‘A hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit, a hit.’
The Lotte cheering song resonating at the Sajik Baseball Stadium is approaching more excitingly for fans these days. This is because the Giants are in the middle of a fight for the top rankings, forming a three-team system with SSG Landers and LG Twins. Sajik Baseball Stadium, which is visited by an average of 12,000 fans per game this season, is proudly showing off its majesty as the modifier ‘the largest karaoke room on earth’.메이저놀이터
As the league progresses, there are times when the team is on the rise, and there are times when it goes through ups and downs. Nevertheless, there is a ‘baseball man’ who is steadily receiving support from fans. He is the ‘Cho Ji-hoon Lotte Cheerleader’ who has created numerous cheering songs and is credited with making a great contribution to the establishment of the KBO league’s cheering culture. This week’s Busan Baseball Annals met and talked with ‘Cho Ji-hoon Cheerleader’, who is delivering the energy of cheering to the players with a large number of spectators.
Director Cho revealed that he had a relationship with the cheerleading squad through a senior in the university cheerleading squad. While attending college, he was also active in the professional basketball team’s cheering squad and was also active in the early days of a baseball team other than the Lotte Giants. Jo Ji-hoon, a college student who finished his military service after that, said he was deeply concerned about his future career. In the meantime, a fateful proposal comes to him. It was the ‘Lotte Giants’ located in faraway ‘Busan’ that offered him the position of cheerleader.
[CEO Ji-hoon Cho]
At first, I rejected the offer from the Lotte Giants. It was too far, and rumors about the Lotte Giants weren’t good at the time. Above all, there were rumors that the so-called ‘old boys’ were scary when you went to the baseball field, and there were even rumors that if you couldn’t cheer, you would be dragged back and get scolded. It was actually a rumor, but it wasn’t. While the misunderstanding was resolved, Lotte contacted me once more and accepted the offer.
Upon hearing this story, the reporters of the Busan Baseball Records breathed a sigh of relief. This is because if the Lotte Giants side did not make another offer after General Manager Cho rejected his first offer, General Manager Cho might not have been able to establish a relationship with Sajik Baseball Stadium.
[Busan Baseball Record]
The year 2006, when the general manager formed a relationship with the Lotte Giants, was a season with high expectations from fans. It is because ‘Director Kang Byeong-cheol’, who was called the championship contract, also took over and finished the season in 5th place in the previous season. There was also ‘Son Min-han’, a healthy ace, and ‘Lee Dae-ho’, who was on the verge of an explosion of talent. You made your debut in a season with high expectations, wasn’t it a burden?
I worked hard at the time, but I just worked hard. So the fans were really scolded. I was scolded not only by my children but also by all age groups (laughs). At that time, the Lotte Giants’ cheering culture was not allowed to have a certain amount of time. There was no need to explain cheering, and I had to start cheering right away. At the time, I was in the early stages of my appointment, so I explained everything in detail, and the fans were blown away.
[Busan Baseball Records]
A video of Lotte Giants fans having a party after an away game (a culture of singing cheering songs together after the game) is a hot topic. Do you also watch those videos, Captain?
[Director Jihoon Cho]
I watched the video, and last year I had the experience of participating in the field. Seeing our fans passionately gathering and having an after party is really cool and nice to see. I am also grateful. At the same time, it is also a little sad. Fans love and support Lotte and baseball like this, and how good it would be if the results supported them. Especially this season, when I watch that video, I smile a lot.