I’ll let it be known here that I view Korean baseball as a means to express my love for the game in general. Korea happens to be the country I live in, and therefore I have a certain love for Korean baseball. I don’t want to be a 24/7 cynic with the stuff, and I want to appreciate it for what it is. I want to have good time watching it and a good time writing about it.

That said, this new-ish team, formerly known as the Hyundai Unicorns, purchased by a mysterious phantom company that didn’t exist nine months ago, which has its players using the outfield grass of a high school baseball field as a locker room, has now sold the sponsorship rights…to a cigarette manufacturer.

Ok, so I used to smoke. I’m fairly tolerant of the things — personal freedoms and all that. But do you really want an addictive substance that slowly kills people representing your baseball team?

But wait, there’s more. The company is actually called Woori Tobacco. The word “woori” translates to “our” in English. So in English this is Our Tobacco. But the league is sort of, kind of, not letting the company use it’s real name. You know, because the KBO is a socially responsible organization. So it’s just the “our” part. Just Woori.

And the team nickname, just announced yesterday, is Heroes. Therefore, the team name is…drum roll….

Our Heroes.

No, that’s not some witty ha ha throwaway line I’m writing. That’s the actual team name. If I’m not mistaken that will be exactly it. The Woori Heroes. Our Heroes.

Lovely.

Here’s Woori spokesman Oh Sung-hyuk, as quoted in the JoongAng Daily:

We saw that the Hyundai-Centennial saga was dragging on and we wanted to offer any help we could to the situation. Being socially responsible has been an important objective at our company, and helping baseball, which is beloved by many Koreans, was one way to satisfy that goal.

Yuck. This team is already making my skin crawl and it hasn’t even taken the field. Maybe they’ll give out free cigs to all the kiddies on opening day. After all, it’s a socially responsible company and the KBO is a socially responsible organization. I think I’ll send a team hat to my aunt who has Emphysema. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.

More grossness from the same article:

Korean law prohibits tobacco manufacturers from advertising on television, radio and newspapers and in publications that target women and young readers. The companies, however, are allowed to sponsor cultural or sports events but are banned from advertising specific products through those events. It remains to be seen how Woori’s deal will fare with regulators.

Hmm. How does that work? Because they’re called Woori Heroes and not Woori Tobacco Heroes it’s ok?

Like I said, I’d just as soon have a laugh at this situation, and wait to hear “Play ball!” I’d like to reach a level of acceptance where I can look at Our Heroes and say, “Wow, I live in a country where there’s a baseball team sponsored by a cigarette company called Our Heroes. That’s kind of weird and funny.”

But I’m not there yet.

Korea Beat has an article about the proceedings here.