Accord Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 The comic is about Mike Lowell explaining to Choi why JP wears a hat under his helmet and why AGon shaves his beard like a thin line, lol.  Also, there's more on this page: http://news.naver.com/sports/new/list.php?...=cartoon&page=1   Here's a profile of the cartoonist: http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/sports/200...16542711640.htm Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii tries to memorize the names of his teammates' but gets frustrated trying to pronounce names like Cesar Izturis and Juan Encarnacion as an English-shy Japanese. Two things that bothered Florida Marlins first baseman Choi Hee-seop for a while were why Juan Pierre wears a hat under his helmet and why Alex Gonzalez shaves his beard in a thin line along his cheek. Not done yet, how about this? It is because of a mixed martial art battle for the remote control of the clubhouse television that so many Anaheim Angels players are on the disabled list this season. If these sound unreal, well, you're right _ you never would read any news like this anywhere because they are all story lines from a cartoon series. But who cares, as long as they make tens of thousands of die-hard Major League Baseball (MLB) fans online happy every week. Cartoonist Choi Hoon posts his 'MLB Cartoon' series on the Korean Web portal site Naver about twice a week and every piece easily draws more than 100,000 clicks within a week. He's easily one of the most popular cartoonists around theses days but he says he never expected such an enthusiastic response when he started the series. ``(I'm surprised) since most baseball fans here focus on the domestic league, and most contents of the series are somewhat for advanced MLB fans, who have a better-than-average knowledge on it,'' he said. ``I feel lucky with the MLB Cartoon. I can do whatever I want and unleash it online and many people support me for that.'' The 32-year-old studied drawing comics in Japan for several years from 1998. After returning to South Korea, he started to publish 'Hadaeri (Manager Ha)' in the Daily Sports in July 2002. This drama centered around a group of office workers is still being published and most comics fans still recognize Choi as its author. So then, how did he get to his start with the MLB series? ``I love baseball,'' he said, and left it at that. Since first encountering MLB in the late 80's on the American Forces Korean Network (AFKN) TV channel, his love for the sport grew bit by bit and now he's a loyal baseball fan. ``I used to be an Oakland Athletics fan back then, when big names like Jose Canseco, Ricky Henderson and Mark McGwire were playing, though I had to look up a dictionary since I didn't know what 'athletics' meant,'' Choi explained. ``Now my favorites are the Minnesota Twins in the MLB and the LG Twins in the Korea Baseball Organization. ``I've always wanted to take a chance and publish a baseball cartoon but couldn't find any place. Then I got this opportunity.'' Originally starting off small on an MLB fan site, the series unexpectedly became popular and that encouraged him. Choi then sent work samples to Naver and now he's at the center of a lot of attention. One of the reasons people like his work is his deliberate description. He depicts the characteristics of famous players with amazingly accurate detail, from their habits at the plate or on the mound to even the angles of the pitchers' arms and stances of the hitters' feet. ``(It takes) more than three hours and with more figures appearing, it can take a whole day just to gather all the information needed for an episode,'' Choi said. ``These days I seriously lack time but I can't care any less, since readers have keen and sharp eyes so they never miss a single mistake coming from not preparing properly.'' So far he's posted over 20 episodes and confesses he had a special feeling while drawing one in particular. It is also one of the most controversial ones, getting more than 400 comments on the page. In the piece about one pitcher, he says, ``As Koreans, at least, I feel we all have a kind of debt to support and trust him to the end, whatever results he makes.'' ``Unlike other cartoons, I put my genuine feelings in the Park Chan-ho episode,'' Choi said. Usually he tries to keep his emotions out of his works and focuses strictly on making them witty and comfortable to read. But not in this case. ``When I was having a tough time in Japan studying, watching Park pitch on TV really encouraged me and gave me strength,'' he said. ``I regret that he's not welcomed by his homeland fans these days like he used to be, just because he's in a slump. ``I can't really understand those who post insults and various attacks on the Internet about him,'' Choi continued. ``They say it's just fair criticism but to me it's just being a menace. In the end it's just distorted affection and attention." Choi says that he was originally drawn to the sport because of its complexities. ``Baseball is the best sport of all,'' he said. ``It has the most organized and systematic rules, and its diverse tactics offer spectators ample room to think and imagine. Another attraction is that all the positions have particular characters and roles.'' Choi hopes to expand his coverage to the NBA as well as domestic pro sports leagues but baseball remains his No. 1. A baseball game broken up into innings, just like the squares on a page of comic strips. As a lover of sports and a comic artist, it may naturally follow that he inevitably loves baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazooka Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 haha, funny. thanks for posting that. i wish i could read korean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiRi Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Yea. That's cute. Hmmm.... can anyone translate this for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami15 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Yea. That's cute. Hmmm.... can anyone translate this for us? Good luck with that :lol . Good find, Accord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiRi Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Didn't hurt to ask. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishFanPR Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Yea. That's cute. Hmmm.... can anyone translate this for us? Good luck with that :lol . Good find, Accord. there's a korean fan here somewhere, or at least he/she has the flag in the sig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapeFish Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Korea has fallen in love with the Marlins. THEY WANT CHOI! Sounds familiar to a certain plea we made to Jack recently. Anyways, they watch almost every game on TV, they read up on everything they can, wear Marlins stuff, and consider Choi a national hero and are thankful he is with the defending World Champions. Who says the Marlins don't have fans outside of Florida? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiRi Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Korea has fallen in love with the Marlins. THEY WANT CHOI! Sounds familiar to a certain plea we made to Jack recently. Anyways, they watch almost every game on TV, they read up on everything they can, wear Marlins stuff, and consider Choi a national hero and are thankful he is with the defending World Champions. Who says the Marlins don't have fans outside of Florida? That is awesome. I sure hope that "He Who Soup" stays here for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bman8316 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Thats awsome to see the Fish noticed outside of Florida, if only we could get it translated I'm sure that would make it even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaq-Man Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Anyways, they watch almost every game on TV, they read up on everything they can, wear Marlins stuff, and consider Choi a national hero and are thankful he is with the defending World Champions. Who says the Marlins don't have fans outside of Florida? where'd you hear this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapeFish Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Anyways, they watch almost every game on TV, they read up on everything they can, wear Marlins stuff, and consider Choi a national hero and are thankful he is with the defending World Champions. Who says the Marlins don't have fans outside of Florida? where'd you hear this? Check the ballpark news site's Marlins TV info page for TV sked, the Korean media has 12 reporters following Choi, Marlins stuff has seen an increase in Korean sales, and Choi has been called a national hero in several articles I have read and he has said he is thankful to be with the defending World Champion Florida Marlins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaq-Man Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 no, i'm aware of the choi following... i was just curious where you heard that the marlins are korea's team... that koreans watch almost every marlins game on TV and wear marlins stuff, etc. Â one would think that the evil empire prevails there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapeFish Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Why would the Yankees be on over there? They have no Koreans. Marlins TV Schedule in Korea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramp Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 it doesnt matter, Yanks rule all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rferry Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Tampa Bay = Taem green onion hemp cloth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flamarlins3 Posted June 22, 2004 Share Posted June 22, 2004 Good to see that kind of thing...Too bad they can't really help attendance here, but oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koreanfan Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 I translated this for you. I think there are many mistakes in translating.'Cause I'm not that good at English. I'm a fan of marlins living in Gwang-ju, Korea.(Choi's hometown.^^) We love Choi because not only he is a good player, but also he is a man of sincerity. He is kindhearted.?? Oh~I forgot the title. The title of this cartoon is ..How can Choi get out of a slump(a secret story^^) Also, there's more on this page: http://news.naver.com/sports/new/list.php?...=cartoon&page=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJC Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 some people told me they couldnt see it so here is a link of it that i uploaded. The Cartoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarlinsGirl18 Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 :lol  Thanks for the translation koreanfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugg Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 That thing is gold. I love it, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJC Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 please i need more :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaq-Man Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 awesome. Â thanks, koreanfan. :thumbup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accord Posted June 24, 2004 Author Share Posted June 24, 2004 Good to see that kind of thing...Too bad they can't really help attendance here, but oh well. Anytime I go to the Pro I always see a lot of Korean groups which bring flags and wave them when Choi is at bat or makes a play and things like that and they're constantly trying to start chants in korean. Kind of reminds me of the fanatical soccer fans over in europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucaze Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 Thanks Koreanfan!! It's great to know that the Marlins have fans all over the world!!! One note for next years: an italian player for the Fish!!!!! Hummmmm .... Unlikely!!!!! Luca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiRi Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 HAHA That's a cute cartoon. Thanks Koreanfan! Oh, and welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.