"Back then, even TV broadcasts were rare." The unimaginable 2026 KBO ticket war made Jung Geun-woo all the more grateful [StarNews 22nd Anniversary Interview③]

*This content was translated by AI.

The landscape of professional baseball in 2004, the founding year of StarNews, was vastly different from today's 2026, when crowds of over 10 million have visited stadiums for two consecutive years. It was not easy to watch baseball games on terrestrial broadcasters, and it was not uncommon for empty seats to appear on broadcast screens as the fervor of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup overshadowed them. However, the players who knocked on the door of professionalism during that period later opened the golden age of Korean baseball. The class drafted in the 2005 KBO Rookie Draft, implemented in 2004, stood at the center of baseball's resurgence by writing a myth of eight consecutive victories and winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To mark its 22nd anniversary, StarNews spoke with the key figures who joined during that era when even public airwave broadcasts were rare and led the revival of professional baseball.

"I probably wouldn't have believed it."

If you showed 2026's professional baseball landscape to Jung Geun-woo (44), a TVING commentator who was about to enter the pros in 2004, could he have believed it? Turn on the TV and baseball is on; stadiums are packed not only on weekends but also on weekdays. Now, fans even have to fight for "tickets" just to watch popular games. Jung Geun-woo's answer was firm.

Jung Geun-woo is cited as one of the key figures who ushered in the golden age of Korean professional baseball. Having attended Busan High School and Korea University, he was selected by SK Wyverns with the 7th overall pick in the second round of the 2005 KBO Rookie Draft. He experienced three Korean Series championships with SK in 2007, 2008, and 2010 and grew into a national team second baseman. After playing for Hanwha Eagles and LG Twins until his retirement in 2020, he recorded a career batting average of .302, 1,747 hits, 121 home runs, 722 RBIs, 1,072 runs scored, and 371 stolen bases across 1,747 games. He received the second baseman Golden Glove award three times and was named to the KBO's 40th Anniversary Legend All-Star 40-man team.

However, the period around 2004–2005 when he first stepped onto the professional stage was an era known as the dark age of professional baseball. Jung Geun-woo recalled, "Back then, baseball was never that popular. TV broadcasts were rare, happening only occasionally. In a way, we played games without any TV coverage."

Facilities were also difficult to compare with today's standards. Having experienced a sold-out Jamsil Stadium through the Korea University-Yonsei University regular season games during his college days, he said he was shocked touring provincial stadiums after joining the pros. Jung Geun-woo recalled, "There were places so dilapidated that I wondered how a professional baseball stadium's locker room could be like that."

The turning point where the atmosphere changed drastically was 2008. The Korean national team defeated world powerhouses such as the United States, Japan, and Cuba in succession at the Beijing Olympics, securing gold with eight consecutive victories. Jung Geun-woo felt the changed air of the stadiums with his own body after that. He explained, "I think many fans were born after the Beijing Olympics. It wasn't just that there were more baseball fans; rivalries like SK vs. Doosan were created, which increased fan engagement and interest. As people began to cheer for their favorite teams more passionately and cheerleader culture entered the scene, everything developed during that period."

He himself became even stronger when wearing the national team jersey. Jung Geun-woo and Ham Kke-han (CEO)'s team opened Korea baseball's golden age starting with gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, followed by a runner-up finish in the 2009 WBC and victory in the 2015 Premier12. Regarding the national team of that time, Jung Geun-woo said, "It became ingrained in us that once we put on the Taegukgi, we had to give everything and come back." This reflects how younger players naturally inherited the fighting spirit shown by senior generations like former manager Lee Seung-yup (50) in international tournaments.

The Olympic gold medal also changed the players' perspectives. Jung Geun-woo stated, "Until that tournament, the United States, Cuba, and Japan felt like a high wall we couldn't even look up to. But while preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, we won a significant friendly match against Cuba, and in the main tournament, we secured victories against the United States and Japan, which gave us confidence that we had reached the world's top level."

He continued, "Interest in advancing overseas also grew. After that, young players like Ryu Hyun-jin and Kim Kwang-hyun emerged, allowing Korean baseball to retain fans for a long time. I think that period served as an opportunity to draw even more fans into the stadiums."

And 22 years have passed. The 2004 Jung Geun-woo remembers was a time of emptiness and loneliness. Back then, obtaining game tickets was not difficult. Now it is the exact opposite. Jung Geun-woo laughed, "In the past, getting tickets to go to the baseball stadium was so easy, but now it's like trying to pluck stars from the sky. I really never expected such a situation would arise."

However, he did not optimistically believe that today's intense fervor would continue forever. Having experienced everything from an era with no fans to the sold-out stadium age, he knows that current popularity is by no means guaranteed. Jung Geun-woo said, "Saying there is popularity means it could fall again someday. But the results created will not disappear. So I hope that while we have this level of popularity, we can produce more results so that this popularity continues."

While recalling the 'closeness' and 'hungry spirit' that existed in past baseball, he did not explain it as a simple generational comparison. Instead, his wish was closer to hoping today's players feel an even greater sense of responsibility toward fans' love. He believed that to sustain this fervor for longer, players must not forget the weight of the name 'professional,' not only in terms of performance and results but also off the field.

Jung Geun-woo said, "I hear that the part about communicating with fans is being done well enough. Now, a unique cheering culture for Korean baseball has emerged, and the atmosphere has shifted to fans visiting stadiums because they like specific players." Yet he emphasized, "The more this happens, the more I hope the players on the field pay closer attention to aspects such as performance, private lives, and attitudes during games, bearing in mind the name 'professional.' If they do that, I think fans will love our baseball and its players even more."

Achieving good results in international tournaments for the national team is not easy, but he hoped they would not give up and produce the best possible outcomes. Jung Geun-woo said, "I can never forget the emotion of Korean expatriates coming to cheer us on when we played at Petco Park or Dodger Stadium during the 2009 WBC. I hope today's players also experience good results and victories in international tournaments. They need to feel firsthand how significant an experience this is for a player's life and how much happiness it brings in the future."

In 2004, when even TV broadcasts were rare, Jung Geun-woo and his teammates played in stadiums with few fans for the sake of the future. That generation fearlessly faced world baseball, bringing fans back to the stadiums, and 22 years later, Korean professional baseball has reached a golden age where even tickets are hard to obtain.

Jung Geun-woo conveyed his sincerity: "Not only me but also my seniors continued playing baseball in poor environments, so I think we played with the hope that Korean baseball would develop more in the future. We are truly grateful to the fans who made things happen that were unimaginable at the time. I hope they will continue to love Korean baseball even more in the future."

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*This content was translated by AI.