Korean Baseball Cheerleaders

Unlike professional baseball teams in the US, all of the teams in the Korea Baseball Organization have professional cheerleaders stirring up the fans on both sides of the park during games. At left is the captain of the LG Twins squad, Kang Ye-jin, who's currently the best-known baseball cheerleader in Korea and is expected to branch out to other avenues of show biz in the near future.

Oh, and despite what Ye-jin's banner reads, her team didn't even make the playoffs last year and are currently in 6th place out of only 8 teams in the KBO, which means at every Twins game, she has her work cut out for her.

Below is just a sample of the girls from each team in the KBO and the outfits they wear. (They usually change at least once during games.) The whole squad doesn't cheer at every game. There are usually four girls cheering at an average game but I've seen at little as two at some games and as many as six at others. Also, Korea isn't unique by having pro baseball cheerleaders. Japan does as well and I'll be posting a follow-up entry on their Japanese counterparts in the near future.

A word of advice for those planning on taking in a game to catch these ladies in person while in Korea : In some stadiums, the cheerleaders are stationed along the baselines, in others, they're in the outfield stands, so you should make sure where the cheerleaders will be in the stadium you're at before buying your ticket.

Doosan Bears squad cheesing for the camera

 

Hanwha Eagles

 

Kia Tigers

 

LG Twins. Yea-jin (from the opening photo) in action with one of her colleagues.

Lotte Giants

Four of the Nexen Heroes cheerleaders from a Maxim Korea shoot they
did earlier this year. Believe it or not, their best-known cheerleader is a
14-year-old middle school student. (That's her actual age, not her
"Korean age" and she is NOT pictured here.)

Samsung Lions

SK Wyverns

This video is a few years old and quality isn't great but I choose it because I
shot it and I love the Wyvern girls' routine to Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti."