The Jokbal Jersey

Over the last week we have been discussing a jersey design to represent the Team Jokbal crew. While nothing is finalized, we do have one rough sketch of a simple design. Over the coming weeks we will work toward finalizing a color scheme and placing an order. While the one in the picture is black with green trim and pink lettering, it's very possible the final one will end up being pink with green trim and black lettering.

Team Jokbal Jersey Sketch

The plan is to make jerseys for each Team Jokbal member and to also make jerseys to present to some of the players that we have had the most interaction with. Some of these guys such as Michael Bowden, Jeff Manship, and Pat Dean have truly stepped up and helped us out and it would be the least we could do to offer them Team Jokbal jerseys in the future. Will also plan to make a couple of jerseys for our friends and supporters, Han Jae-kwon (Doosan cheermaster) and Kim Ju-il (KT cheermaster) for being great guys and allowing us to place the items in their charity auction.

While we would love to make and give jerseys to every player that has contributed items, it would be way too costly on our salaries to hook up everyone with some cool threads. However, their contributions are no less appreciated and we will be sure to get something done for them. Maybe even a Team Jokbal MVP jersey going to the player who's contribution fetches the most cash during the auction.

Check back often for more updates and to learn more about Team Jokbal's mission take a look at the first post.

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖

The Jeff Manship Contribution

With our bags packed with clothes, signs, wigs, modified sombreros, and an inflatable shark (shout out to "The Shark" Roger Bernadina), Team Jokbal took to the road for a weekend trip to Masan Stadium to see the NC Dinos vs. KIA Tigers with a stop off at Jamsil for the Doosan Bears vs. Lotte Giants on Friday night. While most of us (3 members live in the mountainous countryside of Korea) have to take to the road pretty much every week to catch games, Jamsil is more or less our central location and where we spend most of our time. However, we like to sprinkle a bit of love and fun at other stadiums around Korea when schedules line up. Also, on the road is where we have had most of our success. We picked up the Michael Bowden jersey during a road series for the Doosan Bears at SK Happy Dream Park (Munhak Stadium) in Incheon.

It was an epic weekend of laughs, smiles, jokbal, charity, and baseball. I was able to have a bit of a chat on Friday night with Jeff Manship about collecting some signed items from him that Saturday in Masan. He told me to just let him know when we made it to the stadium and he would meet us during a break with some things. So after a great night of spreading the Team Jokbal message at Jamsil and a bit of sleep, we hit the train at 9 a.m. to make our way to Masan.

After arriving at Masan Stadium around 1 p.m. we messaged Jeff and got to work setting up for the day. Our setup involved getting our shark ready for Roger Bernadina and Jokballer Tony making repairs to his sombrero. Shortly after getting everything ready we headed over to the player entrance to meet Jeff and get in a few words with Roger Bernadina and Pat Dean upon the KIA bus arrival.

Around 1:30 Jeff was able to get a break and bring out some awesome stuff for us. He gave us a pair of his signed cleats, a signed ball, a Na Sung-bum signed bat, and a Kang Jin-sung signed bat. We also had a chance to get him to pose with a pack of jokbal.

Jeff With Jokbal

Manship Shoes & Ball, Kang Jin-sung Bat, Na Sung-bum Bat

We cannot say enough good things about Jeff. He is an awesome guy that cares and takes care of his fans. During our chat and item exchange we were able to see his interactions with some of kids. He is truly a class act and we are very happy to have been able to meet him for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

Shortly after Jeff headed back into the stadium the KIA bus arrived and we prepared to meet and great Roger with the shark and Pat with a pack of jokbal. Tony got a chance to get the shark signed by Bernadina so that we can place it in the auction and I had a minute or 2 with Dean to present him with a pack of jokbal and explain a bit more about items we are looking to collect from the players. Dean, also a top notch guy, said he would be sure to get some things together so that we could pick them up in the near future.

The Bernadina Signed Shark

After that we headed into the stadium to make a few pregame jokbal shouts and watch the warmups. During one of our shouts, KIA catcher, Kim Min-sik looked up at us and had a little laugh as we held up our signs and a pack of jokbal. We haven't been able to officially confirm, but we have a feeling that he may have eaten the pack of jokbal that we handed off to Pat.

The Jokbal Shout

In the end it was a great weekend and a great trip. Before closing, we would like send a big thanks to Jeff for the items and a big thanks to Na Sung-bum and Kang Jin-sung for the signed bats. Also, a big thanks goes out to Roger Bernadina and Pat Dean. You are all Team Jokballers in our book!

If you are curious about what we are trying to do, you can check out the link to our first post.

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖

Future Contribution from Jeff Manship, Eric Hacker, and Xavier Scruggs (NC Dinos)

Just last weekend and by chance, we got a chance to catch up with Jeff Manship in person (first player we didn't reach via social media) at the Doosan vs. NC game at Jamsil. He was out making some passes along the warning track when he heard a bit of English up in the stands and stopped off to have a chat.

Jeff Manship stopping off for a chat

We talked a bit about where we are all from, our jobs, family, and our time in Korea. He tossed a ball up to us and we chatted a little more and he carried on with his run. A few minutes later he came back through and by that time we had our Team Jokbal signs out and proudly displayed and he stopped to ask us about what they meant. I was able to go down and give him a printed copy of our mission and he said it sounded great and he had worked with some other groups in the US before so he would be happy to help out and spread the word.

Running the Jokbal Campaign

On his final pass he stopped off to mention it to Eric Hacker and when he came back by a fellow Jokbal'er headed down to get him to sign the ball that he had tossed up so that we could put it in with the auction items. He let him know that that Eric was cool with the deal and that they would try to get some things together from their clubhouse in Masan. He also said that he would chat with Xavier Scruggs about it when he was around him next time.

Signed ball to add to the auction

It was really great getting a chance to talk with him and even better having him offer to help us out with some donations. For this, we at Team Jokbal would like to say, thank you very much for your kindness Mr. Manship. Guys like you, Mr. Hacker, and Mr. Scruggs are top notch and we couldn't do this without all of you! We wish all of you nothing but the best in this season and seasons to come and we are looking forward to catching up with you in Masan this weekend.

This post should pretty much get everything caught up with how things are progressing with player contributions. We will also keep people updated as items come in and with other news as it comes along.

If you missed it, here is a link to our first post about what Team Jokbal is working to do.

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖

Future Contribution from Pat Dean (KIA Tigers)

It all started with a photo taken in Japan during spring practice with the KIA Tigers. As soon as I saw that photo of Pat Dean wearing a Mario hat, I thought that he had to be a pretty cool guy.

Pat Dean in Japan with a Mario Hat

With time and once again working our way around social media, we were able to get our message out to Mr. Dean about collecting items to be auctioned for charity. I suspect our gift of a red wig to accompany his Mario hat also made an outstanding impression.

Postage Receipt from Delivery of Red Wig to Pat

My Red Wig Rocking #TeamJokbal

Team Jokbal'er Having a Chat with Pat

In the end Mr. Dean said that he would be more than happy to help out and send some stuff our way. As soon as we get some things I will be sure to come back with a post of the items to keep everyone updated.

From Team Jokbal, a huge thanks goes out to you Mr. Dean for your kindness to offer to help out! It's great guys like you that are making this possible!

If some of you are wondering more about Team Jokbal you can check out our first post explaining our mission.

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖

Our First Contribution From Michael Bowden (Doosan Bears)

Since we just got the blog up and running this week, I am going back and filling in some of the stuff about our Jokbal Campaign to raise money to buy sports equipment for kids. Now that most of you have hopefully read the first post explaining how Team Jokbal and the Jokbal Campaign came about, I am here to talk about some of the items that we have so far and pledges that we have from some KBO players.

The first person to donate to us was Michael Bowden, a pitcher for the Doosan Bears. On the weekend of April 22~23, me and a couple of other Team Jokbal members made our way out to SK Happy Dream Park (aka Munhak Stadium) to catch a couple of games of the SK Wyverns vs. Doosan Bears series. For a couple of months prior to this weekend we had been working social media and trying to get in touch with some of the KBO players to explain what we were doing and hopefully get some donations or game used gear to auction to raise funds for purchasing equipment for kids.

Team Jokbal'ers

Holding the Bowden Jersey

Finally, on April 23rd, the work paid off and we got our first item from Michael Bowden. As Michael was walking across the field, near the dugout, I let out a "What's up Big Mike?" He turned to me and happened to recognize me from previous social media posts and said "Are you the guy that's trying to get the jerseys for kids?" In a lot of joy, I said "that's us" and he told me to hold on for a minute. He made his way over to the Bears dugout and came back with one of his jerseys and handed it across the netting.

It was great and we were really excited to finally have some players realizing who we were and what we were working to do. I have been to many games and that will always be one of the most memorable games for me. That one and the night of Michael's no-hitter when I got so excited that I took the subway in the wrong direction and missed my bus home and had to stay at a motel for the night.

I have said it a few times before on my other blog and in person, but I will say it once again. Thanks, Mr. Bowden! You are a great guy with your heart in the right place. We couldn't achieve what we are working to achieve without players such as you!

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖

Welcome to Team Jokbal

There are some fans out there that see some weird looking foreigners holding up signs with Team Jokbal (팀족발) written on them or walking around wearing jerseys that have things such as 두산족발 (Doosan Jokbal), 기아족발 (KIA Jokbal), KT족발 (KT Jokbal), and 팀족발 (Team Jokbal) written on them. There is also one that wears colorful wigs to the games, primarily green ones. Sorry, that was a bit of a shout out to me as the green wig wearer.

The Team Jokbal Crew

There are a lot of laughs, smiles, and stares and it's honestly a great thing. It is serving the purpose of making people happy and providing a bit of quirky amusement at games. It's not that KBO games really need to be any more exciting or fun because they are already great, but at least we are doing our part to bring a little more joy to the stands.

Now comes a question that many are probably wondering. Where does the idea of Team Jokbal actually come from? Last year there was a bit of a joke going around within our group about what some of the KBO players might eat after a game to celebrate a big win or a well played game. For some reason we could just imagine players sitting around a table scarfing down big platters of jokbal (pig's feet) and having a few glasses of beer or soju. Why jokbal? To be honest, the better question is why not jokbal? It's a great Korean dish that seems to be highly underrated among foreigners and it's simply delicious.

As a result we decided it would be amusing to get custom jerseys made with jokbal written on the backs. After all, getting custom jerseys done in Korea is pretty easy and very common among the fans. You will see everything from couples wearing jerseys that highlight their relationship status to others wearing custom jerseys that pay homage to their favorite players.

Now on to the most important question about Team Jokbal and the driving factor behind its existence. Does Team Jokbal serve any purpose other than being fun? What most don't know, beyond the comical factor, is that it also serves another purpose. After a friend and fellow Team Jokbal member came across an article about Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos giving away a shirt in exchange for a tray of pork, we thought that we could probably swing something in similar fashion in Korea with jokbal and the KBO. The result has been us offering to give players a plate of Jokbal in exchange for game used jerseys, hats, bats, helmets, etc.

You may now be wondering "what will Team Jokbal be doing with these items that they collect?" While we are fans and collectors that would love to keep these items to add to our personal sports collections, we decided that we could use these items to bring even more joy and fun to others. This lead us to deciding to offer these items for auction in the winter at a fan charity auction and use the proceeds to purchase sports equipment for students in poor areas and orphanages around South Korea.

Our Mission in Korean for Korean Players & Fans

In the short time since deciding to pursue this cause, we have managed to make some connections with some players (Michael Bowden, Pat Dean, and Jeff Manship) that have already donated or will donate and they have also started spreading the message to other players. The KBO is full of a bunch of great guys and I am happy that we are getting to work with some of them to get equipment for kids because we have seen and experienced the joy and benefits that sports can bring to young people. Hopefully with continued work and contributions we can help fill a void by purchasing and donating equipment so that kids get a chance to play a game of catch or hit their first home run. Who knows? They may be future KBOers themselves. At the very least it will provide some healthy fun and memories for them.

Check back often as we will begin to post some of the stories and items here in the future. Thanks for reading and the support!

Cheers,

Team Jokbal 🐖 (George, Tony, Andrew, & Marcus)