One of THE BEST things to do in Busan is to go to a Lotte Giants game. Busan loves the Lotte Giants and it’s clear when you go to the games – fans are loud – singing, cheering, and drinking throughout the game. It’s a breath of fresh air after the lethargic crowds at Cincinnati Reds games that I’ve been to over the past 20 years.

It’s cheap, too! Only 7,500 for an outfield or upper-deck seat. Seats on the 1st or 3rd base line are around 10-15,000 (it’s hard to get a seat on the first base line… if you want these, go early!) Seats in better spots are up to 25,000 or so. Beer is only 2 for a can, and – just like home – you can buy it outside on your way in, or buy it from vendors in the stadium. NOTE: if you think it’s going to be crowded, then show up early, since there aren’t assigned seats.

A NOTE ON GETTING TICKETS: Buy tickets at the box office on game days. You can buy tickets from guys outside (scalpers) SOMETIMES (some sold out games we could get tickets; others, we were out of luck). Just be careful – our scalper tried to give us tickets for the wrong date. After we pointed out his “mistake,” he gave us the real tickets for a discounted price. So just be heads-up out there!

NOTE: The box office opens at 2:00 if you want to show up early to be sure to get tickets. Getting tickets online didn’t work for me, but if you want to try, you have to use Internet Explorer and go to giantsclub.com. It’s in Korean, and they have an area where you can type in your ARC card number. For some reason (even with the help of some Koreans), the website wouldn’t accept my number (or any of my other foreign co-workers’ numbers), and wouldn’t let us get tickets that way.

Directions to the field: Metro line 3 (brown line) to Sajik, exit 1. Go one block and turn right. You can’t miss the stadium on your left. See map, below the schedule. (some sources say to take the subway to Sports Complex, but don’t do this. Sajik is closer, and it puts you at the front of the stadium).

So here’s the 2012 Lotte Giants baseball schedule. Home games in BOLD.

WEEKDAY GAMES are at 7:00.
WEEKEND GAMES are at 5:00.

PRE-SEASON

MARCH
17-18 – Sat, Sun – DOOSAN
20-21 – Tue, Wed – hanhwa
22-23 – Thu, Fri – KIA
24-25 – Sat, Sun – LG
27-28 – Tue, Wed – samsung
29-30 – Thu, Fri – NEXEN
31-APRIL 1 – Sat, Sun – SK

REGULAR SEASON

APRIL
7-8 – Sat, Sun – HANHWA
10-12 – Tue, Wed, Thu – lg
13-15 – Fri, Sat, Sun – DOOSAN
17-19 – Tue, Wed, Thu – SK
20-22 – Fri, Sat, Sun – kia
24-26 – Tue, Wed, Thu – samsung
27-29 – Fri, Sat, Sun – LG

MAY
1-3 – Tue, Wed, Thu – nexen
4-6 – Fri, Sat, Sun – lg
8-10 – Tue, Wed, Thu – SAMSUNG
11-13 – Fri, Sat, Sun – hanhwa
15-17 – Tue, Wed, Thu – NEXEN
18-20 – Fri, Sat, Sun – KIA
22-24 – Tue, Wed, Thu – samsung
25-27 – Fri, Sat, Sun – doosan
29-31 – Tue, Wed, Thu – LG

JUNE
1st-3rd – Fri, Sat, Sun – NEXEN
5-7 – Tue, Wed, Thu – hanhwa
8-10 – Fri, Sat, Sun – KIA
12-14 – Tue, Wed, Thu – DOOSAN
15-17 – Fri, Sat, Sun – nexen
19-21 – Tue, Wed, Thu – sk
22-24 – Fri, Sat, Sun – lg
26-28 – Tue, Wed, Thu – HANHWA
29-30 – Fri, Sat – doosan

JULY
1 – Sun – doosan
3-5 – Tue, Wed, Thu – SK
6-8 – Fri, Sat, Sun – SAMSUNG
10-12 – Tue, Wed, Thu – kia
13-15 – Fri, Sat, Sun – HANHWA
17-19 – Tue, Wed, Thu – nexen
24-26 – Tue, Wed, Thu – hanhwa
27-29 – Fri, Sat, Sun – doosan
31 – Tues – KIA

AUGUST
1-2 – Wed, Thu – KIA
3-5 – Fri, Sat, Sun – SAMSUNG
7-9 – Tue, Wed, Thu – lg
10-12 – Fri, Sat, Sun – kia
14-16 – Tue, Wed, Thu – SK
17-19 – Fri, Sat, Sun – NEXEN
21-23 – Tue, Wed, Thu – samsung
24-26 – Fri, Sat, Sun – DOOSAN
28-30 – Tue, Wed, Thu – sk
31 – Fri – LG

SEPTEMBER – September schedule will changed based on rainouts and cancelations from earlier in the season!
1-2 – Sat, Sun – LG
4 – Tue – SK
5 – Wed – samsung
6 – Thu – DOOSAN
7 – Fri – nexen
8 – Sat – HANHWA
9 – Sun – LG
11 – Tue – hanhwa
12 – wed – kia