Kim Jin-woo (김진우 – pitcher) and Lee Bum-ho (이범호 – 3b) for the Kia Tigers back in 2013

My random, desktop image of the day was this one. I tried to get A.I. to tell me who the players are, and the results were horrible. A.I. insisted this photo is from a MLB game, even after I told it who the teams were, the location, and the date.

Traditional search methods got me the answers I was looking for. Kim Jin-woo grew up in Gwangju before playing 13 seasons with his hometown team. Lee Bum-ho slugged 329 home runs during his 20-year career in the KBO. He went zero for six on this evening, though, and the game ended in a 4-4 tie so the Tigers could have really used one.

Posted on January 10th, 2026 under Korea. Tags: baseball, kia tigers, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D600, sports photography. Comments Off on Not a KBO game (according to A.I.)

KIA Tigers professional baseball crowd

… Wheel me out to the car…

Did you know? At KBO games it’s not only a BYOB situation, you can actually bring in entire coolers loaded with ice and hard alcohol! In the above case, it appears the cooler is loaded with soju (소주) which is usually 20-40% alcohol and very inexpensive.

They actually have a beer-chugging contest on the dugout between innings. The winner receives a free case of beer and the applause of thousands.

Posted on February 9th, 2023 under Korea. Tags: beer, crowd, gwangju, kia tigers, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D600. Comments Off on Wheel me out of the ball game…

This stadium hasn’t been used in a couple years (when I took today’s photos and photomerged them into this single image). I wonder what has happened to Gwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium since the Tigers moved into Gwangju-Kia Champions Field (pictured in the distance here) in 2014. Has it been torn down? Some of my best memories from Korea happened right here.

Posted on May 11th, 2015 under Korea. Tags: baseball, kia tigers, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-S NIKKOR G ED N, Nikon D600, photomerge. Comments Off on Old Gwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium

@Kiatigers When we last visited this play the ball hadn’t reached the catcher yet. But now it has, and the tag has been made. Henry Sosa is calling for an out, but will the ump give it to him? Stay tuned.

Posted on April 23rd, 2014 under Korea. Tags: baseball, kia tigers, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D600, sports photography. Comments Off on Play at the plate – part 2

Kia Tigers and Doosan Bears close play at home

Posted on March 19th, 2014 under Korea. Tags: baseball, kia tigers, Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Lens, Nikon D600, sports photography. Comments Off on Boom-boom play at the plate