This series is a Diamond
I literally jumped into this drama for Park Eun Bin because I absolutely adore her. I was speechless with the plot, how well the story was written, how well the actors portrayed the characters and how engaging each scene was. There was a fair share of some 'not so interesting conversations'.I literally jumped into this drama for Park Eun Bin because I absolutely adore her. I was speechless with the plot, how well the story was written, how well the actors portrayed the characters and how engaging each scene was. There was a fair share of some 'not so interesting conversations'.
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An Epic Series About Political and Business Corruption In Korean Baseball!!!
When I first got into K-dramas about four years ago, my first series was “Descendants of the Sun.” For me, it was like finding a gem after some lackluster TV series in the West. But, I thought that I was only lucky once. Then another series came along, and then another. To this day, I’m still amazed at how finding one “gem” has led to an entire treasure trove!Hot Stove League is a brilliant series about the interworking of a Korean Professional Baseball team, the Dreams. In the first episode, we find out that this team is terrible in nearly every facet of the game, aside from having one of the top hitters in the league. We also find out that, despite the terrible years of being “cellar-dwellers” the team continues to have a genuine following with its fans. In other words, no bandwagon fans here!
It doesn’t take long for us to realize that there is corruption at the top and throughout the team, whose owners are hellbent on gutting the team from within with the hopes of either selling or disbanding the team. Teams in Korea are owned by corporations. There have been many instances of this type of corruption within American sports teams as well. Donald Sterling (previous owner of the Los Angeles Clippers) routinely traded away any good, viable players. Publicly, he stated, “I only care about making money.”
Enter Baek Seung Soo (beautifully played by Namkoong Min) as the team’s newest GM. He has no experience in baseball at all, but he’s put together championship wrestling teams, hockey teams, and handball teams which won Olympic medals. Clearly, one of the representing owners of the team, Kwon Kyung Min (played by one of the best Korean actors in Oh Jung Se) is hoping that Baek Seung Soo will be a puppet GM who has new clue about what to do. He’s quickly proven wrong, and to everyone’s wonder, Baek Seung Soo quickly begins to right the sinking ship!
Baek Seung Soo has to deal with corruption within his own people, a corrupt scouting manager, and a slugger in Im Dong Gyu, who believes himself to be untouchable and can treat everyone around him with violent disdain.
Baek Seung Soo’s first task is to gain the support of his staff, many of whom are already scratching their heads regarding his hiring. The most charming and hard-working of the group is Lee Se Young (played by the ineffable Eun Bin Park!) and her tenacious assistant, Han Jae Hee.
Baek Seung Soo is a man who cares very little about what people think about him, and yet, he shows off his brilliance like a grandmaster chess player. He also always seems to know exactly what is going on within the staff, the organization, and the players. He’s calm but incredibly efficient, despite his lack of personal tact. He doesn’t engage in pleasantries or anything at all that may seem superficial. In short, he’s confident enough in himself to simply be himself. From other people’s point of view, he comes across as rude and insufferable, which quite frankly, adds to his charm and appeal. We rarely ever see him lose control of his emotions. He reminded me a lot of Mr. Spock from Star Trek; a man displaying wisdom well beyond his years. He may be new to the sport of baseball, but when it comes to playing the political and business game, he’s more than a match of his adversaries.
As with so many K-dramas, the show presents a heartfelt message on the back of an engaging and provocative show. It’s about people who need to learn how to speak up and stand up for themselves, and not worry so much about the consequences of their actions. There is real strength in numbers, and in a culture that is highly competitive, and where “underlings” are expected to bow and obey every order without comment or complaint, the series demonstrates that this is not the way to behave or conduct business. It demonstrates that money isn’t everything and that those who have it are quite often the most miserable people around.
This series has a top-notch cast which cannot be showered with enough accolades! Oh Jung Se (whom I first saw in “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay”), plays the complex, villainous role of Kwon Kyung Min like a master of his craft. We get subtle hints, that despite his pettiness, there is something else going on, and of course, Eun Bin Park is a young woman who can easily do any role that is handed to her, even capturing the funniest line of the series! Namkoong Min, whom I’ve only seen once so far in “Awaken” is nothing short of sublime.
The series reminded me a little of “Misaeng” in which we are given a glimpse into the Korean corporate baseball world and perhaps see that, despite the culture, there isn’t that much difference between East and West when it comes to depraved depths that people will go for money. Indeed, in today’s world, money is threatening to bury all that we love and hold dear about professional sports and why fans love them.
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they made me want to dream
What a journey. It was amazing. It unexpectedly made me emotional and kind of teary-eyed. You know that feeling when something so amazing happens it feels like you could fly. Just like the name of the team "Dreams" it made me feel that again. Not just that, but the plot, execution, acting, writing, cinematography and OST were so well done. It was just perfect. You might think, "what a baseball drama??" and even without romance (damn there was no needed and I seriously did not wish for one), it was better than most of your "most popular" dramas. Even though this series is quite underrated in the international fanbase, it did quite well in korea, which I am so glad for. It deserves to be recognised. For anyone hesitating: DO NOT!First off I'd like to say that this is one of the very few (maybe even the only one) dramas that I started watching when it was still ongoing and I finished it. I knew even before I clicked on the first episode that I would love this. But this exceeded my expectations and I couldn't asked for more.
It is not you typical kdrama, you can figure that out from the synopsis anyways, but it was a lot more emotional and idealistic than I'd expected. It was a perfect mix between logical, business-minded plot, but then they serve you a feast of idealistic mindsets and emotional reasoning. Just like how Baek Seung Soo structured his last presentation. It was beautiful. They are not just people that sell, buy and trade players. I don't like serious dramas that much, especially the ones that are some dramatic that I don't know what to feel anymore. But even though this was kind of serious, it had just the right amount of humour and hype without making it loose it's "flare".
Seeing the whole managing team develop from being moody, tired, miserable and hopeless to inspired, motivated and friendly, was so satisfying. The way Baek Seung Soo won every single one of them over slowly but surely. But let's talk about Baek Seung Soo. What a man. Nam Goong Min perfectly portrayed him, or even made him (!). He is a genius of few words, someone who works hard, but never brags or talks about it. Someone who is responsible and knows how to analyse data and work with it. He just knows how people work. But he wasn't perfect, and he changed for the better just like he changed Dreams. The subtle savageness of him, I will never forget. I have to say, I enjoyed Mr. Kwon's character a lot. He showed a lot of character development and the chemistry between him and Baek Seung Soo was so nice. I loved their small quarrels! (It was so cool to see that he and BSS are still "friends" after he resigned). Also, damn was that satisfying seeing him putting his uncle and cousin back to their places.
I don't think they could've chosen a better name for the team "Dreams" it sounds so grand and beautiful. They definitely made me feel that way. They went from being a hopeless team, to be a team of "Dreams". Even the word "Team" and "Dreams" sound similar, but I think I am interpreting too much here.
Even though they left me with a bittersweet feeling, because Baek Seung Soo couldn't stay with them, I am so okay with the fact that his "image" of bringing a team to victory and leaves, stays. Even if this image is sad, I can imagine him conquering another sports team.
Lee Jae Hoon's cameo was such a hype moment and boy it lasted for long! I loved that he played a quite important role and ugh I loved it.
Damn I am left so empty but satisfied, I think I might just rewatch it right now!
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Damn I Sure Do Wish I Knew Stuff About Baseball
I know nothing about baseball. I'm pretty sure a lot of people you'll ask who've watched this also don't know anything about baseball.Yet Hot Stove League is so riveting. The baseball premise and terminology might scare you at first, but I mean it when I say the story and characters are enjoyable even if you know literally nothing about baseball. The baseball terms and game itself are kind of unimportant, dare I say, and you aren't losing out if you don't read up on the sport. It's the characters, their relationships, and the story that drives this show!
Baek Seung-Soo is incredibly pragmatic(frankly, to a fault) and his work is his number one priority. Despite his cold and seemingly unwelcoming personality and wit, he's surprisingly charming. Throughout the show, I found myself rooting for him - not that I disliked him, I was curious as to how the show would handle his character - and every time he solved an issue it didn't feel like a cheap one-solution-fixes-all kind of gimmick. Every time Baek Seung-Soo solved an issue(alone or with others), it was believable and it was so...him. He's not perfect, sometimes you can see him genuinely struggle and just like real life, his attitude is not necessarily well-received.
I think that's one selling point too, the fact that the other characters are actually human, responding to Baek Seung-Soo's attitude much like how any viewer would, especially without much knowledge or context regarding his demeanour. They have their own lives, beliefs, and reasons for doing what they do. Mr. Baek may be the focus out of all the characters, but the writing doesn't neglect the development and growth of the staff, main baseball players, and even the higher-ups uninvolved in the nitty-gritty of baseball and the Dreams.
And what does that mean? Why does that matter? Because it shows HSL is more about office politics, uncaring higher-ups, personal development of characters, and how these characters work to solve problems. It's got baseball,
I particularly appreciate the lack of romance in this kdrama as well. Don't get me wrong, I like relationships and comedic couples in shows, but sometimes I just want a kdrama without the need for driving the plot with romance. Sometimes I just don't care about the "chemistry", I want the life stories and the problem-solving. HSL pleases me in that sense, because the characters are work-driven and platonic, focusing on respect and lack thereof. Lee Se-Young is focused on her work and on protecting the people in her workplace, very much like Seung-Soo, and I appreciate that there's no room for romance in their relationship as Operations Manager and General Manager respectively.
ALL the actors have done well, and I loved all their performances throughout this show. The characters you're supposed to dislike, you dislike, the characters you're supposed to root for, you root for. Even the "good guys" do bad things, they're not one-dimensional and neither are the "antagonists". They're all doing their in-show job, they have their reasons, just like the Dreams do.
This is a minor detail, but one I admire just as much as I adore the rest of the aspects of this show - the sound design. Is that the right term? I'm not quite sure. What I'm talking about is the background music that plays during certain moments of note, like tense moments and high-stress situations. When these situations happen, the music kicks in and it makes me feel the emotion the scene is supposed to evoke even MORE strongly. I can't stress enough how the tense moments made me feel even more tense because of the music, or the heartwarming moments that made me feel so happy and almost drive me to tears because of the song choice and/or background music.
Overall, an enjoyable kdrama. It's up there on my list of favourites, and if I recall correctly, episode 1 started off strong with a problem that needed solving. It was what made me want to sit through this drama, and I'm glad I did! Give HSL a try, I think its episodes are compelling enough to keep your attention long enough.
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Hot Stove League proves that sports dramas can work!
Just like my headline, Hot Stove League really proves that sports dramas can work when done like this! Hot Stove League made me like baseball, a sport that I never liked until now! A really good story and sub-stories mixed in with a really good cast that seemed to have perfect chemistry with one another right from the start in the first episode until the last second. Hour long episodes rarely feel like 30 minute episodes and the story make it such perfect material. A few members of the cast, actually perhaps the majority, I had not been familiar with but now I need to watch more dramas with these actors/actresses in! Well done, Hot Stove League! Bravo! Lets go Dreams! Go Dreams Go! Go Dreams! Dreams Go!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
my favorite thing was the fact that nor blatant villianziation occurred neither blatant redemption. it was not about redeeming the characters when it came to antagonists, everything had such a humane resolution by the end it makes u fall in love with the writing and the characters. i just LOVE good writing, personally it took me a good deal of months to finish it bc i kindaa got bored but it defo was not bc of the writing it was probably my own brain. by the end i defo cried a lil bit here and there, ah the writing was so good. i also reaaallyyy loved the logical resolution to the problems encountered by Baek Seung Soo. it's always impressive when a melodrama genre deals with its plot points with logic rather than depending on some bullshit.
so yeah. i am impressed. i love. i recommend. ^_^
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I regret not watching hot stove league any sooner
All in all, it was sooo good~~~ I watch it with high expectations as it garnered the best tv drama on baeksang but wow hot stove league exceeded my expectations. From the plot, the flow, acting, and the storytelling style, 10/10! I wouldn't ask for more. If I were asked to recommend a drama, this would be on the top of my list. No doubt they won a lot of awards at baeksang; from best tv drama to lead actor, to director, and tv script!I know nothing about baseball but, it does not hinder the comfortable watch. Yes, it is not mainly baseball-centered drama, instead, it was all about the people, business, politics, workplace, power-struggle, building a real team, underdogs climbing to the top drama. Hot stove league is off to the top-tier scripts in the drama world, and it was carried earnestly with the amazing casting and acting on it! It was quite draggy but I'm not complaining about it. Yes, I'm not. Because the flow was so fantastic. The dragging was turned into a very enjoyable watch.
I'm asking myself where I have been because I am missing out a lot about this gem here. I would have enjoyed watching this while it was ongoing... Overall Great Story! Great Acting! Great delivery! One of the Greatest, at least for me~
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I don't really like or care about baseball...but Namkoong Min is in it
This is one of the most well-made Kdramas out there. The production value, the plot, the acting, everything was A+. The style is sort of similar to shows like Prison Playbook or Dr. Romantic, in which a lot of different characters' stories are told and while there are central characters in the plot, they are not the major focus of the show but rather the conduits though which the story is told. There's a lot of social commentary in this, with attention to the importance of community, Korean ethical values, corruption, passion and empathy, and doing the right thing despite the difficulties. Lots of han, lots of jeong, lots of annoying villains. And by the end, you are supposed to feel this sense of camaraderie with the characters and cheer for their success and cry with their failures.It's a really good show. The casting line-up are insanely talented and they all brought their best as usual. I think there was like a random kpop idol actor in the mix too and ...well, he was certainly an idol...they always stand out like sore thumbs, you know?! But overall everyone was good. And I really enjoyed this.
I can't say that it inspired any intense emotional investment in me that it would make it an all-time favorite though. It was a really good show. It was emotional at parts and by the end you really care about it all but there was also a sense of distance between the characters and viewers that never really slid away for me. There were parts when I was bored or too annoyed at the jerks but overall, this is a show definitely worth watching and a delight. Especially, it's good for watching with family...though maybe not small babies family, since I think there was a lot of cursing and it has a lot of business talk so kids will be sooooo bored. But like, adult child and adult siblings/parents...that would be a good watch.
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love this drama! might be the best kdrama i've seen yet!
I binged this whole show in about 4 days cause it was just so good! My little brother is a baseball player, so I decided to watch it bc it looked pretty interesting. This show is heartfelt and hits on all of the right notes for me. I'm only taking off 0.5 points because there are some scenes where I felt so annoyed at certain things, but overall, the story, the acting, and the character development from ML/FL/every important character was just so on point!btw, I noticed at the end that there wasn't really a romantic component, and I think I was more than happy to not have that be a thing lol!
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You don't need to like baseball to enjoy this drama
Although I'd read the synopsis, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and not being a fan of any sport (except figure skating on occasion), I wondered if I'd get into it. However, being a Namgoong Min fan, I decided to give it a try.Much of the story centred around the statistics, strategies and personalities within the game, so I was surprised when it nevertheless kept both my attention and interest.
That was due entirely to the excellent cast who all portrayed the many characters in this drama, so well.
Namgoong Min as the hyper intelligent, unflappable, no nonsense new Manager, whose appointment shocked everyone at team Dreams.
Never having been a player, many looked down on him and thought he'd be a pushover ~ he was anything but. I loved his lazy way of talking and poker face.
Park Eun-bin as the only female to be appointed as any team's Operations Manager, was perfect. She balanced being feisty and just the right level of tough (as a female in a male dominated environment), whilst retaining an even temperament. Too often women in important positions are portrayed as hard, cold, bitchy and lacking emotion. She was none of those things and that was honestly a breath of fresh of air.
So many other actors' portrayals of their characters made an impression on me as well. Too many to list!
There are so many stories intertwined into the main one, which is the club striving to turn their dismal record of losses around, and giving them a fighting chance of actually winning the league.
We also get corporate politics, with the conglomerate that owns the club (helmed by an old and manipulative Chairman), having a hidden agenda. There's in-fighting within both the club's staff and players. Jealousies, arrogance, misunderstandings and struggles with both fitness and confidence.
Then there are the personal problems many characters contend with, which are revealed as the drama plays out. Some are quite tragic and shed a new light on what drives some of them.
All in all, there is a lot of story that is so well wrapped up in 16 episodes.
Whilst I will admit that some of the scenes involving the strategies and stats of the game and its players, went over my head, that didn't spoil my overall enjoyment and surprise at how good this drama was. Even the ending was well thought out and realistic.
An intelligent and fulfilling watch for sure!
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Not a sports drama
I put off watching this show for 2 years until the Christmas break because I'm not interested in sports. However, as other reviewers have stated, you don't need to understand baseball or even like it in order to watch this. In fact, for a baseball show, there's surprisingly few scenes of baseball matches. This show runs along the vein of strategy-based shows where the protagonists use their brains to plot and thwart the plans of villains. It's reminiscent of shows such as Dae Jung Geum, Dong Yi, and Tree with Deep Roots (notice how I'm giving sageuk examples, simply because such shows haven't been written with modern Korea as a backdrop.) which are very machiavellian and leave you marvelling at how they put down the jigsaw pieces and everything falls into place when you least expect it. This show won't leave you warm and fuzzy (e.g., Hospital Playlist, Prison Playbook) but will leave you feeling satisfied. The acting is top rate, even from the relatively young actors. Don't put it off any further, give it a watch!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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Home run
I'm someone who picked up the drama and dropped it around the first episode, picked it up a few months later, dropped it around episode 5, and then picked it up two days ago, and now can't stop thinking about it. I'm the type that binges a drama. Yet while watching this, I had to pause because I kept on getting chills. After each episode, I had to take a break to appreciate how unique each episode was. While describing a series, I use interesting, thrilling, funny, etc.; however, I think the closest word that comes to mind when I think of this drama is "memorable."I'm not into baseball. I couldn't care less about it. However, this drama overcomes the sport. More than the sport. The drama centers around the people who work in the industry. It chose to focus on the athletes, the teams supporting the industry, and the bonds formed and broken. Most importantly, it delivered valuable messages. In each episode, I learned something new, my perspectives changed, and the drama did all this while showing heart-wrenching, exciting and intriguing stories.
I'm not going to talk about the acting—the music, or what I disliked. I mean, I'm three years too late. There are more than 50 reviews that have done it. The drama has won baeksangs which shows how much this drama is liked. I think I'm just writing this so I can come back years later and read it to remind myself how much I love this drama. (MDL has become a precious diary that holds my thoughts, haha)
I loved everything, from the slow start to the actors, to the onscreen chemistry, to the plot to the ending. I loved the antagonist (as much as I hated him), the male and female lead, the secondary characters, the athletes, and the banter. I loved the small deadpan comedy moments, and I loved the connections that they portrayed. The script was a masterpiece, and the actors delivered a fantastic performance. The pace was perfect, and it wonderfully wrapped up towards the end.
It's a show for people who love baseball, for people who don't know a thing about it, for people looking for a satisfying and exciting sports drama, for people who want a slice-of-life drama, and for people who are looking for motivation. It's a show that will leave you feeling like you made the right choice. It's a show that you can trust to dedicate your time to.
"While trying to protect the things precious to you, do not stop others from trying to protect you. It's okay to stop and relax if it's too tiring, but if you cannot realize your worth, no one will either."
I will remember this drama fondly for as long as I can, and I hope more people will discover this gem when they need it the most.
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