Early baseball in Republic of Korea/Game 1
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| Spread of baseball: Home -> Republic of Korea -> Early baseball in Republic of Korea/Game 1 |
| Location | Republic of Korea |
|---|---|
| Year | 1906 |
| Month | 2 |
| Date | 11 |
| City | Seoul |
| Country | Korea |
| Site | Hullyonwon |
| Was NY rules baseball | Yes |
| Played by | Locals |
| Team 1 | German Language Institute team |
| Team 2 | Hansong YMCA team |
Baseball was taken to Korea by Phillip Loring Gillett, who was general secretary of the YMCA's International Committee for Korea. He is credited with organizing the first baseball team at the Hansong YMCA in Seoul in 1905.
"The YMCA team held several scrimmages and played informal games in 1905. However, historians widely consider the first formal organized baseball game in Korea to have taken place on February 11, 1906, between the YMCA team and a squad from the German Language Institute of Seoul. . . . Some of the wore high leather boots and pristine white uniforms. Others took the field wearing straw sandals and traditional Korean clothing."
Joseph A. Reaves, Korea: Straw Sandals and Strong Arms, in George Gmelch, ed., Baseball Without Borders (U Nebraska Press, 2006), pages 92-93.
Japan had begun 40 years of military occupation in 1905, and Japanese affection for baseball played a large role in the growth of the game in Korea. [It would be interesting to know if the game persisted in the North after partition.]
