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In South Korea, Baseball Brings Hopes for Normalcy

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - It's a sunny weekday afternoon in early spring,
   and the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization are playing
   one of the very few professional sporting events on earth - with no
   fans around to watch.

   With virtually all global sports curtailed because of the coronavirus
   pandemic, the Giants are staying sharp by playing practice games
   against themselves in front of 27,000 empty green and yellow seats at
   their ballpark in Busan, South Korea.

   Inside the cavernous stadium, every sound of the game is amplified -
   every shattered bat, every groan after a batter swings and misses, the
   constant chatter between players and coaches in the dugout.

   It's heaven for baseball purists and other socially distanced,
   sports-starved fans in Korea and around the world, who have tuned in by
   the tens of thousands to watch live streams of the games on the Giants'
   YouTube page.

   "I think (the world) desperately needs baseball," says Kerry Maher, a
   Giants superfan-turned-employee who was taking in the action from a
   seat behind home plate.

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