No beer or chicken but South Korean fans are back at the ball game
VIDEO SHOWS: SOUTH KOREAN BASEBALL FANS AT BASEBALL STADIUM AS 10 PERCENT OF AUDIENCE SEATS ARE ALLOWED TO BE OPENED TO FANS/SOUNDBITES FROM BASEBALL FANS AND BASEBALL PLAYER/ FANS GETTING TEMPERATURE CHECKED BEFORE ENTERING STADIUM
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
SHOWS: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JULY 26, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. PITCHER THROWING BASEBALL, BATTER HITTING AT A PRACTICE SESSION BEFORE THE GAME
2. SOUTH KOREAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAM DOOSAN BEARS' FANS CHEERING AND WAVING FLAGS FROM SPECTATORS' SEATS DURING A PRACTICE SESSION
3. WOMAN WEARING PROTECTIVE CAP AND FACE MASK CHEERING
4. CHEERLEADERS DANCING IN FRONT FANS BEFORE THE GAME
5. BASEBALL FANS CHEERING AND WAVING FLAGS / CHEERLEADERS DANCING AHEAD OF THE GAME
6. VARIOUS OF BASEBALL FANS WATCHING PRACTICE GAME AT SPECTATORS' SEATS AND CHEERING
7. CHEERLEADERS DANCING ON STAGE AND BASEBALL FANS CHEERING
8. BASEBALL FANS SITTING IN DISTANCE
9. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 62-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN BASEBALL FAN, KIM HAK-CHUL, SAYING:
"I've been coming to the games since 1980 as an original member of the fanclub and I've never been this thrilled to be back. I hope we will have more people coming, like 20 and 30 percent or even more."
10. SOUTH KOREAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAM LG TWINS PLAYERS GATHERED AT DUGOUT BEFORE THE GAME STARTS
11. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 62-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN BASEBALL FAN, KIM HAK-CHUL, SAYING:
"It's sad that we can't enjoy beer and fried chicken but that's understandable and we just hope they'll wrap up the season safely."
12. BASEBALL TEAM DOOSAN BEARS FANS SITTING AND WATCHING GAME
13. DOOSAN BEARS UNIFORMS HANGING FROM SPECTATORS' SEATS
14. PRACTICE GAME IN PROGRESS
15. VARIOUS OF FANS ENTERING BASEBALL STADIUM
16. VARIOUS OF STAFF TAKING SPECTATORS' TEMPERATURE
17. THERMAL DETECTOR ON MONITORS
18. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 27-YEAR-OLD SOUTH KOREAN BASEBALL FAN, KIM SONG-A, SAYING:
"I was on standby at a PC room (with high-speech internet) for the ticketing."
JOURNALIST, ASKING: "How are you feeling after winning the ticket?"
"I thought I must've used up all my luck for the year."
19. VARIOUS OF FANS GETTING THEIR TEMPERATURE CHECKED BEFORE ENTERING THE STADIUM
20. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) DOOSAN BEARS OUTFIELDER JUNG SOO-BIN, SAYING:
"Fans who came here have to sit apart from each other, so they can't cheer like they did before, but they are our source of strength and hopefully there will be more."
21. VARIOUS OF FANS IN FACE MASKS CHEERING
22. EXTERIOR OF THE JAMSIL BASEBALL STADIUM
STORY: South Korean baseball fans were finally back to stadiums on Sunday (July 26) for the first time this year, happy and excited even as they sat apart from relatives and friends and could not enjoy their usual beer and chicken.
South Korea's baseball league kicked off its season in May after a five-week delay but without spectators because of the novel coronavirus, which has all but wiped out the global sporting calendar.
The government decided on Friday (July 24) that some fans can go back, with 10% of seats available at Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) games from Sunday.
All fans have to wear masks, have their temperatures checked, provide contact details and socially distance in the stands.
No food or alcohol is allowed.
"I've been coming to the games since 1980 and I've never been this thrilled to be back," said Kim Hak-chul, 62, a fan of LG Twins, who played the Doosan Bears in Seoul on Sunday.
"It's sad that we can't enjoy beer and fried chicken but that's understandable and we just hope they'll wrap up the season safely."
Kim Song-a, a 27-year-old Bears fan, said she had entered a competition to win one of the 2,424 seats up for grabs.
"When I got it, I thought I must've used up all my luck for the year," she said.
The tickets sold out in 25 minutes, a Bears official said.
Bears outfielder Jung Soo-bin said the return of the spectators - even under these coronavirus conditions - would give teams a boost.
"Fans are our source of strength and hopefully there will be more," he said.
(Production: Dogyun Kim, Heejung Jung, Soohyun Mah)
