A lot of things happened to Mark Lippert in South Korea this year, good and bad things… Damn the bad things and let’s go to the good things!
When Lippert’s not busy representing the US in South Korea, Mark Lippert loves attending KBO ballgames (Doosan Bears games, SMH…). In fact, the top U.S. envoy to Seoul has become such a dedicated fan in just over a year here that he sometimes gets “angry” when his official duties prevent him from going to the ballparks… Haha, still remember the time with Doosan facing off the Lotte Giants (HELL OF A GAME!!) trailing 5-1 in the 9th with Choi Joo-hwan walking them off a via 3 RUN SHOT!! He was leaving in a hurry at the end of the game, but atleast he got to witness an AWESOME moment.
Here’s Lippert’s (Dustin Nippert helped him out in this one) first pitch back in April 18,2015
And the AWESOME comeback shot from Choi Joo-hwan (with batflip) of the Doosan Bears that same day.
Lippert, who grew up a fan of his hometown club the Cincinnati Reds, has endeared himself to baseball fans in South Korea by taking in Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) games with his family…
Lippert reckoned that he went to about a dozen games in 2015, a total he’d like to see increase next year. (Awesome man, just awesome, would have love it if he root for the LG Twins….)
“The good thing is my wife, Robyn Lippert, really likes going to baseball games,” he said. “Now, I’ve been able to appeal to her. I went to a lot of games this fall after we got back from vacation. I said, ‘We’ve got to keep Friday and Saturday open so we can go to more ball games.” Via Yonhap.
Lippert is a Bears fan (ugh….), but he has also taken a particular liking to slugger Park Byung-ho (YES!!),of the the Nexen Heroes. Park, the league MVP in 2012 and 2013, led the KBO with 53 home runs and 146 RBIs this year, and he’s currently in contract talks with the Minnesota Twins, which won the bid for the posted first baseman at 12.85 million USD. Will have until December 8,2015 (deadline) to finalize the contract…
Via YTN, Mark Lippert, calling the player “Park Byung-home run,” at first said Park is his favorite KBO player. The envoy then caught himself and said Park “was” his favorite KBO star, perhaps sensing the slugger will likely be in a major league uniform next season. You see Park Byung-ho’s swing, and it’s just an amazing, fluid and powerful swing,” Lippert said. “So you’ve got to think he’s going to do well.”
Fan Interference 