Jamsil's long goodbye continues as Bears play final regular-season game

Jamsil Baseball Stadium got the kind of send-off usually reserved for a star player.

A retirement ceremony for the ballpark — a rarity in sports — took place on Monday after its last regular-season game. The visiting Lotte Giants beat the Doosan Bears 7-4.

Jamsil Baseball Stadium, the heart of Korean baseball since it opened in July 1982, stood for more than four decades and housed moments of both joy and tears. It will be demolished after this season to make way for a domed ballpark on the same site.

The stadium’s last game also mimicked its first. Lotte had been the visiting team when Jamsil hosted its first professional game in 1982.

But many remember a high school tournament in July of that year as the ballpark’s first official event. Ryu Joong-il, then a key infielder for Kyeongbuk High School and later manager of the LG Twins, hit the first home run in the stadium’s history, a record that he still proudly cites.

The first professional game came on Aug. 1, when Lotte beat the MBC Blue Dragons 6-3. Lotte starter Lee Jin-woo allowed one run over seven innings and became Jamsil’s first winning pitcher. After a handful of games, the stadium hosted the 1982 Amateur World Series in September and became the MBC Blue Dragons’ official home the following year.

The two-team arrangement began in 1986. The OB Bears spent their first three seasons in Daejeon, then entered the capital at the now-demolished Dongdaemun Stadium in 1985 before moving to Jamsil the following year. LG took over the Blue Dragons in 1990, and the crosstown rivalry that exists today was born. OB, named after Doosan’s beer brand, became the Doosan Bears in 1999 after the conglomerate sold its brewery business.

Sharing a home left Jamsil with little time off. Under the 10-team league, the stadium hosted the two clubs’ cumulative 144 home games each season, and a postseason run by either team further postponed any break. In return, it hosted numerous moments of glory.

Jamsil’s regular season was originally supposed to end with Doosan’s game against LG last Wednesday, but a rainout of Lotte’s game against Doosan on Sept. 25 pushed the finale to Monday.

The change worked in Doosan’s favor. LG was the official home team last Wednesday, so Doosan would have said goodbye to Jamsil as a visitor. The rescheduled game let them host the farewell instead.

Doosan’s marketing team organized the ceremony around the concept of a chronicle. The theme suited a club that won the Korean Series at least once every decade from the 1980s through the 2010s, even while experiencing several slumps.

Former manager Kim In-sik opened the ceremony. He took over OB after a 1994 players’ revolt against the team’s manager left the club in turmoil and led them to the Korean Series title in 1995. He won it again in 2001 and became a champion under both the OB and Doosan names.

Kim, supported by Doosan manager Kim Won-hyong, who played under him at the Ssangbangwool Raiders, walked onto the field to loud applause at sunset.

Taking the microphone, Kim In-sik recalled when Doosan started in the first round of the playoffs and went on to win the Korean Series in 2001. He then praised this year’s team, which begin their postseason in the wild card round.

After he threw the ceremonial first pitch, Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyoung walked over from the opposite dugout to greet his former mentor. Kim Tae-hyoung won the 1995 title as OB’s starting catcher and the 2001 title as a player-coach. As Doosan’s manager from 2015, he led the club to seven straight Korean Series and won the title in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

The game that followed turned into a slugfest lasting three hours and 31 minutes. Lotte’s lineup built a 5-3 lead early, and outfielder Victor Reyes added a solo home run to left in the sixth. The Giants gave up a run in the seventh but added an insurance run in the eighth.

The main event came after the final out. Doosan’s players lined up and spoke about their postseason goals. Fireworks, which only an open-air ballpark can offer, then lit up the sky.

As the bittersweet, nostalgic mood grew, the stadium switched off all its lights, and legends representing each era came out one by one to say goodbye.

Kim Jae-ho, the shortstop of Doosan’s 2010s dynasty, came first, followed by Jung Jae-hoon, a fearless setup man from the club’s “Hustle Doo” era in the 2000s, and first baseman Kim Hyeong-seok, known as “Mr. OB,” who was part of the club’s miracle run in 1995.

Pitcher Park Chul-soon, nicknamed the “eternal phoenix” who helped build OB’s foundation in the 1980s, came out last. He shed tears at Jamsil in 1995, when OB won the Korean Series. Two years later, he kissed the stadium’s mound during what many fans remember as the most moving retirement ceremony in Korean baseball history.

“Those moments come back to me vividly now,” he said on Monday. “I had great battles here at Jamsil with so many teammates.”

After their farewells, the four legends carried Jamsil’s home plate together and handed it to Doosan captain Yang Eui-ji to signal the stadium’s retirement from active duty.

The night ended with a surprise performance by the rock band Spring Summer Autumn Winter. Its song, “Bravo, My Life!” (2002), is Doosan’s signature track and plays at Jamsil before every eighth-inning turn at bat. Vocalist Kim Jong-jin sang with a crowd of about 20,000 to close the ceremony, with fans holding up their phones with the flashlight on — a tradition also seen at concerts that dates back to the days of flip phones.

Jamsil’s work is not quite done. LG and Doosan meet there in the wild card round on Wednesday, and one will head to the first round of the playoffs.

A total of 3,129,760 fans came to Jamsil this year. LG passed 1.6 million spectators for the first time, and Doosan topped 1.5 million for the first time — more than 21,000 fans per game.

The fans who laughed and cried at Jamsil for decades seemed reluctant to leave. Long after the ceremony ended, they stood outside the stadium, singing team anthems at the top of their lungs.

BY KO BONG-JUN [[email protected]]