“Is this all a line?” On the 30th at around 1:00 PM, the area around Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan, the home stadium of the Lotte Giants, who are trying to win their eighth game in a row, was filled with Lotte fans. Most of the stores, including sweet and sour chicken restaurants, snack bars, convenience stores, and cafes, were crowded with baseball fans.
As the professional baseball Lotte Giants won 8 consecutive victories in 13 years and rose to first place in the regular season, not only Sajik Baseball Stadium but also the whole of Busan was excited. Lotte won 5-3 in the game against Kiwoom that day, recording an eight-game winning streak. Fans and nearby merchants are cheering when Lotte is excited at the beginning of the season.
Smiles bloomed on the faces of shopkeepers around the baseball field. Dozens of customers gathered in front of a sweet and sour chicken restaurant. Mr. A, the store owner, was happy, saying, “I’m not in the mood to interview the influx of customers먹튀검증,” but “Lotte is doing well, so sales are rising day by day.” Park Jeong-soo (59), who runs the rice bowl restaurant, said, “This is the first time we have had so many customers since the Lee Dae-ho game last October. Sales are about twice as high as usual,” he said. Mr. Park (40), the owner of a soup restaurant, said, “Anyway, since Lotte continues its winning streak, there are a lot of customers these days. “I am fully prepared because I think there will be many fans who come to have dinner after the game,” he said.
All seats (22,990 seats) at Sajik Stadium were sold out that day. Sajik Stadium has been sold out for the first time in 204 days since Lee Dae-ho’s retirement game on October 8 last year. At the entrance of the souvenir shop, fans who came to buy cheering tools formed a long line. Gloves, uniform mufflers and headbands were held in the hands of the fans. An official from Lotte club said, “The uniform of a certain player was sold out in a few hours.”
Fans expressed their expectations that Lotte would be able to experience ‘fall baseball’ this year. There were many fans who wanted Lotte to get rid of the unpleasant nickname ‘Bomde’. Kim Tae-yoon (33), who visited Sajik Stadium for the first time this season, said, “I’ve been a Lotte fan since elementary school, but I moved my job to Jinju last year and haven’t been able to come to the stadium for a while.” Many players are doing well, but among them, I hope Kim Jin-wook doesn’t get hurt and shows the skills of a promising player.”
Han Gi-hyeon (44), who came to the stadium with his two children, said, “I prepared gloves because I was afraid that my children would get hurt by foul balls.” Lotte has been sluggish in recent years, and I am really upset. But this year, as I recorded 8 consecutive wins, I think I will go up to the Korean Series as well as fall baseball.”