball players."

The team arrived in Korea a few weeks later. Although the scores may not have indicated it, they were truly victors and worthy of being called the "best players in the Hermit Kingdom."

I would like to thank Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.