"The U.S. didn't do this either" What was the difference between 'what' of the KBO cheering fever that surprised ML outsiders

*This content was translated by AI.

"The U.S. didn't do this either..."

Sam Hilliard (32, KT Wiz), who played in the U.S. Major League Baseball (ML), expressed surprise at the unique Korean KBO League cheering culture.

Ahead of the 2026 Shinhan SOL KBO League regular season LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul on the 29th, Hilliard said, "If you go to a stadium with many fans in the Major League, you can often see the stadium full." So the packed crowd itself didn't feel much different," he said, expressing his honest feelings about the opening game.

KT signed a $1 million contract with Hilliard after the end of last season. Hilliard is a veteran outfielder who made his big league debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2019 and played 332 games until last year. He is also a hot hitter with 44 home runs and 26 stolen bases.

Hilliard made his KBO debut against Jamsil LG on the 28th. On this day, 23,750 people gathered in Jamsil. The first game of the 2026 season of the defending champion LG and the first Jamsil game since the transfer of Kim Hyun-soo, the MVP of the Korean Series, to KT last year.

In that game, KT made 18 hits in both long and short to win 11-7. In particular, he was surprised by scoring as many as six runs against Yoni Chirinos with seven consecutive hits after two outs in the first inning alone.

Hilliard, who was not very surprised even among the packed spectators, paid attention after the first inning. KT continued to score points and led 11-3 in the top of the seventh inning. It can be said that the game was more inclined to some extent, so disappointed fans could go back early.

However, fans of both LG and KT enjoyed the first festival in five months regardless of victory or defeat. Even in the face of a big loss, LG's cheering song was heard, and the voices of KT fans on the away team were not easy. The loudest shout of the day also came when Lee Jae-won came out as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and runners on first and second bases, when LG was losing 5-11.

Hilliard said, "American fans are watching baseball and saying what they want to say. However, Korean fans cheered with one mind as if they were in sync. I felt that part was very different from the United States," he said.

"What was particularly impressive was the attitude of the fans. Obviously, we were winning by a big margin from the beginning of the game, and LG fans cheered tremendously until the end. In response, our fans also cheered behind our backs, and this part was really impressive. I can't wait to go to our home stadium and experience it," he said with strength.

Records also demonstrated the passion of Korean baseball fans felt by blue-eyed outsiders. On this day, as five stadiums across the country were sold out, 211,756 people gathered in the opening series (based on Saturday to Sunday).

According to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), all games of the opening series (based on Saturday to Sunday) for the second consecutive day were sold out, the third-highest number of spectators in the opening series, after 219,900 (10 games) in 2025 and 214,324 (10 games) in 2019.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.