I’m no expert on the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), so I’ll defer to the experts on this one. Now the CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League), that’s my jam! Well, at least it has been for the past few weeks, and you can see that here, here, here and here.
Now that the KBO has joined the CPBL in commencing a regular season (but they don’t have robot fans which can play the drums), we have another baseball league to follow, and unlike the Taiwanese top flight, this one is televised here in these United States. Some KBO games will be televised, so if you want to watch them and declare a rooting interest, who should your club be?
The Lotte Giants (your Cubs in the KBO: https://t.co/ufuWmp22Fx) won their season opener overnight with help from a couple former Cubs, Dan Straily and Dixon Machado. pic.twitter.com/t3Y7g0xTA4
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) May 5, 2020
Well, social media has already decided that for you.
Among baseball teams, this is primarily a Chicago Cubs site first, so we’ll look at who the baby bears are in the KBO. Hint, it’s not the team named the Bears. It’s actually the Lotte Giants, who have a couple of Cubs connections.
They also are a team that plays in a very scenic, extremely praised home stadium. Additionally, they have a very large fan base, one that is disproportionate to their
Excited about my newly professed #lottegiants fandom. A couple Cubs ties including @danstraily67 & @sung_minkim. Now to track down some gear.
Giddy up #KBO! pic.twitter.com/c4DIGxVnFA
— Todd Brommelkamp (@ToddBrommelkamp) May 4, 2020
And on top of all that, they are led by the Korean Theo Epstein:
After their atrocious year last year, the Lotte Giants hired a new GM Min-Sung who became the youngest GM in KBO (in his 30’s still).
He played in the Cubs minor leagues briefly and mostly coached/scouted for the Cubs.
He worked under Theo Epstein so they call him Korean Theo. pic.twitter.com/4tdmIKWhdm
— Eric Sim (@esim69) May 7, 2020
if interested, here’s more on the KBO-Major League Baseball equivalents, beyond the Lotte Giants being the Cubs:
MLB equivalents for #KBO teams – in 2min 20 seconds!
Doosan Bears = @Yankees
Hanwha Eagles = @Royals
Kia Tigers = @Cardinals
Kiwoom Heroes = @RaysBaseball
KT Wiz = @Padres
LG Twins = @Dodgers
Lotte Giants = @Cubs
NC Dinos = @Brewers
Samsung Lions = @Braves
SK Wyverns = @SFGiants pic.twitter.com/oaRXjMMuzY— Baseball Brit (@BaseballBrit) May 3, 2020
So there you go, happy breakfast baseball watching.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.