’12 Billion Won Captain’ Koo Ja-rook (Samsung Lions) got goosebumps, and Samsung coach Park Jin-man was momentarily overcome with emotion. What is ‘El Dorado’ and why is Samsung so excited about it?
As the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League kicks off, Samsung fans in the Korean baseball organization have some good news. The news was that the dynasty cheer, “El Dorado,” which hasn’t been played in stadiums for the past six years, would be revived after seven years.
The El Dorado cheer ended on October 3, 2017, the day of Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yeop’s retirement game. Since 2018, it has not been officially used in stadiums due to copyright issues. Coincidentally, Samsung finished 6th-8th-8th-3rd-7th-8th from 2018 to last year, which was a real blow to the pride of the four-time unified champions. Of course, these results may not have had much to do with the Eldorado cheer, but both players and fans alike missed the lyrics and melody of “The strongest Samsung will win” during the dark days.
It was Lee Jong-yeol, Samsung’s first player-manager, who led the Eldorado revival.
He traveled everywhere to fulfill the long-standing desire of Samsung fans, and with the full support of CEO Yoo Jung-geun, the dynasty cheer was revived after seven years. The original El Dorado cheer was a German song, and Yoo reportedly contacted the German subsidiary of Cheil Worldwide, the parent company of Samsung Lions, to resolve the issue.
Thanks to the resurrection of Eldorado, Samsung, which was considered an ‘underdog’, faced the ‘favorite’ KT in the opening two games and swept the opening series for the first time in 15 years since 2009.
In the opener, a quality start from new ace Connor Seabold and a four-run rally off KT closer Park Young-hyun in the top of the 10th inning to tie the game at 2-2 led to a thrilling come-from-behind victory. The next day, second-place starter Denny Reyes also had a quality start, 안전놀이터 추천 and the bats exploded for 11 runs on 18 hits to lead the team to an 11-8 victory.
The third-base bleachers at KT Wiz Park in Suwon were a hive of activity over the two days.
Despite being away from home, thousands of Samsung fans formed a blue wave in the stands, contributing to KT’s first-ever opening two-game sellout in the franchise’s history, and with the game on the line, they sang El Dorado at the top of their lungs to evoke dynasty nostalgia. Samsung’s overwhelming performance against KT and Eldorado were the icing on the cake. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the postseason.
Samsung coach Park Jin-man said, “I was inside the dugout, so I couldn’t hear (El Dorado) well, but nowadays, SNS, YouTube, etc. are so good, so I heard it after the game. I definitely felt the emotional and magnificent feeling. “After the game, there were a lot of videos posted, and Eldorado was in every video, so I watched a lot of videos and listened to a lot of songs,” he said, sharing his impressions of hearing the revived Eldorado.
The players on the field were even more emotional. “It was a goosebump moment. I felt a shiver. “I heard that the fans had been waiting for a long time, so they sang it in a more fun way, and it gave me strength. I felt my heart beating for the first time in a long time. Now we have to work to make it ring more often,” said Eldorado.
Eldorado also influenced the performance of Kim Ji-chan, who went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a walk and three runs scored on the 24th. “It was the first time I’ve heard it, and it was magnificent,” said Kim, who joined Samsung in 2020 and experienced Eldorado’s heat for the first time on the field. I felt stronger,” he said, showing off his Samsung Man pride.
